Harald Fairhair Harald Halfdansson ( Old Norse : " Haraldr Hálfdanarson " ; c . 850 – c . 932 ) , better known as Harald Hårfagre English : " Harald Fairhair " ) , was remembered by medieval historians as the first King of Norway . According to traditions current in Norway and Iceland in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries , he reigned from c . 872 to 930 . Most of his life remains uncertain , since the extant accounts of his life in the sagas were set down in writing around three centuries after his lifetime . A few remnants of skaldic praise poems attributed to contemporary court poets exist which seem to refer to Haraldr ' s victories against opponents in Norway . The information supplies in these poems is inconsistent with the tales in the sagas in which they are transmitted , and the sagas themselves often disagree on the details of his background and biography . Two of his sons , Eric Bloodaxe and Haakon the Good , followed Harald to become kings over extensive territories in Norway after his death . Background . The only contemporary sources mentioning him are the two skaldic poems " Haraldskvæði " and " Glymdrápa " , which have been attributed to Þorbjörn Hornklofi or alternatively ( in the case of the first poem ) to Þjóðólfr of Hvinir . The first poem has only been preserved in fragments in 13th century Kings ' sagas . It describes life at Harald ' s court , mentions that he took a Danish wife , and that he won a battle at Hafrsfjord . The second relates a series of battles Harald won . The facts offered by the poems may be scarce but they are a good source of information . His life is described in several of the Kings ' sagas . Their accounts of Harald and his life may differ on some points , and some of the content may be uncertain but it is clear that he unified Norway into one kingdom . Some modern skeptics have generally assumed that his rule was limited to the coastal areas of southern Norway though there is no real evidence to support their claim . Saga descriptions . In Heimskringla it is written that Harald succeeded , on the death of his father Halfdan the Black Gudrödarson , to the sovereignty of several small , and somewhat scattered kingdoms in Vestfold , which had come into his father ' s hands through conquest and inheritance . His protector - regent was his mother ' s brother Guthorm . The unification of Norway is something of a love story . It 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 when he was justified in trimming it ten years later , he exchanged the epithet " Shockhead " or " Tanglehair " for the one by which he is usually known . In 866 , Harald made the first of a series of conquests over the many petty kingdom s which would compose all of Norway , including Värmland in Sweden , 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 , Faroe Islands and the northern European mainland . However , his opponents ' leaving was not entirely voluntary . Many Norwegian chieftains who 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 who tried to hide there . The earliest narrative source which mentions Harald , Íslendingabók notes that Iceland was settled during his lifetime . Harald thus caused the Norse settlement of Iceland and beyond . 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 . There are several accounts of large feasting mead hall s constructed for important feasts when Scandinavian royalty was invited . According to a legend recorded by Snorri Sturluson , in the Heimskringla , the late 9th - century Värmlandish chieftain Áki invited both the Norwegian king Harald Fairhair and the Swedish king Erik Eymundsson , but had the Norwegian king stay in the newly constructed and sumptuous one , because he was the youngest one of the kings and the one who had the greatest prospects . The older Swedish king , on the other hand , had to stay in the old feasting hall . The Swedish king was so humiliated that he killed Áki . Later life . The latter part of Harald ' s reign was disturbed by the strife of his many sons . 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 . 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 . Harald died three years later due to age in approximately 933 . Harald Harfager was commonly stated to have been buried under a mound at Haugar by the Strait of Karmsund near the church in Haugesund , an area that later would be named the town and municipal Haugesund . The area near Karmsund was the traditional burial site for several early Norwegian rulers . The national monument of Haraldshaugen was raised in 1872 , to commemorate the Battle of Hafrsfjord in 872 . Issue . While the various sagas name anywhere from 11 to 20 sons of Harald in various contexts , the contemporary skaldic poem " Hákonarmál " says that Harald ' s son Haakon would meet only " eight brothers " when arriving in Valhalla . Only the following five names of sons can be confirmed from contemporary skaldic poems ( with saga claims in parenthesis ) , while the full number of sons remains unknown : According to Heimskringla . The full list of sons according to Snorri Sturluson ' s " Heimskringla " : Children with Åsa , daughter of Håkon Grjotgardsson , Earl of Lade : Children with Gyda Eiriksdottir : Children with Svanhild , daughter of Eystein Earl : Children with Åshild , daughter of Ring Dagsson : Children with Snøfrid , daughter of Svåse the Finn : Other children :