Brodir and Ospak of Man

Bróðir and Óspak of Man were two Danish brothers who were active in the Isle of Man and Ireland in the 11th century. They are mentioned in the 12th century Irish Cogadh Gaedhil re Gallaibh and the 13th century Icelandic Njal's Saga as key leaders who fought on opposite sides in the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. The latter account names Bróðir as the killer of Brian Boru, the High King of Ireland. Both Boru and Bróðir died in the battle, although accounts differ as to who killed whom. Óspak fought on the side of Boru, was injured, and lost his two sons in the battle.

Bróðir (also Brodir or Brodar or anglicised as Broderick) and Óspak (also Óspakur,Ospakr or Ospak) were two Danish brothers who lived on the west coast of the Isle of Man. According to Njál's saga, Óspak was a heathen, described as "the wisest of all men." Bróðir had been "a Christian man and a mass-deacon by consecration", but he had apostatised and become "of all men most skilled in sorcery." Bróðir was tall and strong, with long black hair that he wore tucked in under his belt, and he was clad in a coat of mail "which no steel could bite." Between them, they had thirty ships, and were described by Gormflaith as "men of such hardihood that nothing can withstand them".

Some time in the 1010s, Brian Boru divorced his second wife, the thrice married Hiberno-Norse Queen Gormflaith, and she began engineering opposition to the High King. Around 1012, relations between Brian and Leinster had become so strained that revolt broke out among the Leinstermen. Gormflaith sent her son, the King of Dublin, Sigtrygg Silkbeard, to win first the support of Earl Sigurd of Orkney, and then of Bróðir and Óspak, at any price. Sigtrygg went to Man, where he persuaded Bróðir to come to Dublin by Palm Sunday. Sigtrygg promised both Sigurd and Bróðir separately that, if successful, they would be allowed marry Gormflaith and become High King of Ireland; the terms of this agreement, however, were to be kept secret. Óspak was dissatisfied with the arrangement, and refused to "fight against so good a king".

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