Viking Magazine - May 2022 - 13

THE STORIES OF KING HARALD FAIRHAIR ARE THE
STUFF OF LEGENDS. HERE'S A LOOK AT HIS LIFE
AND THE MONUMENTS THAT COMMEMORATE HIS
SIGNIFICANCE IN VIKING HISTORY.
F
ew figures from the Viking Age have achieved the same degree of
legendary status as Harald Fairhair. As the man credited with uniting
Norway into a single nation, the old sagas are rife with references to
either his grand deeds or to his tyrannical rule, depending on the
source's point of view.
Magnificent monuments have been built in Norway to commemorate
his significant accomplishments and he often receives mention or plays a
prominent role in current television series and historical fiction novels that
address the topic of Viking Age Norway. The Harald Fairhair as we know him in
each of these contexts remains the product of medieval myth-making, but that
doesn't make his renowned life or the various cultural mementos dedicated to it
any less fascinating.
Most of what we know about Harald's life stems from the blurring of fact and
fiction in " The History of Harald Fairhair, " which comprises a chapter of Snorri
Sturluson's epic, " Heimskringla " ( " The Lives of the Norse Kings " ). Written
around 1230 in Iceland, the volume is just one of Snorri's many manuscripts
and, in typical medieval Icelandic fashion, is loaded with elements of fantasy in
addition to select historical truths.
Snorri himself was a bit of a scoundrel who vied his entire life to help
overthrow Iceland's independent rule and deliver the country into the folds
of the Norwegian crown, so his bias tended to favor Norway and present it in
a positive light, which contrasted with that of many of his contemporaries in
Iceland.
A VOW TO CONQUER
In the pages of " Heimskringla, " we learn of Harald's impetuous vow to neither
cut nor comb his hair until he has laid claim to all of Norway. Harald had
become king of the Vestfold region (the area southwest of current-day Oslo)
when his father, Halfdan the Black, died around the year 860 while riding his
sled over a frozen lake and falling through the ice. After a tumultuous period of
subduing insurgencies instigated by his vassals in the wake of his father's death,
Harald sent messengers to Hordaland (the area around Bergen) to ask the
local king's daughter, Gyda, for her hand in marriage. Gyda refused outright,
stating that she would not marry Harald until he had proven himself worthy by
becoming the king of all of Norway.
Upon hearing this, Harald made his vow and initiated his quest to conquer
Sverd i fjell
(Swords in
Rock) is one of
Norway's most
awe-inspiring
monuments.
@sonsofnorway
the entire nation, bearing the nickname " Thickhair " for the next 10 years. Only
when he had finally achieved his objective did he have his hair cut and thus
earn his enduring nickname of " Fairhair " (or " Finehair, " or " beautiful haired, "
depending on the translation).
Whether there is any kernel of truth in Harald's romantic motivation to
conquer his neighboring Norwegian petty kings or whether this was concocted
entirely as a figment of Snorri's imagination remains unknown. In fact, some
May 2022
13
Viking Magazine - May 2022

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