In the years between the death of Magnús Óláfsson, King of Norway and the reign of Hákon, Norwegian power in the Isles was negligible due to an ongoing civil war in Norway. In the mid twelfth century, however, during his visit to Norway, Rǫgnvaldr's father appears to have become a vassal of Ingi Haraldsson, King of Norway. Certainly the twelfth-century Norman chronicler Robert de Torigni, Abbot of Mont Saint-Michel reported a mid-century meeting between Henry II, King of England, William, and the Bishop of the Isles, where it was stated that the kings of the Isles were obliged to pay the kings of Norway ten marks of gold upon the latter's accession.