Harald I Halvdansson Harfagre (Lufa) of Norway

  General Notes:

Born: Cir 860
Marriage: (1): Åsa Håkonsdatter
Marriage: (2): Gyda Eiriksdatter
Marriage: (3): Svanhild Øysteinsdatter
Marriage: (4): Åshild Ringsdatter
Marriage: (5): Ragnhild Eiriksdatter
Marriage: (6): Snefrid Svåsesdatter
Marriage: (7): Tora Mosterstang
Died: Cir 940 at age 80
Another name for Harald was Harald Fairhair of Norway.
General Notes:
Harald was the first king over all Norway. Allerede som barn begynte han å bekjempe de mange småkonger og ca. 863 hadde han kommet langt på vei. Den siste og store kampen sto i Hafrsfjord i 872 (some say 892) etter gammel regning. Harald bosatte seg så i Rogaland, hvor Utstein på Utsteinsøy ved Moster og Avaldsnes ble kongsgårder. Han underla seg også Värmland, Hjaltland og Orknøyene. Det heter at han døde sottedød på Rogaland i 933 eller 932, men antagelig døde han først 10 - 12 år senere.Overleveringen fra sagaen vil vite at Harald ble fostret langt hjemmefra, og at det var liten kjærlighet mellom far og sønn. Det kan vel være at Harald ble fostret i Sogn, og at den personlige kunnskapen han på denne måten skaffet seg om Vestlandet, har vært med på å forme en gryende tanke om å legge hele Norge under seg.En slik tanke var ikke selvsagt - og vi vet heller ikke om Harald formet den slik. Vi vet ikke hvor gammelt begrepet Norge var eller hvor utbredt det var på hans tid. Det er nettopp under selve erobringsprosessen vi møter det første gang - nemlig hos kong Alfred, i Ottars beretning. "Norðvegr" har navnet opprinnelig lydt - nordveien, veien mot nord. Med andre ord: Det er leia rundt kysten som har gitt landet navn - denne brede ferdselsåren, handelsveien som betydde rikdom og makt. Leia som førte til Skiringssal.From Snorre Sturlasson: Harald Hårfagre's saga:"9. KING HARALD'S HOME AFFAIRS.King Harald then returned to Throndhjem, where he dwelt during the winter, and always afterwards called it his home. He fixed here his head residence, which is called Lade. This winter he took to wife Asa, a daughter of Earl Hakon Grjotgardson, who then stood in great favour and honour with the king. ...""18. HRANE GAUZKE'S DEATH.King Harald went far and wide through Gautland, and many were the battles he fought there on both sides of the river, and in general he was victorious. In one of these battles fell Hrane Gauzke; and then the king took his whole land north of the river and west of the Veneren, and also Vermaland. And after he turned back there-from, he set Duke Guthorm as chief to defend the country, and left a great force with him. King Harald himself went first to the Uplands, where he remained a while, and then proceeded northwards over the Dovrefjeld to Throndhjem, where he dwelt for a long time. Harald began to have children. By Asa he had four sons. The eldest was Guthorm. Halfdan the Black and Halfdan the White were twins. Sigfrod was the fourth. They were all brought up in Throndhjem with all honour.""21. HARALD'S MARRIAGE AND HIS CHILDREN.... King Haraldhad many wives and many children. Among them he had one wife, who was called Ragnhild the Mighty, a daughter of King Eirik, from Jutland; and by her he had a son, Eirik Blood-axe. He was also married to Svanhild, a daughter of Earl Eystein; and their sons were Olaf Geirstadaalf, Bjorn and Ragnar Rykkil. Lastly, King Harald married Ashild, a daughter of Hring Dagson, up in Ringerike; and their children were, Dag, Hring, Gudrod Skiria, and Ingigerd. It is told that King Harald put away nine wives when he married Ragnhild the Mighty. So says Hornklofe: --"Harald, of noblest race the head,A Danish wife took to his bed;And out of doors nine wives he thrust, --The mothers of the princes first.Who 'mong Holmrygians hold command,And those who rule in Hordaland.And then he packed from out the placeThe children born of Holge's race."King Harald's children were all fostered