Norway 3: Fairhair

Question 1

Intro to the earls of Lade

Answer 1

The earls of lade had a substantial power base in the Trondheimsfjord area northwards and for centuries they had the resources to compete with the kings of Norway for control of the west coast

Question 2

How did the earls of lade get control over such a large area OVERVIEW STATEMENT?

Answer 2

By much the same process of ‘unification’ as is attributed to Harald Fairhair

Question 3

An issue when talking about the ‘unification’ of Norway…

Answer 3

When we use the phrase ‘unification of Norway’ are we talking about the same territory as modern Norway? It is important not to just accept natural modern boundaries as ‘natural’ or ‘obvious’ — i.e.. one of the strategic goals of the early Danish kings was to control the entrance to the baltic, so it was logical for them to want to control both sides of the water

Question 4

Source for key information on the origin of the earls of Lade

Answer 4

Key intro is found in Háleygjatal, a 10th century skaldic poem composed for Earl Hakon, the earl of Lade

Question 5

What does the skaldic poem Háleygjatal tell us about the origins of the earl of Lade

Answer 5

It puts the origin of the dynasty in the far north, on Andøya in Hagoland. Leaders of Halgogaland could become very wealthy and the dynasty must have expanded steadily south and by the mid 9th century a chieftain called Grjotgarth had established himself at Ørlandet— from there he could control the shipping routes and traffic into Trondheimsfjord

Question 6

Conflicting information on Harald Fairhair’s origins

Answer 6

The sources say he was the son of Halfdan the Black who was king of Oppland

• • But he is also associated with Sogn where his maternal grandfather was king
• • – It is only the youngest sagas, such as the 13th century Heimskringla, that associates him with Vestfold (perhaps this is snorri’s reconstruction: decided Harald was descended from the Ynglings)

Question 7

What can we conclude from the conflicting information on Harald’s origins

Answer 7

reasonable to conclude that the Vestfold connection is a later construction and that Sogn was the starting point for his conquest
Both the skaldic poems state he had royal estates in Western Norway and that his successors had it after him which suggests that, if his sons were able to inherit it, this was the land he ruled directly

Question 8

What skaldic poems mention Harald Fairhair and what do they say about him?

Answer 8

Glymdrapa and Haraldsvæ(th)i mention hHarald and they indicate that he was a sea king i.e. western Norway

Question 9

Discuss the contents of Haraldsvæ(th)i

Answer 9

. Haraldsvæ(th)i contains a contemporary account of the last large battle that Harald supposedly fought in Norway
. The battle says that his opponents were from the east but also calls Harald king of the east men; this contradictory information has lead to a debate as to the identity of Harald’s opponents

Question 10

What did Snorri believe happened at the battle of Hafrsfjord

Answer 10

Harald was defeating the remaining petty kingdoms along the Norwegian coast

Question 11

What do modern historians think the battle of Hafrsfjord was about

Answer 11

That harald already had control over this area by this point in time and so was being attacked by others within his own territory- possibly by Danes as Haraldsvæ(th)i gives the nickname ‘Haklang’ to one of Harald’s opponents, which is a name also found on a Danish rune stone

Question 12

Why does Andreas Holmsen think the unification happened?

Answer 12

believes that trading interests were a crucial factor in the unification , but that it was Harald’s conquests that threatened traffic along the coast

Question 13

Introduce theories as to why unification happened…

Answer 13

Historian’s iews of the reasons for the unification of Norway vary- most original is Snorri who says that Harald was inspired to start his conquests when Gutha declined to be one of his many wives as he was just a district king

Question 14

Why does Johan Schreiner think Norway was unified?

Answer 14

That the unification was a consequence of the economic interests and conflicts of society. He states that Harald was motivated to make an alliance with the earls of Lade because they both wanted to have as much control as possible over the trade which they wanted to tax, but was threatened by the attacks

Question 15

What does Krag believe regarding the unification?

Answer 15

Believes that the importance of Harald’s activity has been greatly exaggerated and that Harald’s conquests were no different from any other vikings and that there is therefore no need to explain what he did

Question 16

What is the most recent theory regarding the unification?

