While the Vikings were ranging far and wide, at home a decisive civil war sea-battle was raging in 872 at Hafrsfjord near Haugesund. The demographic consequences were considerable, with as many as 20.000 people emigrating from Norway to Iceland to escape the victorious king Harald Hårfagre (Fair-Hair), son of Svarta-Halvdan (Halvdan the Black). Politically, Haralds victory produced far-reaching consequences as he unified a number of separate realms into the Kingdom of Norway.
The reign of Harald Hårfagre was such an odd and entertaining time, at least for historians, that it was recorded for posterity in the Heimskringla, the Norwegian Kings Saga, by the Icelander, Snorre Sturluson.
According to Snorre, Haralds unification of Norway was inspired by a woman who taunted the king by refusing to have relations with a man whose kingdom wasnt even as large as tiny Denmark. Through a series of confederations and trade agreements, he extended his rule as far north as Trondheim, which was founded in 997 at the mouth of the Nid River. Soon thereafter, it became the first capital of the new kingdom. His foreign policies were equally canny, and he even sent one of his sons, Håkon, to be reared in the court of King Athelstan of England. There is no record of whether the woman in question was sufficiently impressed.
The king did, however, marry 10 wives and fathered a surfeit of heirs, thereby creating serious problems over succession. The one who managed to rise above them all was Erik, his last child and only son with Ragnhild the Mighty, daughter of the Danish King Erik of Jutland. The ruthless Erik rose to power by eliminating all of his legitimate brothers except Håkon (who was safe in England). Together with a host of squabbling illegitimate brothers, Erik, whose reign was characterised by considerable ineptitude, then proceeded to squander his fathers hard-won Norwegian confederation. When Håkon returned from England to sort out the mess as King Håkon den Gode (Håkon the Good), Erik was forced to flee to Britain where he took over the throne of York as King Erik Blood-Axe.
King Håkon the Good, who had been baptised a Christian during his English upbringing, brought the new faith with him to Norway. His attempts to introduce it into his realm, accompanied by missionaries and a bishop from Britain, met with limited success. This was particularly true in Trondheim, where the subjects appeared to be utterly preoccupied with drinking and toasting Þór (Thor), Oðinn (Odin) and Freyr. Although the missionaries were eventually able to replace the names of the gods with those of Catholic saints, they failed to control the pagan practice of blood sacrifice. When Håkon the Good was defeated and killed in 960, Norwegian Christianity all but disappeared.
It was revived briefly during the reign of King Olav Tryggvason (Olav I), a Viking who had converted to Christianity in England. Being a good Viking, Olav decided that only force would work to convert his countrymen to the truth. Unfortunately for the king, his intended wife, Queen Sigrid of Sweden, refused to convert to Christianity. Olav cancelled the marriage contract and Sigrid married the pagan king Svein Forkbeard of Denmark. Together they orchestrated Olavs death in a great Baltic sea-battle, then took Norway as their own.
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Christianity was finally cemented in Norway by King Olav Haraldsson, Olav II, who was also converted in England. There, he and his Vikings allied themselves with King Ethelred and managed to save London from a Danish attack under King Svein Forkbeard by destroying London Bridge (from whence we derive the song London Bridge is Falling Down). Succeeding where his namesake had failed, Olav II helped construct Norways first Christian church, at Mosterhamn on the island of Bømlo, Hardanger in 995, and founded the Church of Norway in 1024. He even managed to bring Christianity to recalcitrant Trondheim.
However, no Scandinavian monarch of the time could ever rest comfortably in his bed. King Canute (Knut) of Denmark was eyeing Norway for possible annexation and, in 1028, Knut invaded the country, forcing King Olav II to flee. Although Olav later returned, a popular farmers uprising in Trøndelag led to his death at the decisive Battle of Stiklestad in 1030. For Christians, this amounted to martyrdom and the king was thereafter canonised as a saint. Indeed, the great Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim stands as a memorial to Olav and, until the Protestant reformation, the cathedral served as a destination for pilgrims from all over Europe. Apart from rising to the lofty heights of sainthood, Olav is also remembered for having forged a lasting identity for Norway as an independent kingdom.
Canutes brief reign was followed by four generations of kings who ruled Norway as a semiautonomous nation. Although King Olav Kyrre (Olav the Peaceful) founded Bergen and Stavanger around 1070, none has captured the attention of historians quite like Harald III (Harald Hardråda, or Harald Hard-Ruler), half-brother of St Olav. After establishing a base by founding Oslo in 1043, Harald III raided throughout the Mediterranean before mounting an ill-fated invasion of England in 1066. His death at the hands of King Harold of England at the Battle of Stamford Bridge is generally regarded as the end of the Viking Age and expansionism, although Viking power abroad didnt begin to wane significantly until the 13th century.
