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'Harald Fairhair' or 'Harald Finehair' (Old Norse: ''Haraldr hárfagri'', Norwegian: ''Harald Hårfagre''), (c. 850 – c. 933) was the first king (872 – 930) of Norway.
Little is known of the historical Harald. The only contemporary sources mentioning him are the two skaldic poems ''Haraldskvæði'' and ''Glymdrápa'', by Þorbjörn hornklofi. The first poem describes life at Harald's court, mentions that he took a Danish wife, and that he won a victory at Hafrsfjord. The second relates a series of battles Harald has won. He is not mentioned in any contemporary foreign sources. His life was described in several of the Kings' sagas, but the first of these were not written until the end of the 12th century, over 250 years after his death. Their accounts of Harald and his life differ on several points, and much of the content is clearly mythological. He is credited with having unified Norway into one kingdom. Modern historians assume that his rule was limited to the coastal areas of southern Norway.

Contents

The saga descriptions

Notes

References

The saga descriptions

The sagas tell us that Harald 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.
The unification 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 Eirik king of Hordaland. 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 would compose Norway, including Värmland in Sweden, and modern day south-eastern Norway, which had sworn allegiance to the Swedish 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 the rest of northern european mainland. 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. At last, Harald was forced to make an expedition to the West, to clear the islands and the Scottish mainland of some Vikings that tried to hide there.
It was long thought that Harald thus caused the Norse settlement of Iceland and beyond. According to this view, Iceland was settled 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. This view has been largely abandoned by modern historians, as archaeological finds have shown that the settlement of Iceland started before Harald's reign in 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 approximately 933. The number of sons he left varies in the different saga accounts, from 11 to 20. Twelve of his sons are named as 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 Trondheim
Children with Gyda:

★ Ålov Årbot (Haraldsdotter)

★ Rørek Haraldsson

★ Sigtrygg Haraldsson

★ Frode Haraldsson

★ (Torgils Haraldsson)¹
Children 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 Rykkel
Children with Åshild, daughter of Ring Dagsson:

★ Ring Haraldsson

★ Dag Haraldsson

★ Gudrød Skirja

★ Ingegjerd Haraldsdotter
Children with Snøfrid, daughter of Svåse the Finn:

★ Halvdan Hålegg

★ Gudrød Ljome

★ Ragnvald Rettilbeine

★ Sigurd Rise
Children with Tora Mosterstong, his maid:

★ Haakon the Good, king of Norway.
Other children:

★ Ingebjørg Haraldsdotter
Harald was the grandfather of Harald II.

Notes

# 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.

References

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