Answer 16

Ole Georg Moseng suggests that Norway was unified in reaction to the Danish policy of expansion
–As a consequence of a powerful enemy, the chieftains needed to cooperate with each other

Question 17

How does Heimsrkingla tell that Harald and Hakon came to cooperate

Answer 17

Hakon calls up an army (it is clear that he is poised on the outskirts of Trondelag but is not its ruler) and he then makes an alliance with Harald Fairhair and their combined forces defeat the kings of Trondelag
THEN Fairhair makes a base in the region’s heart at Trondelag and puts Hakon in charge=== the beginning go the earldom of Lade

Question 18

Overview of Fairhair’s power

Answer 18

There is a skaldic description of Harald living on Utstein and this combined with where his descendants lived, suggests that he was primarily a king of western Norway
He also had some dominion over Northern Norway
— The more southern area of what we today think of as Norway it seems to have been in the hands of petty kings who were sometimes under the rule of the Danish

Question 19

What are some issues worth noting with the days medieval icelandic historians ascribe to Harald’s rule

Answer 19

According to Ari’s dates Harald died in 931 after a reign of 60 years - although many of ari’s dates are able to be corroborated by alternate sources, this length seems improbable
— Sawyer suggests that the reign of the king identified as Harald began around 900

Question 20

Did harald really claim Norway as his oðal

Answer 20

Krag: No, this is a medieval concept that saga authors projected back onto Harald’s time ( Harald could not have taken the entire country to be private property as he didn’t have the administrative power for this)
Dørum: Yes, contemporary skaldic poetry contains many references to Norway as the king’s oðal– suggests Norway is already a hereditary monarchy by the 10th century
But then Krag counters Dørum’s argument by saying that he is wrong to take he diction of the skaldic poetry literally

Question 21

What do Heimskringla and Egil’s Saga say aboutu the oðal?

Answer 21

they say that harald took away the farmer’s inalienable right to the land that had been passed down in their family through generations, known as the oðal—- but it is unclear what the sagas mean by this

Question 22

What did Fairhair’s lordship depend on to continue

Answer 22

His lordship was due to military conquest and so depended upon military power to continue, therefore he maintained a large ‘hrið’ (retinue, meant dozens of men, not hundreds)

Question 23

What did the king and his retinue do?

Answer 23

They literally travelled around and ate up the tribute owed from that area in the form of feasts– this was a means by which he maintained direct control

Question 24

How was Harald’s reign basically held together?

Answer 24

by his own personal power
— he created supper for himself through giving gifts, making and maintaining alliances and fighting enemies and breakers of the peace
BUT___ there was no impersonal apparatus of government that could preserve the running of the realm after the death of the conquering king. ie. no reeves/ bishops ect.
– A conquest such as harald’s rarely created stability

Question 25

What would life for norwegians like under HArald’s rule

Answer 25

resulted in a stable political situation which meant that (as scandis were likely to raid each other, he kept other would be raiders or sea kings at bay) he kept everyone safer

Question 26

What is the general issue regarding the sources for Fairhair’s reign

Answer 26

our picture of Harald’s conquest and his ‘unification’ rely on the general archaeology of Norway at this time, on extrapolation from what we know of comparable societies elsewhere and on texts that range from contemporary skaldic verses to much later narratives

Question 27

Why is Sverrir Jakobsson especially critical of the saga’s reliability regarding Harald?

Answer 27

. If so powerful, why don’t contemp irish and Anglo saxon sources say anything about him?
. Why doesn’t Adam of B mention him?
. The name Harald is not mentioned elsewhere in Norway at the time
. If both the skaldic poems were by the same poet (Thorbjorn of Harnklofi) then why would the same poet compose two poems about the same person in the same metre?

Question 28

Why should we be suspicious about Snorri’s account of Harald Fairhair in Heimskringla?

Answer 28

‘Shows’ Norway is constituted by Harald’s conquests and therefore that Iceland (that H did not conquer) is not a part of Norway, and thus should maintain its independence
– He is not only passing on the myth from his sources but is actively using or deploying myth for his own purposes

Question 29

What seems to be the actual historical situation regarding Harald?

Answer 29

His kingdom was confined to w. norway with suzerainty over or possibly an alliance with Trondelag and n. norway
WHEREAS the south eastern part of the country belonged to Danish influence and the inner parts were ruled by their own magnates
It looks as though the battle of Hafrsfjord was Harald being attacked in his own territory

Question 30

To what extent did Fairhair have a coherent ‘policy’

Answer 30

He made political connections that paralleled or reinforced Norway’s economic connections (i.e. sends Hakon to England, marries Eirik to daughter of king Gorm of Denmark)
BUT his actions were limited by the undeveloped nature of the rule of Norway; there was no ‘state’ and all political relations were person-to-person and could be confirmed by marriage
BUT AGAIN: without some form of government, harald could not preserve his realm after he grew too old to be an active king and the next one would be the one who was best at winning support

Question 31

How did harald attempt to ensure stability?

Answer 31

made eirik his co-ruler and declared him king over his brothers

Question 32

Rougly the time of the battle of Harfsfjord

Answer 32

c. 880

Skaldic poem Haraldsvæthi which records the battle also dates to around this time