Haakon the Good

Haakon I the Good
Håkon den Gode og bøndene ved blotet på Mære by Peter Nicolai Arbo (1860)
King of Norway
Reign	934–961
Predecessor	Eric I
Successor	Harald II
Born	c. 920 Håkonshella, Hordaland, Norway
Died	961 Håkonshella, Hordaland (fatally wounded in the Battle of Fitjar)
Burial	Seim, Hordaland, Norway
Issue	Thora
House	Fairhair dynasty
Father	Harald Fairhair
Mother	Thora Mosterstong
Religion	Norse paganism, Roman Catholicism

Haakon Haraldsson (c. 920–961), also Haakon the Good (Old Norse: Hákon góði, Norwegian: Håkon den gode) and Haakon Adalsteinfostre (Old Norse: Hákon Aðalsteinsfóstri, Norwegian: Håkon Adalsteinsfostre), was the king of Norway from 934 to 961. He was noted for his attempts to introduce Christianity into Norway.^[1][2][3]

Early life

Haakon was the youngest son of King Harald Fairhair and Thora Mosterstang. He was born on the Håkonshella peninsula in Hordaland. King Harald determined to remove his youngest son out of harm's way and accordingly sent him to the court of King Athelstan of England. Haakon was fostered by King Athelstan, as part of an agreement made by his father, for which reason Haakon was nicknamed Adalsteinfostre.^[4] The English court introduced him to the Christian religion. On the news of his father's death, King Athelstan provided Haakon with ships and men for an expedition against his half-brother Eirik Bloodaxe, who had been proclaimed king of Norway.^[5][6]

Reign

At his arrival back in Norway, Haakon gained the support of the landowners by promising to give up the rights of taxation claimed by his father over inherited real property. Eirik Bloodaxe soon found himself deserted on all sides, and saved his own and his family's lives by fleeing from the country. Eirik fled to the Orkney Islands and later to the Kingdom of Jorvik, eventually meeting a violent death at Stainmore, Westmorland, in 954 along with his son, Haeric.^[7]

Haakon set at the knees of King Athelstan (from Stories of the Vikings (1908) by Mary MacGregor, illustrated by Monro S. Orr)

In 953, Haakon had to fight a fierce battle (Slaget på Blodeheia ved Avaldsnes) at Avaldsnes against the sons of Eirik Bloodaxe (Eirikssønnene). Haakon won the battle at which Eirik's son Guttorm died. One of Haakon's most famous victories was the Battle of Rastarkalv (Slaget på Rastarkalv) near Frei in 955 at which Eirik's son, Gamle, died. By placing ten standards far apart along a low ridge, he gave the impression that his army was bigger than it actually was. He managed to fool Eirik’s sons into believing that they were out-numbered. The Danes fled and were slaughtered by Haakon’s army. The sons of Eirik returned in 957, with support from King Gorm the Old, King of Denmark, but were again defeated by Haakon's effective army system.^[8][9]

Succession

Three of the surviving sons of Eirik Bloodaxe landed undetected on the coast of Hordaland in 961 and surprised the king at his residence in Fitjar. Haakon was mortally wounded at the Battle of Fitjar (Slaget ved Fitjar) after a final victory over Eirik’s sons. The King’s arm was pierced by an arrow and he died later from his wounds. He was buried in the burial mound (Håkonshaugen) in the village of Seim in Lindås municipality in the county of Hordaland. Upon his death his court poet, Eyvindr Skáldaspillir, composed a skaldic poem Hákonarmál about the fall of the King in battle and his reception into Valhalla.^{[10] [11]}

After Haakon's death, Harald Greycloak, the eldest surviving son of Eirik Bloodaxe, ascended the throne as King Harald II, although he had little authority outside Western Norway. Subsequently the Norwegians were tormented by years of war. In 970, King Harald was tricked into coming to Denmark and killed in a plot planned by Haakon Sigurdsson, who had become an ally of King Harald Bluetooth.^[12][13]

Haakon’s Park (Håkonarparken) opposite Fitjar Church (Fitjar kyrkje)

Modern references

• Haakon's Park (Håkonarparken) is the location of a statue of King Haakon sculpted by Anne Grimdalen. During 1961, the statue was erected opposite Fitjar Church for the one thousand-year commemoration of the Battle of Fitjar.^[14]
• Håkonarspelet is a historical play written by Johannes Heggland in 1997.^[15]
• Haakon is a major character in Mother of Kings by Poul Anderson.^[16]
• Haakon is the protagonist in God's Hammer by Eric Schumacher .^[17]

Ancestors from the sagas

Note

This article contains information from  "Haakon". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911. 

References

Other Sources

• Birkeli, Fridtjov (1979) Norge møter kristendommen fra vikingtiden til ca. 1050 (Oslo: Aschehoug & Co) ISBN 9788203087912
• Enstad, Nils-Petter (2008) Sverd eller kors? Kristningen av Norge som politisk prosess fra Håkon den gode til Olav Kyrre (Kolofon forlag) ISBN 9788230003947
• Krag, Claus (1995) Vikingtid og rikssamling 800-1130 (Oslo: Aschehoug's History of Norway, Bd. 2) ISBN 9788203220159
• Sigurdsson, Jon Vidar and Synnøve Veinan Hellerud (2012) Håkon den gode (Oslo: Spartacus forlag AS) ISBN 9788243005778

External links

• Saga Hákonar góða (Heimskringla Snorra Sturlusonar)
• Hákonarmól (The Lay of Hákon by Eyvind Finnsson Skáldaspillir)