Talk:Fairhair dynasty

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This article was frankly very poor - no reliable or verifiable sources at all, and a seemingly over-literal use of Norwegian names. I've stripped it down to the basics and added a king-list taken from List of Norwegian monarchs. If people want to expand the article, feel free, but please make sure that you cite your sources and don't add your own original research. -- ChrisO 21:59, 23 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Genelogy

Most medieval genealogies of noblemen and royals were actually all made up centuries later to gain political power by claiming noble birth. To point out that they contain false links is like criticizing a crime novel for just being fiction. Of course its made up!.. If people of the 12th century actually believed that i.e. Sverre was the son of King Sigurn Munn, it had political consequences, regardless the fact that it was a forgery. Perceived (and sometimes false) genealogies may be equally as historically important as true genealogies.

"But its more likely that only three generations of rulers in lineage of Harald Fairhair himself are known, and all the rest afterwards just used the prestige and name of the country's first unifier." Sounds plausible, but that is not the point the medievalist are making. It was (probably) in the 12th century that it was politically advantageous to claim inheritance as far back as AD 890, instead of e.g. Saint Olav (died 1030). "The rest" didn't claim being members of a Fairhair dynasty, it was instead claimed later that they had been members of the Fairhair dynasty by their postdecessors. (Same logic as it was in 1648, that 1618 became the start of the 30 years war) --H@r@ld 05:52, 17 January 2007 (UTC)