Petty kingdoms of Norway

Petty kingdoms of Norway
The petty kingdoms of Norway were the entities from which the later Kingdom of Norway was founded. Before the unification of Norway in 872 and during the period of fragmentation after King Harald Fairhair's death, Norway was divided in several small kingdoms. Some could have been as small as a cluster of villages, and others comprised several of today's counties.
By the time of the first historical records of Scandinavia, about the 8th century, a number of small political entities existed in Norway. The exact number is unknown, and would probably also fluctuate with time. It has been estimated that there were 9 petty realms in Western Norway during the early Viking Age. Archaeologist Bergljot Solberg on this basis estimates that there would have been at least 20 in the whole country.
There are no written sources from this time to tell us the title used by these rulers, or the exact borders between their realms. The main written sources we have on this period, the kings' sagas, were not written until the 12th and 13th centuries. While they were in part based on skaldic poems, and possibly on oral tradition, their reliability as sources for detailed events of the Viking Age continues to be debated among historians. The sagas, most notable of which is Heimskringla, often refer to the petty rulers as konungr, i.e. king, as in Agder, Alvheim, Hedmark, Hordaland, Nordmøre og Romsdal, Rogaland, Romerike, Sogn, Solør, Sunmmøre, Trøndelag, Vestfold (which at various times included several of the aforementioned) and Viken; however in Hålogaland the title was jarl, i.e. earl (compared with Count in the Norse sources, as well as German Gräf), later Ladejarl (from the rulers power base at Lade, in modern-day Trondheim). The rulers of all the areas might be called petty kings, herser, subkings, kings or earls depending on the source. A number of small communities were gradually organised into larger regions in the 9th century, and in AD 872 King Harald Fairhair unified the realm and became its first supreme ruler. Many of the former kingdoms would later become earldoms under the Norwegian high king and some would try to break free again.
Below follows an incomplete list of petty kingdoms of Norway and their known rulers. Most of the people mentioned in this list are legendary or semi-legendary. Some of the areas might have a contested status as petty kingdoms.
List of petty kingdoms and earldoms
Kingdom of Agder
Rulers:
Legendary(From Gautreks saga)
Harald the Agder-King (legendary)
Víkar (Harald Agder-king's son)
Harald Vikarson(Son of Vikar)
Bjæring, possibly only a chief(local legend from Hægebostad)
Vigbrands fra Agder – c. 690
Herbrand Vigbrandsson
Kissa
Kjotve the Rich
Kings from 790 to 987
Harald Granraude, 7??–815, father of Åsa
Åsa Haraldsdottir of Agder, between 815 and 834–838, mother of Halfdan the Black
Halfdan the Black, father of Harald Fairhair, from 838.
Kjotve the Rich, late 9th century
Harald Grenske, 976–987
Kingdom of Fjordane
Might also be called Firda or Firdafylke.
Rulers:
Olaf brother of Anund Yngling
Audbjørn
Kingdom of Grenland
Kingdom of Gudbrandsdalen
Rulers:
Dale-Gudbrand
Kingdom of Hadeland
Rulers:
Höd
Halfdan Hvitbeinn
Kingdom of Hardanger
Kingdom of Hedmark
Rulers:
Halfdan Hvitbeinn
Sigtryg Eysteinsson
Eystein Eysteinsson, brother of Sigtryg
Halfdan the Black, was king of half of Hedmark after defeating rulers Sigtryg and his brother, Eystein.
Kingdom of Hordaland
Rulers:
Herthjóf (From Gautreks saga)
Alrek Eiriksson early 600s
Hrolf or Bergi Svåsason
Solvi Hrolfson
Kaun Solvason
Eirik King of Hordaland late 800s
Kingdom of Hålogaland
Rulers:
Saeming (legendary son of Odin)
Thrand (son of Saeming)
Gudlog 480s?
