Norway 1: Sources, Background Information and Reigns

Question 1

The reign of Harald Fairhair:

Answer 1

c.872- 932

Question 2

The reign of Eirik Bloodaxe:

Answer 2

c.930-934

Question 3

The reign of Hakon the Good:

Answer 3

934-961

Question 4

The reign of Harald Greycloak:

Answer 4

961-970

Question 5

The reign of Olaf Tryggvason:

Answer 5

995-1000

Question 6

The reign of Earl Hakon (under Sweyn):

Answer 6

1000-1015

Question 7

The reign of Olaf Haraldsson:

Answer 7

1015-1030

Question 8

The reign of Svein (under Cnut):

Answer 8

1030-1035

Question 9

The reign of Magnús the Good:

Answer 9

1035-1047

Question 10

The reign of Harald Hardruler:

Answer 10

1047-1066

Question 11

The reign of Olaf the Quiet:

Answer 11

1066-1093

Question 12

The reign of Magnus Bare Legs

Answer 12

1093-1103

Question 13

The joint rule of Olaf, Eystien and Sigurth:

Answer 13

1103-1130

Question 14

When is the Viking age generally classified as happening?

Answer 14

750-1050

Question 15

Discuss coins as a source for Norwegian history

Answer 15

Finds of a single coin suggests active use of the coin for trade, whereas a hoard of coins suggests raiding.

When the coins are Norwegian, their distribution tells us about the extent of power of the person who minted them

Question 16

Why can Skaldic poetry be a good source for Norwegian history?

Answer 16

If it is judged to be contemporary it can be a source of history. If it was recited before an audience that was familiar with the events mentioned, the information was probably correct

Question 17

General issues of Skaldic Poetry as a source for for Norwegian history?

Answer 17

. Descriptions of battles tend to be formulaic
. Complicated political language can make them hard to understand and their descriptions of events tend to be quite illusive
. Possibly changed/ corrupted over time

Question 18

Basic info on Ynglinga Saga

Answer 18

. Written down by Snorri S and is the first saga in Heimskringla
. It provides the genealogy of Harald Fairhair

Question 19

Ynglinga Saga’s account of Fairhair’s lineage…

Answer 19

Harald’s ancestry begins with the Vanir or Æsir (but Snorri says these were groups of humans, not gods).
He says Freyr (also known as Yngvi) becomes their leader and that the Ynglings are his descendants
One branch of this family establish themselves in Norway and this is the family that Fairhair comes from

Question 20

On using Snorri’s Ynglinga Saga as a source…

Answer 20

. It obviously contains a lot of mythological material, but Snorri was not making it all up himself;— Ynglinga Saga is based on a poem called ‘Ynglingatal’ which most scholars believe was written in the 9th century by a Norwegian named Thjolof of Hvin
. Some of the genealogy = accurate, but at some point it shifts to legendary material— The coherence of Snorri’s account is seductive but is neither complete nor utterly reliable

Question 21

What evidence directly disagrees with the chronology Snorri gives in Ynglinga Saga

Answer 21

The Oseberg ship burial

Question 22

What does Ynglinga Saga imply about Norwegian kingship

Answer 22

The fact that Snorri grafted legendary material into the lineage of kings suggests that the claim of being descended from gods was a way in which to claim legitimacy

Question 23

What developments during the Merovingan period in Norway are important

Answer 23

. By 700 an expansion of fishing and hunting took place and a trade centre was established at Kaupang in Vestfold

. The connections between Norway and the lands across the sea forged during the Migration age are maintained and bring innovations to the north.

Question 24

What do all the written sources for this period have in common?

