Petty kingdoms of Norway

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The Petty kingdoms of Norway were the entities from which the later Kingdom of Norway was founded. Before the unification of Norway in 872 and during the period of fragmentation after King Harald Fairhair's death Norway was divided in several small kingdoms. Some could have been as small as a cluster of villages and others comprised several of today's counties.

By the time of the first historical records of Scandinavia, about the 700s AD, some 29 petty kingdoms existed in Norway; in most the ruler's title was Konungr (King)^{[citation needed]}, as in Adger, Alvheim, Hedmark, Hordaland, Nordmøre og Romsdal, Rogaland, Romerike, Sogn, Solør, Sunmmøre, Trøndelag, Vestfold (which at various times included several of the aforementioned) and Viken; however in Hålogaland the title was jarl (compare earl), later Ladejarl (from the rulers powerbase at Lade, on the outskirts of today's Trondheim). The rulers of all the areas might be called petty kings, herser, subkings, kings or jarls depending on the source. A number of small communities were gradually organised into larger regions in the 9th century, and in 872 King Harald Fairhair unified the realm and became its first supreme ruler. Many of the former kingdoms would later become jarldoms under the Norwegian high king and some would try to break free again.

Below follows an incomplete list of petty kingdoms of Norway and their known rulers. Some of the people mentioned in this list are legendary or semi-legendary. Some of the areas might have a contested status as petty kingdoms.

Contents 1 Kingdom of Agder 2 Kingdom of Grenland 3 Kingdom of Gudbrandsdal 4 Kingdom of Hadeland 5 Kingdom of Hardanger 6 Kingdom of Hedmark 7 Kingdom of Hålogaland 8 Kingdom of Land 9 Kingdom of Namdalen 10 Kingdom of Nordmøre 11 Kingdom of Oppland 12 Kingdom of Orkdalen 13 Kingdom of Ranrike 14 Kingdom of Raumarike 15 Kingdom of Ringerike 16 Kingdom of Rogaland 17 Kingdom of Romsdal 18 Kingdom of Sogn 19 Kingdom of Solør 20 Kingdom of Sunnmøre 21 Kingdom of Telemark 22 Kingdom of Toten 23 Kingdom of Trøndelag 24 Kingdom of Vestfold 25 Kingdom of Vestmar 26 Kingdom of Vingulmark 27 Kingdom of Viken 28 Kingdom of Voss 29 Sources

[edit] Kingdom of Agder

Rulers:

• Kissa
• Harald, father of Åsa, mother of Halfdan the Black
• Halfdan the Black, father of Harald Fairhair, from 838.
• Kjotve the Rich, late 800s
• Harald Gudrødsson Grenske, 976-987

[edit] Kingdom of Grenland

Rulers:

[edit] Kingdom of Gudbrandsdal

Rulers:

• • Dale-Gudbrand

[edit] Kingdom of Hadeland

Rulers:

• • Höd
  • Halfdan Hvitbeinn

[edit] Kingdom of Hardanger

Rulers:

[edit] Kingdom of Hedmark

Rulers:

• Halfdan Hvitbeinn
• Sigtryg Eysteinsson
• Eystein Eysteinsson, brother of Sigtryg
• Halfdan the Black, was king of half of Hedmark after defeating rulers Sigtryg and his brother, Eystein.

[edit] Kingdom of Hålogaland

Rulers:

• Håkon Grjotgardsson

[edit] Kingdom of Land

Rulers:

[edit] Kingdom of Namdalen

Rulers:

[edit] Kingdom of Nordmøre

Rulers:

[edit] Kingdom of Oppland

Rulers:

• Eystein, father of Åsa who married Halfdan Hvitbeinn (see Ynglinga Saga, paragraph 49)
• Halfdan "the Aged" Sveidasson (c. 750)
• Ivar Halfdansson (c. 770)
• Eystein "Glumra (the Noisy)" Ivarsson, son-in-law of Ragnvald the Mountain-High and father of Ragnvald Eysteinsson (788)

[edit] Kingdom of Orkdalen

Rulers:

[edit] Kingdom of Ranrike

Rulers:

• Tryggve Olafsson

[edit] Kingdom of Raumarike

Rulers:

• • Sigurd Ring 8th century
  • Ragnar Lodbrok 8th century
  • Halfdan Hvitbeinn
  • Eystein Halfdansson Son of Halfdan
  • Halfdan the Mild Son of Eystein
  • Gudrød the Hunter Son of Halfdan
  • Sigtryg Eysteinsson
  • Halfdan the Black Son of Gudrød

[edit] Kingdom of Ringerike

Rulers:

• • Raum the Old
  • Halfdan the Old
  • Sigurd Syr

[edit] Kingdom of Rogaland

Rulers:

[edit] Kingdom of Romsdal

Rulers:

• • Raum the Old legendary
  • Jötunbjörn the Old son of Raum

[edit] Kingdom of Sogn

Rulers:

[edit] Kingdom of Solør

Rulers:

• • Halfdan Hvitbeinn

[edit] Kingdom of Sunnmøre

Rulers:

[edit] Kingdom of Telemark

The status of Telemark as a kingdom has been contested by some historians. Rulers:

[edit] Kingdom of Toten

Rulers:

• • Halfdan Hvitbeinn

[edit] Kingdom of Trøndelag

Rulers:

• • Håkon Grjotgardsson

[edit] Kingdom of Vestfold

Rulers:

• Erik Agnarsson
• Halfdan Hvitbeinn (part of Vestfold)
• Eystein Halfdansson Eriks son in law
• Halfdan the Mild Eysteins son
• Gudrød the Hunter Son of Halfdan
• Halfdan the Black Ruled half the kingdom. Son of Gudrød.
• Olaf Gudrødsson Ruled half the kingdom. Son of Gudrød.
• Ragnvald the Mountain-High
• Bjørn Farmann
• Olaf Haraldsson Geirstadalf, brother of Bjørn
• Harald Gudrødsson Grenske, 976-987

[edit] Kingdom of Vestmar

Rulers:

• • Dag

[edit] Kingdom of Vingulmark

Rulers:

• Gudrød the Hunter, half of Vingulmark
• Alfgeir (Old Norse: Álfgeir)
• Gandalf Alfgeirsson
• Halfdan the Black Son of Gudrød
• Olaf Haraldsson
• Tryggve Olafsson
• Harald Gudrødsson Grenske, 976-987
• Svein Alfivuson, 1030-1035

[edit] Kingdom of Viken

Rulers:

• • Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye

[edit] Kingdom of Voss

Rulers:

• • Skilfir

[edit] Sources

• The information in this article is mostly from other articles on Wikipedia.
• A private Viking history page