Harald Fairhair
First King of Norway according to medieval tradition, but his historicity is debated.
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via Wikipedia: Harald Fairhair · see source
Harald Fairhair was a Norwegian king according to traditions from the eleventh and twelfth centuries.[1] He supposedly reigned from around 872 to 930 as the first King of Norway.[1]
What happened
The earliest narrative source mentioning Harald is the early twelfth-century Íslendingabók, which uses his reign as a time reference.[2] The most elaborate account appears in Heimskringla, written around 1230, describing Harald inheriting kingdoms in Vestfold after his father Halfdan the Black's death.[2] Haraldskvæði mentions Harald taking a Danish wife and winning a battle at Hafrsfjord.[3] The poem Sendibitr, attributed to Jórunn skáldmær, deals with a conflict between Harald and his son Halfdan.[4]
The Íslendingabók does not present Harald as the cause of Norwegian migration to Iceland.[2] The earliest known use of the epithet "fairhair" for Harald appears in the poem Sendibitr, but scholars disagree on when that poem was composed.[4]
What the cited sources add
Orning notes that skaldic poems mention five royal estates Harald traveled between after Hafrsfjord: Utstein, Avaldsnes, Fitjar, Alrekstad and Seim.[5] These estates were located about a day's travel apart along the sailing route.[5] Orning also states that Harald ruled a small core area along the west coast by traveling between his estates.[5] Krag's biography notes that Harald's power center was likely Avaldsnes on Karmøy.[6]
Orning's article further explains that the saga tradition gives Harald strong roots in Sogn through his foster father.[5]
References
- Wikipedia, "Harald Fairhair" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bagge, "Early state formation in Scandinavia", Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, 2009, p. 148; Lincoln, "Between History and Myth: Stories of Harald Fairhair and the Founding of the State", University of Chicago Press, 2014 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Harald Fairhair" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Chisholm 1911 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Harald Fairhair" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Krag, Claus, "Harald 1 Hårfagre", Norsk biografisk leksikon; R. D. Fulk 2012, 'Þorbjǫrn hornklofi, Haraldskvæði (Hrafnsmál)' in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings' Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic P (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Harald Fairhair" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Judith Jesch 2012, '(Introduction to) Jórunn skáldmær, Sendibítr' in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings' Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Orning, "Harald Hårfagre – en vestlandskonge", Norges Historie, November 25, 2015. facts only, no text reused. norgeshistorie.no
- Krag, Claus, "Harald 1 Hårfagre", Norsk biografisk leksikon. facts only, no text reused. snl.no
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Harald Fairhair (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Harald Fairhair (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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