- Halfdan the Black
Halfdan the Black Gudrødsson (c.
810 – c.860 ) (Old Norse : "Hálfdan svarti", Norwegian: "Halvdan Svarte") was the father of the first King of Norway Harald Fairhair and belonged to theHouse of Yngling . No contemporary sources mention Halfdan, and the details of his life that are provided by laterkings' sagas are considered semi-legendary by modern historians. Although he has his own saga in Heimskringla, it lacks any skaldic verse, which is normally used by Snorri as supporting evidence and this, combined with its rather legendary character, leads historians to be wary of seeing much veracity in it.Halfdan is mentioned in
Snorri Sturluson 's "Heimskringla " (c. 1230), "Fagrskinna " (c. 1220), "Ágrip" (c. 1190) and "Historia Norwegiæ " (late 12th century). The most elaborate story is found in the latest saga, "Heimskringla". According to theLatin "Historia Norwegiæ", Halvdan was a king "in montanis" (in the mountains), which is usually equivalent toOppland in the Old Norse [Bergljot Solberg, "Jernalderen i Norge", (Oslo, 2000)] . This conflicts with the version told in "Heimskringla".According to "Heimskringla" and "Fagsrkinna", Halfdan was the son of King
Gudrød the Hunter . "Heimskringla" also names his mother, as Åsa, daughter of King Harald ofAgder , and his half-brother asOlaf Geirstad-Alf . Heimskringla relates that when Halfdan's father was killed, Åsa took the 1 year-old Halfdan and returned toAgder , where Halfdan was raised. When he was 18 or 19 years old, Halfdan became king of Agder. He quickly began adding to his kingdom, through political negotiation and military conquest. He divided the kingdom ofVestfold with his brother Olaf and, through military action, persuaded King Gandalf ofVingulmark to cede half his kingdom.Next, Halfdan subdued an area called
Raumarike . To secure his claim to Raumarike, Halfdan first defeated and killed the previous ruler,Sigtryg Eysteinsson , in battle. He then defeated Sigtryg's brother and successorEystein , in a series of battles. This established Halfdan's claim not only to Raumarike, but also to half ofHedmark , the core of Sigtryg and Eystein's kingdom. These details are only mentioned in "Heimskringla"."Fagrskinna" and "Heimskringla" both agree that Halfdan's first wife was Ragnhild, daughter of King
Harald Gulskeg (Goldbeard) ofSogn . Halfdan and Ragnhild had a son named "Harald" after his grandfather, and they sent him to be raised at his grandfather's court. Harald Gulskeg, being elderly, named his grandson as his successor, shortly before his death. Ragnhild died shortly after her father, and the young king Harald fell sick and died the next spring. When Halfdan heard about his son's death, he travelled to Sogn and laid claim to the title of king. No resistance was offered, and Halfdan added Sogn to his realm.The narrative in "Heimskringla" then adds another conquest for King Halfdan. In Vingulmark, the sons of Gandalf of Vingulmark,
Hysing ,Helsing , and Hake, attempted to ambush Halfdan at night, but he escaped into the forest. After raising an army, he returned to defeat the brothers, killing Hysing and Helsing. Hake fled the country, and Halfdan became king of all of Vingulmark.According to "Heimskringla", Halfdan's second wife was also named Ragnhild.
Ragnhild Sigurdsdotter was the daughter ofSigurd Hjort , king ofRingerike . She was kidnapped from her home by Hake, a "berserker " who encountered her father inHadeland and killed him. In turn, Halfdan had her kidnapped from Hake, so that he could marry her. "Fagrskinna" does not mention any of these details, but calls Ragnhild the daughter ofSigurd Snake-in-the-Eye , who in "Heimskringla"s version is her great-grandfather. Both sagas agree that Ragnhild and Halfdan had a son who was also named Harald."Heimskringla", "Fagrskinna", "Ágrip" and "Historia Norwegiæ" all relate that Halfdan drowned when he fell through the ice of lake
Randsfjorden on his return home from Hadeland. His horse and sleigh broke though ice weakened by cattle dung near a watering hole dug in the frozen lake. He was buried in a mound at Stein inRingerike . "Heimskringla"s narrative adds that each of the districts of his kingdom wanted to claim his grave, and that it was agreed to divide his body into four pieces so each district could bury a piece of it, resulting in four differentHalfdan's Mound s. According to this version, only his head is buried in Ringerike.References
External links
* [http://www.septentrionalia.org/etexts/fagrskinna.pdf Fagrskinna] in Old Norse
* [http://sagnanet.is/saganet/?MIval=/SinglePage&Manuscript=100203&Page=4187&language=english Ágrip] in Old Norse
* [http://www.heimskringla.no/original/heimskringla/index.php Heimskringla] in Old Norse
* in English, from wikisource
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