Olav Ugjæva or Olav Gudbrandsson (

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

: ''Ólafr úgæfa'') (died 1169) was a pretender to the Norwegian throne during the

civil war era in Norway The civil war era in Norway (, ''borgarkrigstidi'', ''borgerkrigstida'' or ''borgerkrigstiden'') began in 1130 and ended in 1240. During this time in Norwegian history, some two dozen rival kings and pretenders waged wars to claim the throne. ...

. Olaf was named king in 1166, but was subsequently defeated by King

Magnus V of Norway Magnus Erlingsson (, 1156 – 15 June 1184), also known as Magnus V, was a king of Norway during the civil war era in Norway. He helped to establish primogeniture in royal succession in Norway. King Magnus was killed in the Battle of Fimreite in ...

(''Magnus Erlingsson'') and forced to flee the country.

Background

Olav Gudbrandsson was the son of Gudbrand Skavhoggsson (''Guðbrandr Skafhǫggsson'') and Maria Øysteinsdotter (''María Eysteinsdóttir''), the daughter of King Eystein I of Norway and his wife Ingebjørg Guttormsdatter. Olav was fostered by Sigurd Agnhatt (''Sigurðr agnhǫttr'') in the

Oppland Oppland is a former county in Norway which existed from 1781 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020. The old Oppland county bordered the counties of Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The ...

region of eastern Norway. In the late 1160s, Norway was ruled by earl Erling Skakke, during the minority of his son, King

(''Magnus Erlingsson''). Erling had succeeded in placing his son on the throne after lengthy fighting against several rivals to the throne since the mid 1150s.

Reign

In 1166, Sigurd Agnhatt and his foster son Olav raised a force in Oppland, and had Olav proclaimed king, while earl Erling was away in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. After Erling returned to Norway to fight this uprising, Olav and his men attacked Erling in an ambush at Rydjokul in Sørum (''Overfallet på Rydjøkul'') on 2 February 1167. Erling was wounded, and barely escaped. According to the Sagas, it was said that Olav was unlucky not to have defeated Erling in this fight, and from that he got his nickname, ''Olav the Unlucky''. In 1168 Olav and his men ventured south to the

Oslofjord The Oslofjord (, ; ) is an inlet in southeastern Norway. The fjord begins at the small village of Bonn in Frogn, Frogn Municipality and stretching northwards to the city of Oslo, and then curving to the east and then south again. It then flows s ...

area, but were there defeated in Battle at Stanger, near Våler in

Østfold Østfold () is a county in Eastern Norway, which from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2023 was part of Viken. Østfold borders Akershus and southwestern Sweden (Västra Götaland County and Värmland), while Buskerud and Vestfold are on the other ...

(''Slaget på Stanger i Våler''). Sigurd Agnhatt was killed in the battle, but Olav Ugjæva escaped and went to

. The next year, Olav fell ill and died there.

Primary sources

The story of Ugjæva is mentioned in the

Kings' sagas Kings' sagas (, , ) are Old Norse sagas which principally tell of the lives of semi-legendary and legendary (mythological, fictional) Nordic kings, also known as saga kings. They were composed during the twelfth through the fourteenth centuries, ...

Heimskringla () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland. While authorship of ''Heimskringla'' is nowhere attributed, some scholars assume it is written by the Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson (117 ...

and

Fagrskinna ''Fagrskinna'' ( ; ; trans. "Fair Leather" from the type of parchment) is one of the kings' sagas, written around 1220. It is assumed to be a source for what is known as the '' Heimskringla'', containing histories of Norwegian kings from the 9th ...

. These two sagas state he died in Denmark, but disagree on whether he died in

Århus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

or Ålborg.''Olav Ugjæva'' (Store norske leksikon)
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ugjaeva, Olav Civil wars in Norway 1169 deaths Pretenders to the Norwegian throne People from Oppland Year of birth unknown Norwegian exiles House of Hardrada