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Heimskringla is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorri Sturluson (1178/79–1241) c. 1230. The name Heimskringla was first used in the 17th century, derived from the first two words of one of the manuscripts.
Harald I Fairhair is portrayed by the Icelandic sagas as the first King of Norway. According to traditions current in Norway and Iceland in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, he reigned from c. 872 to 930. Supposedly, two of his sons, Eric Bloodaxe and Haakon the Good, succeeded Harald, respectively, to become kings after his death.
Harald II Greycloak or Grey-hide literally translated was a king of Norway from the Fairhair dynasty.
In Norse cosmology, Vanaheimr is a location associated with the Vanir, a group of gods themselves associated with fertility, wisdom, and the ability to see the future.
Mímir or Mim is a figure in Norse mythology, renowned for his knowledge and wisdom, who is beheaded during the Æsir-Vanir War. Afterward, the god Odin carries around Mímir's head and it recites secret knowledge and counsel to him.
Ynglinga saga is a Kings' saga, originally written in Old Norse by the Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson about 1225. It is the first section of his Heimskringla. It was first translated into English and published in 1844 by Samuel Laing.
The Battle of Svolder was the largest naval battle of the Viking age, fought in September 999 or 1000 in the western Baltic Sea between King Olaf of Norway and an alliance of the Kings of Denmark and Sweden and Olaf's enemies in Norway. The backdrop of the battle was the unification of Norway into a single independent state after longstanding Danish efforts to control the country, combined with the spread of Christianity in Scandinavia.
Ragnvald Ulfsson the Old was a jarl of Västergötland or Östergötland and was married to a sister of King Olav Tryggvason.
Vingulmark is the old name for the area in Norway which today makes up the counties of Østfold, western parts of Akershus, and eastern parts of Buskerud, and includes the site of Norway's capital, Oslo. During the Middle Ages, Vingulmark was an administrative unit limited to Oslo, Bærum and Asker.
Olaf Haraldssøn Geirstadalf Digerbein, was a reputed son of King Harald Fairhair of Norway with Svanhild Øysteinsdatter, daughter of Øystein Jarl.
Sigurd Syr was a Norwegian petty king of Ringerike, a region in Buskerud. He was notable in Norwegian history largely through his association with Kings Harald Hardrada and Olaf II of Norway. By his marriage with Åsta Gudbrandsdatter after her first husband Harald Grenske had died, Sigurd Syr was stepfather of King Olaf II and the father of King Harald III.
The Battle of Hafrsfjord was a great naval battle fought in Hafrsfjord sometime between 872 and 900 that resulted in the unification of Norway, later known as the Kingdom of Norway. After the battle, the victorious Viking chief Harald Fairhair proclaimed himself the first king of the Norwegians, merging several petty kingdoms under a single monarch for the first time.
Jarl Sigvaldi was the semi-legendary chieftain of the fabled Jomsvikings and commander of their stronghold - Jomsborg. He succeeded Palnatoke as the leaders of the Jomsvikings in the late 10th century. The character of Sigvaldi remains largely enigmatic. As a leader, he was said to be more wily than brave despite leading such a powerful force.
Svein Knutsson was the son of Cnut the Great, king of Denmark, Norway, and England, and his first wife Ælfgifu of Northampton, a Mercian noblewoman. In 1017 Cnut married Emma of Normandy, but there is no evidence that Ælfgifu was repudiated, and in 1030 Cnut sent her and Svein as regents to rule Norway. However, their rule was considered oppressive by the Norwegians. They imposed new taxes and harsh laws that made them unpopular and they were expelled in 1034.
Sæmingr was a king of Norway according to Snorri Sturluson's euhemerized accounts or Hålogaland. He was said to be the son of Odin or Yngvi-Freyr.
Tryggvi "the Pretender" was a Viking chieftain who lived in the early eleventh century, and came from "west across the sea". His story appears in Heimskringla by Snorri Sturluson, the saga Morkinskinna, and a saga composed by Oddr Snorrason on Olaf Tryggvason.
The Separate Saga of St. Olaf(Olav den helliges saga) is one of the kings' sagas. It was written about King Olaf II of Norway, later Saint Olaf, patron saint of Norway.
Snorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of the Prose Edda, which is a major source for what is today known as Norse mythology, and Heimskringla, a history of the Norwegian kings that begins with legendary material in Ynglinga saga and moves through to early medieval Scandinavian history. For stylistic and methodological reasons, Snorri is often taken to be the author of Egil's saga. He was assassinated in 1241 by men claiming to be agents of the King of Norway.
The Saga of Harald Fairhair is the third of the sagas in Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla, after Ynglinga saga and the saga of Halfdan the Black. Snorri sagas were written in Iceland in the 1220s. This saga is about the Norwegian king Harald Fairhair.
The Thelir or Thilir were a North Germanic tribe that inhabited the region now known as Upper Telemark in modern Norway during the Migration Period and the Viking Age. The region of Telemark, which originally was only referred to Upper Telemark, was named after them, and means the "mark of the Thelir." The Thelir are mentioned in the Saga of Harald Fairhair by Snorri Sturluson, as one of the tribes who fought against Harald Fairhair in the Battle of Hafrsfjord.
References
- Snorri Sturluson. Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway. Lee Hollander, transl. Univ. of Texas Press, 2002.