Answer 24

They are all concerned with the top layer of society
They are all written by men
And they are all considered propaganda for specific people or opinions

Question 25

Graves as sources for Norwegian history…

Answer 25

. Graves are the most important archaeological source
. In Norway they display considerable variation and are evidence of many aspects of Viking society; such as stratification, the status of women and contacts with distant places

Question 26

Non Scandinavian-historians for Norwegian history…

Answer 26

. Adam of Bremen

. Saxo Grammaticus

Question 27

Introduce Adam of Bremen as a source…

Answer 27

Adam of Bremen wrote a history of the archdiocese of Hamberg-Bremen and their attempts to Christianise Scandinavia
Wrote in the 1070s
Some of his information is reliable but much of it is very biased

Question 28

Introduce Ottar as a source…

Answer 28

Ottar was a chieftain from Hågoland whose OE account of ‘The voyages of Othere’ give a contemporary account of northern Norway to Alfred of Wessex at the end of the 9th century
. He gives information about his native region and about t 2 long journeys he went on, including one along the Norwegian coast along to Vestfold and then down to Hedeby.

Question 29

What are the issues with the Scandinavian histories of Norway as as a source for Norwegian history, and why/ when are they sometimes useful?

Answer 29

They have limited value about the early age as the authors wrote several hundred years later and relied mostly on oral tradition.

BUT for the later Viking Age both the Sagas of the Icelanders and the sagas of the Kings are the most important sources for understanding the norms of Norwegian society

Question 30

Intro regional variation for Norway…

Answer 30

. There were strong regional differences in Norway owing to geographical conditions

.Early viking age society seems to have contained both military leaders and farmers but they were not evenly distributed across the landscape— regional variation

Question 31

Describe Halogaland pre-Fairhair…

Answer 31

. Part where Ottar came from and is in the arctic circle
. Has a well sheltered shipping lane and a major activity was the obtaining of arctic/ luxury items, such as walrus ivory and furs— despite remote location, leaders here were very wealthy, hence discoveries of large boathouses

— In the north it is harder to raise crops so the people survived by raiding and taking tribute from the Sami— this required military leaders

Question 32

What is a major theme of norwegian history?

Answer 32

The changing relations between chieftains and farmers and kings— this all foes back to the initial conditions

Question 33

Discuss the Trondelag/ Trondheimsfjord area as an early economic and territorial unit, pre- fairhair

Answer 33

The Trondelag/ Trondheimsfjord area is an area good for farming and the farmers had a strong organisation whereas military leaders/ an aristocracy came in later— The support of the free men played a great part in the political sphere of leaders- the assembly, not the battlefield was the main political arena

Question 34

Describe Vestold/ southern/ western norway as an early economic and territorial unit, pre- fairhair

Answer 34

They were communities that combined farmers and war leaders
A number of trading centres, such as in the rich agricultural areas of vestfold and along the coast, can be associated directly with chieftain’s centres.
These coastal seats were placed strategically at the mouths of fjords- they could control trade routes and communicate with the interior

A very large hall has been found in Vestfold, and it was clearly a major centre of power

Question 35

Issues with Ottar as a source

Answer 35

IT IS SILENT ON A NUMBER OF ISSUES:

• He is allegedly a farmer, but says little about this
• Allegedly among the chief men of his society, but says nothing of the political or social relations in his region
• Says nothing about fishing, which was very integral, but rather of reindeer and walrus hunting- trying to impress his english hosts by emphasising the exotic?

Question 36

List of the main sources for Norway 800-1150

Answer 36

. Frankish and British Annals and chronicles
. coins
. runic inscriptions
. skaldic poetry
. Adam of Bremen
. The Scandinavian histories of Norway

Question 37

What sources make up ‘the scandinavian histories of Norway’ and when were they each written

Answer 37

. Theodoricus Monachus' history (1177-88)
. Historia Norwegie (c.1190)
. Agrip (1188-1200)
. fagrskrinna (c.1220)
. Heimskringla (c.1230)

Question 38

Main themes of Norwegian history

Answer 38

. The unification of Norway
. The conversion of Norway
. Political power (including international relations)
. Trade (inclusion international relations)
. The definition of the Viking Age

Question 39

Introduce the theme of ‘THE UNIFICATION OF NORWAY’

Answer 39

The unification of Norway is an example of the centralising of power that occurred during the Viking Age, and the creation of medieval kingdoms is a significant characteristic of Viking Age scandinavia.
The unification looms large in Heimskringla, but Snorri’s account may not be correct