Harald I of Norway
Harald Fairhair or
Harald Finehair (
Old Norse Haraldr hárfagri) (c.
850 – c.
933) was the founder and first king (
872 –
930) over
Norway.
He succeeded, on the death of his father
Halfdan the Black Gudrødsson in A.D.
860, to the sovereignty of several small, and somewhat scattered kingdoms in
Vestfold, which had come into his father's hands through conquest and inheritance, and lay chiefly in southeast Norway.
The constitution of Norway is, according to a tale, somewhat of a love story. The tale begins with a marriage proposal that resulted in rejection and scorn from
Gyda, the daughter of a neighbouring king. She said she refused to marry Harald "before he was king over all of Norway". Harald was therefore induced to take a
vow not to cut nor comb his hair until he was sole king of Norway, and that ten years later, he was justified in trimming it; whereupon he exchanged the epithet "Shockhead" or "Tanglehair" for the one by which he is usually known. Most scholars today regard this story as a literary tale inspired by the
Romance stories popular at the courts, by the time
Heimskringla was written.
In
866, Harald made the first of a series of conquests over the many
petty kingdoms which then composed Norway, including Värmland in Sweden, which had sworn allegiance to the Svea king
Erik Eymundsson. In
872, after a
great victory at Hafrsfjord near
Stavanger, Harald found himself king over the whole country. His realm was, however, threatened by dangers from without, as large numbers of his opponents had taken refuge, not only in
Iceland, then recently discovered; but also in the
Orkney Islands,
Shetland Islands,
Hebrides Islands and
Faroe Islands, and in
Scotland itself; and from these winter quarters sallied forth to harry Norway, as well as the rest of northern Europe. However, his opponents leaving on their own wasn't entirely voluntary. Many Norwegian chieftains that were wealthy and respected posed a threat to Harald; therefore, they were subjected to much harassment from Harald, prompting them to vacate the land. This course of action led to the major settling of Iceland and beyond. In a way, King Harald contributed to modern Icelandic society, and the writing of the Icelandic Sagas. Their numbers were increased by "malcontents" from Norway, who resented Harald's claim of rights of taxation over lands, which the possessors appear to have previously held in absolute ownership. At last, Harald was forced to make an expedition to the West, to clear the islands and Scottish mainland of Vikings. A great number of them fled to Iceland, which grew into an independent
commonwealth; while the Scottish isles fell under Norwegian rule.
Image:Norwegian petty kingdoms ca. 820.png| Norwegian petty kingdoms ca. 820 AD at the death of Gudrød the Hunter. The most important kingdoms were Vestfold (red), Hålogaland (purple), Alvheim (yellow) and Agder (green). Image:Norwegian petty kingdoms ca. 860.png| Petty kingdoms ca. 860 AD at the death of Halfdan the Black. In red is the kingdom inherited by Harald Fairhair.Image:Norwegian petty kingdoms ca. 872.png| Petty kingdoms ca. 872 AD (the unified kingdom shown in red) before the defining Battle of Hafrsfjord.Image:Norwegian petty kingdoms ca. 930.png| King Harald I's division of the kingdom ca. 930 AD.. The yellow areas are petty kingdoms, the purple is the domain of the earls of Lade, orange is the domain the earls of Møre.Image:Norway 1000 AD.png| The division of the kingdom after the Battle of Svolder (1000) between Sweden (yellow), Denmark (red) and the earl of Lade (purple). Image:Norway 1020 AD.png| Unified Norway during the reign of Saint Olav ca. 1020 AD. In pale red the Finnmarken ("Marches of the Sami") most of which paid tribute to the kings of Norway. The latter part of Harald's reign was disturbed by the strife of his many sons. He gave them all the royal title and assigned lands to them, which they were to govern as his representatives; but this arrangement did not put an end to the discord, which continued into the next reign. When he grew old, Harald handed over the supreme power to his favourite son
Eirik Bloodaxe, whom he intended to be his successor. Eirik I ruled side-by-side with his father when Harald was 80 years old. Due to his age, Harald would die three years later. Harald died in
933, having had eight wives and 23 children. Twelve of his sons became kings, two of them over the whole country.
Harald's children with Åsa, daughter of
Håkon Grjotgardsson, Earl of Lade:
*
Guttorm Haraldsson, king of
Ranrike* Halvdan Kvite (Haraldsson), king of
Trondheim* Halvdan Svarte (Haraldsson), king of Trondheim.
*
Sigrød Haraldsson, king of TrondheimChildren with Gyda:
* Ålov Årbot (Haraldsdotter)
* Rørek Haraldsson
* Sigtrygg Haraldsson
* Frode Haraldsson
* (Torgils Haraldsson)¹Children with Ragnhild Eiriksdotter of
Jutland:
*
Eirik Bloodaxe, king of Norway.Children with Svanhild, daughter of Eystein Earl:
*
Bjørn Farmann, king of
Vestfold.
*
Olaf Haraldsson Geirstadalf, king of
Vingulmark, later also Vestfold.
* Ragnar RykkelChildren with Åshild, daughter of Ring Dagsson:
* Ring Haraldsson
* Dag Haraldsson
* Gudrød Skirja
* Ingegjerd HaraldsdotterChildren with Snøfrid, daughter of Svåse the Finn:
* Halvdan Hålegg
* Gudrød LjomeChildren with Tora Mosterstong, his maid:
*
Haakon the Good, king of Norway. Other children:
* Ragnvald Rettilbeine
* Sigurd Rise
* Ingebjørg Haraldsdotter
Harald was the grandfather of
Harald II.
# This Torgils Haraldsson is identical to "
Thorgest" in the
Irish history.
Snorre Sturlason, in his
Heimskringla, claims that Torgils was Harald's son. This is now thought to be unlikely.