Eystein
Halfdan
Håkon Grjotgardsson
Kingdom of Land
Earldom of Lade
Rulers:
Hákon Grjótgarðsson, an ally of Harald Fairhair, first Earl of Lade in about: c. 860–870 – c. 900–920 AD
Sigurðr Hákonarson, friend and advisor of Hákon the Good
Hákon Sigurðarson, ruler of Norway from about 975 to 995
Eiríkr Hákonarson, governor of the majority of Norway under Svein Forkbeard
Sveinn Hákonarson, governor of a part of Norway under Olaf the Swede
Hákon Eiríksson, governor of Norway under Canute the Great
Kingdom of Namdalen
Earldom of Nordmøre
Kingdom of Oppland
Rulers:
Eystein, father of Åsa who married Halfdan Hvitbeinn (see Ynglinga Saga, paragraph 49)
Halfdan "the Aged" Sveidasson (c. 750)
Ivar Halfdansson (c. 770)
Eystein "Glumra (the Noisy)" Ivarsson, son-in-law of Ragnvald the Mountain-High and father of Ragnvald Eysteinsson (788)
Kingdom of Orkdalen
Rulers:
Gryting ?–c. 870
Kingdom of Ranrike
Rulers:
Tryggve Olafsson ?–963 AD
Kingdom of Raumarike
Rulers:
Sigurd Hring 8th century
Ragnar Lodbrok 8th century
Halfdan Hvitbeinn
Eystein Halfdansson Son of Halfdan
Halfdan the Mild Son of Eystein
Gudrød the Hunter Son of Halfdan
Sigtryg Eysteinsson
Halfdan the Black Son of Gudrød
Kingdom of Ringerike
Rulers:
Raum the Old
Halfdan the Old
Sigurd Syr
Kingdom of Rogaland
Rulers:
Gard
Rugalf Gardsson
Ogvald Rugalfsson mid 6th century(from Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka)
Ingjald Ogvaldsson fl. c. 600
Jossur Ingjaldsson fl mid 7th century
Hjor Jossurasson fl. 8th century
Hjorleif Hjorsson the Fornicator fl. mid-late 8th century
Halfur Hjorleifsson
Hjor Halfsson ? –c. 870s
Sulke ? –870
Geirmundur Hjorarsson
Kingdom of Romsdal
Rulers:
Raum the Old legendary
Jötunbjörn the Old son of Raum
Raum
Hrossbjörn
Orm Broken-shell
Knatti
Thórolf and Ketill Raum (in one version, Thórolf and Ketill Raum are sons of Orm).
Kingdom of Sogn
Rulers:
King Harald Gullskjegg (translate: Harald the Goldbeard): 770–850 AD (according to Fagrskinna and Heimskringla )
Kingdom of Solør
Rulers:
Halfdan Hvitbeinn
Earldom of Sunnmøre
Kingdom of Telemark
The status of Telemark as a kingdom has been contested by some historians.
rulers or figures:
Geirthjof of Oppland (First battle of Telemark)
Fridthjof (Second battle of Telemark)
Kingdom of Toten
Rulers:
Halfdan Hvitbeinn
Kingdom of Trøndelag
Rulers:
Håkon Grjotgardsson
Kingdom of Vestfold
Rulers:
(Sigtryg of Vetteland)
Eirik Sigtrygsson
Agnar Eiriksson
Eirik Agnarsson
Halfdan Hvitbeinn (part of Vestfold)
Eystein Halfdansson Eriks son in law
Halfdan the Mild Eysteins son
Gudrød the Hunter Son of Halfdan
Halfdan the Black Ruled half the kingdom. Son of Gudrød.
Olaf Gudrødsson Ruled half the kingdom. Son of Gudrød.
Ragnvald the Mountain-High
Bjørn Farmann
Olaf Haraldsson Geirstadalf, brother of Bjørn
Harald Gudrødsson Grenske, 976–987
Kingdom of Vestmar
Rulers:
Dag the mild
Kingdom of Vingulmark
Vingulmark is the old name for the area which today makes up the counties of Østfold and Akershus, and included the site of Norway's capital, Oslo, which had not been founded at this time. Archaeologists have made finds of richly endowed burials in the area around the estuary of the river Glomma, at Onsøy, Rolvsøy and Tune, where the remains of a ship, the Tune ship, was found. This indicates that there was a center of power in this area.
There are indications that at least the southern part of this area was under Danish rule in the late 9th century. In the account of Ottar, which was written down at the court of the English king Alfred the Great, Ottar says that when he sailed south from Skiringssal, he had Denmark on the port side for three days.
Rulers:
Gudrød the Hunter, half of Vingulmark
Alfgeir (Old Norse: Álfgeir)
Gandalf Alfgeirsson
Halfdan the Black Son of Gudrød
Olaf Haraldsson
Tryggve Olafsson
Harald Gudrødsson Grenske, 976–987
Svein Alfivuson, 1030–1035
Kingdom of Viken
Rulers:
Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye
Kingdom of Voss(Vörs)
Rulers:
Skilfir
Skjöld
Eirík
Alrek(from Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka)
Víkar (from Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka)
Vatnar (from Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka)
Ímald and Eirík
See also
Unification of Norway
Districts of Norway
References
States and territories established in the 8th century
States and territories disestablished in the 870s
Norwegian nobility
Former kingdoms
Barbarian kingdoms
Former monarchies of Europe