Gotfrid Haraldsson attacked Anglesey with his kenhedloedd duon (the black gentiles). Wales was experiencing a time of civil war as the kings of the north and south attempted to enlarge their realms at the expense of their neighbors. King Maredudd ab Owain of South Wales attacked and killed King Cadwallon of Gwynedd, brother of Hywel ab Ieuaf, annexed Gwynedd to his own lands. At this stage of the fights, Gotfrid was paid to help the deposed Gwynedd royal family, and won an overwhelming victory over Maredudd ab Owain at the Battle of Mannan. Maredudd lost a 1000 men and 2000 men were captured, and was forced to retreat to Ceredigion and Dyfed. Maredudd was later forced to ransom his captured Welshmen at a penny per head.
Maymun, Muslim leader and emir of Derbent, hired the Rus vikings to aid against a local rebellion. The Vikings or Rus arrived with 18 ships. They sent only one ship to scout and the Viking crew were outnumbered and slain by the local Muslims, the Vikings left for plunder and looted Maskat.
The vikings returned from their raiding, they became the emirs lifeguards once again, but this caused trouble. A fundamentalist imam Musa al-Tuzum agitated the population. Musa al-Tuzum demanded that Maymun should give up the Vikings and that they should be forced to choose between conversion to Islam and eminent execution. When Maymun ibn Ahmed refused, a local Muslim furious mob besieged the palace. Later it was negotiated that Maymun and the Vikings should be granted safe passage out of the palace. A new governor The Shah of Shirvan was made governor in Derbent, but the emir and his Viking mercernaries was against the Shah.
Vikings attacked the shah openly on a public street and they smashed him on the back of the head with an Viking axe. The shah fled and emir Maymun ibn Ahmed could rule Derbent, protected by his Viking mercernaries , who stayed in his service for ten years.
Island of Man
Sigurd challenged Gudrød’s position on the Isle of Man, attacking and plundering the island. Sigurd also found another ally on the Hebrides who was willing to help him against Gudrød. The little island of Colonsay, north of Islay, was ruled by an earl called Gilli, whose little domain was outside Gudrød’s control.