and brought up by their relations on the mother's side. Guthorm the Duke had poured water over King Harald's eldest son and had given him his own name. He set the child upon his knee, and was his foster-father, and took him with himself eastward to Viken, and there he was brought up in the house of Guthorm. Guthorm ruled the whole land in Viken and the Uplands, when King Harald was absent."Snorre utstyrer Harald med hele 20 sønner, og enda et par-tre barn er kjent fra andre kilder. Men Øyvind Skaldespiller sier at Håkon Adalsteinsfostre - som synes å ha vært den lengstlevende av brødrene - hadde åtte brødre i Valhall. Det kan passe med at ni er omtrent det antallet Hårfagresønner som har en klar plass i historien. De vokste opp på forskjellige kanter av landet, alt etter hvor de hadde morsætten sin. Det er uklart hvor stor makt Harald Hårfagre selv fikk i Trøndelag; jarlen Håkon Grjotgardsson falt allerede under rikssamlingskampene, og sønnen Sigurd må ha vært mindreårig da. Det kan ha bidratt til at Harald ble i stand til å utøve større innflytelse her enn opprinnelig forutsatt, og i Egils saga møter vi også hans menn på Hålogalandskysten med krav om skatt. Dermed kan det også være at Snorre har rett i å plassere Haralds sønn Halvdan (kalt Svarte etter farfaren) som underkonge i Trøndelag. Halvdan skal ha vært dattersønn av Håkon jarl. Med finnejenta Snefrid skal Harald ha hatt sønner som Sigurd Rise og Ragnvald Rettilbeine, som ble konger på Vest-Opplandene. Dessuten mener Snorre at det også var Harald-ætlinger som hersket på Hedemarken og i Gudbrandsdalen - han knytter tradisjonene om kongene Dag og Ring til ætten - men det er nok med mer tvilsom rett. I Viken satt Olav og Bjørn Farmann (kjøpmann). Eirik selv fikk Nordvestlandet i første omgang.Harald ble gravlagt på gården Hauger (Gar) ved Haugesund.Harold I (of Norway), called The Fairhaired (850?-933?), king of Norway (885?-933?), the first one to rule, at least nominally, the entire country. Harold inherited three small domains in eastern, central, and western Norway from his father, Halfdan the Black, and set out to conquer the rest of the country, spurred-according to the saga tradition-by the refusal of another petty king's daughter to marry him until all of Norway was under his sway. After many years of campaigning, during which the chieftains of western Norway offered the most stubborn resistance, Harold gained his final victory in the Battle of Hafrsfjord, which probably took place around 885, although it may have been some years later. Once in power, Harold ruled with a strong hand and consolidated his realm. One result of his firm rule was the acceleration of the immigration that had begun shortly before to pioneer settlements in Iceland. Many chieftains also fled to the Western (British) Isles, from where they and their kinsfolk in the Orkneys, Shetlands, and Hebrides raided the Norwegian coast. Harold was finally compelled to send a punitive expedition across the North Sea to flush out these Vikings. For the same purpose he entered into an alliance with King Athelstan of England; but he made no actual conquests. In his old age Harold abdicated in favor of his eldest legitimate son, Eric Bloodaxe, who was deposed by his half brother Hakon I after a few years of misrule.
Research Notes:
The date of his death is also recorded as ca. 932.
Noted events in his life were:
• He was a King from before 900 to 932 in Norway.
Harald married Åsa Håkonsdatter, daughter of Håkon Grjotgardsson d. y. Ladejarl and Unknown.
Harald next married Snefrid Svåsesdatter, daughter of Finnen Svase and Unknown.
Harald next married Åshild Ringsdatter, daughter of Ring Dagsson and Unknown.
Harald next married Gyda Eiriksdatter.
Harald next married Ragnhild Eiriksdatter.
Harald nextmarried Tora Mosterstang.

Harald married Svanhild Oysteinsdatter, daughter of Oystein Jarl and Unknown.