Harald
I
Harald
I (of Norway), called The Fairhaired (860?-940?), king of
Norway (885?-933?), the first person to rule, at least nominally,
the entire country.
Harold
inherited three small domains in eastern, central, and western
Norway from his father, Halfdan the Black, and set out to
conquer the rest of the country. After many years of campaigning,
during which the chieftains of western Norway offered the
most stubborn resistance, Harold gained his final victory
in the Battle of Hafrsfjord, which probably took place around
885, although it may have been some years later.
Once
in power, Harold ruled with a strong hand and consolidated
his realm. One result of his firm rule was the acceleration
of the immigration that had begun shortly before to pioneer
settlements in Iceland.
Many
chieftains also fled to the Western (British) Isles, from
where they and their kinsfolk in the Orkneys, Shetlands,
and Hebrides raided the Norwegian coast. Harold was finally
compelled to send a punitive expedition across the North
Sea to flush out these Vikings. For the same purpose he
entered into an alliance with King Athelstan of England;
but he made no actual conquests.
In
his old age Harold abdicated in favor of his eldest legitimate
son, Eric Bloodaxe, who was deposed by his half brother
Håkon I after a few years of misrule.
"Harald
I,"Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001 http://encarta.msn.com
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