Harald Grenske

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Harald Grenske (10th century) was the son of Gudrød Bjørnsson. Gudrød was a grand-son of Harald Fairhair, and the king of Vestfold.

Harald's cognomen Grenske is due to his being raised in the district of Grenland, Norway. His father was slain when Harald was only 11 years old, by the sons of Gunnhild (i.e. Harald Greyhide and his brothers). Harald fled to Oppland and from there to Sweden, where he stayed with the powerful strongman Skagul Toste. He spent the summers pillaging as a Viking.

When the sons of Gunnhild had been banished, Harald Grenske followed Harald Bluetooth and Haakon Sigurdsson to Norway, and under Danish sovereignty, Harald became the king of Vestfold and Agder. He married Asta, the daughter of Gudbrand Kula, but abandoned her to woo Sigrid the Haughty, the daughter of Skagul Toste.

As Sigrid found him too eager with his entreaties, she had him burnt to death inside a house. His widow, Asta, promptly gave birth to the son Olaf the Stout, a future king of Norway, and was later remarried to Sigurd Syr, the king of Ringerike.

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This article contains content from the Owl Edition of Nordisk familjebok, a Swedish encyclopedia published between 1904-1926 now in Public Domain.[1]