Harald Fairhair

Lore & Background

Harald Fairhair's epithet hárfagri translates from Old Norse as 'beautiful-haired', in contrast to an earlier epithet he supposedly bore: lúfa, '(thick) matted hair'. Since the nineteenth century, when Norway was in a personal union with Sweden, Harald has become a national icon of Norway and a symbol of independence. Though the king's sagas and medieval accounts have been critically scrutinised during the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, Harald maintains a reputation as the father of the Norwegian nation. At the turn of the 21st century, a few historians have argued that Harald Fairhair did not exist as a historical figure. The key arguments for this include that there is no contemporary support for the claims of later sagas about Harald Fairhair; the first king of Norway recorded in near-contemporary sources is Harald Bluetooth (d. c. 985/986). The late ninth-century account of Norway provided by Ohthere to the court of Alfred the Great (about 890) and the history by Adam of Bremen written in 1075 record no King of Norway for the relevant period. Although sagas have Erik Bloodaxe as the son of Harald Fairhair, no independent evidence supports this genealogical connection. Scholarly consensus now falls into two camps: one suggests the medieval Icelandic and Norwegian historiography of Harald Fairhair is part of an origin myth, perhaps in which a cognomen of Haraldr Sigurðarson was transferred to a fictitious early king of all Norway. Another possibility is that Harald Fairhair was based on a historical king called Harald, perhaps also known as 'hárfagri', who ruled Vestlandet.

In Their Own Story

The skaldic poem Hrafnsmál, also known as Haraldskvæði, is generally accepted as being written by the 9th-century skald Þorbjörn Hornklofi. It largely consists of a conversation between an unnamed valkyrie and a raven. Part of the poem is cited by Snorri in Heimskringla as a source for his narrative of the Battle of Hafrsfjord, while another is cited in Fagrskinna as information about Harald. Both credit Hornklofi as the composer. The poem describes life at the court of a king called Harald, mentions that he took a Danish wife, and that he won a battle at Hafrsfjord. However, the most reliable manuscripts of Haraldskvæði call the poem's honorand Haraldr Hálfdanarson rather than Haraldr hárfagri. Another poem, Glymdrápa, relates a series of battles won by a king called Harald but offers no epithet at all. All the poems suggest is that there was once a king called Haraldr (Hálfdanarson). Sources from the British Isles independent of the Icelandic saga-tradition attest to a king whose name corresponds to the Old Norse name Haraldr inn hárfagri—but they use this name of the well attested Haraldr Sigurðarson (d. 1066, often known in modern English as Harald Hardrada). These sources include manuscript D of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle ('Harold Harfagera', under the year 1066) and the related histories by Orderic Vitalis, John of Worcester, and William of Malmesbury.

Reader's Guide

Harald Fairhair is mentioned in several sagas, some of which quote supposedly older skaldic poetry. If the linguistic dating of the poems are correct, they represent the earliest accounts of Harald Fairhair. The key poems are Hrafnsmál (also known as Haraldskvæði) and Glymdrápa, attributed to Þorbjörn hornklofi or alternatively (in the case of the first poem) to Þjóðólfr of Hvinir. Although only preserved in thirteenth-century Kings' sagas, they might have been transmitted orally from the tenth century. However, the information supplied in these poems is inconsistent with the tales in the sagas in which they are transmitted, and the sagas themselves often disagree on the details of his background and biography. Historians who accept the early dating of skaldic poetry such as Claus Krag and Hans Jacob Orning tend to accept Harald's existence, while remaining skeptical regarding the saga accounts. In 2015, Hans Jacob Orning argued that Harald was based in Sogn, an area which the medieval Icelandic historian Snorri Sturluson associated with Harald, and which was a centre of power in the ninth century. In the skaldic poetry, the estates mentioned match a convenient network of estates with about a day's traveling distance between them, which would be ideal for a king ruling in Vestlandet, but not all of Norway.

Did You Know?

• Harald Fairhair's epithet hárfagri means 'beautiful-haired' in Old Norse, not 'fair-haired' as in blond.
• The first king of Norway recorded in near-contemporary sources is Harald Bluetooth (d. c. 985/986), not Harald Fairhair.
• Sources from the British Isles use the name 'Harald Harfagera' for Haraldr Sigurðarson (Harald Hardrada, d. 1066), not for the earlier Harald Fairhair.
• The most reliable manuscripts of the poem Haraldskvæði call its honorand Haraldr Hálfdanarson rather than Haraldr hárfagri.
• At the turn of the 21st century, a few historians have argued that Harald Fairhair did not exist as a historical figure.