Harald Granraude (''Haraldr hinn granrauði'') was a semi-legendary Norwegian petty king of

Agder Agder is a county (''fylke'') and traditional region in the southern part of Norway. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Aust-Agder counties were merged. Since the early 1900s, the term Sørlandet ("sou ...

who lived in the 9th century. He was married to Gunnhild Ragnvaldsdottir, daughter of

Ragnvald Sigurdsson Ragnvald Sigurdsson (c. 750 – after 814) was a semi-legendary lord of Huseby, in Lista (modern Norway). He is best known for the marriage of his daughter, Gunnhild Ragnvaldsdatter, to Harald Granraude, king of Agder. Ragnvald also had a son, ...

, of Huseby on the peninsula of

Lista Lista is a former municipality located in the old Vest-Agder county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1965. The administrative centre was the village of Vanse where Vanse Church is located. Lista munici ...

. He was father to Åsa Haraldsdottir and great-grandfather of

Harald Fairhair Harald Fairhair no, Harald hårfagreModern Icelandic: ( – ) was a Norwegian king. According to traditions current in Norway and Iceland in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, he reigned from 872 to 930 and was the first King of N ...

(''Haraldr Hárfagri''), the first king of Norway. When Gudrød the Hunter (''Gudrød Veidekonge''), of Borre in

Vestfold Vestfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered t ...

proposed marriage to Åsa after the death of his first wife, Harald Granraude refused the proposal. This made Gudrød angry and he sailed with his ships to the king's farm on Tromøya. He arrived at Harald's farm at night and made a surprise attack. When Harald saw an army was coming, he retaliated with all his men. It was a hard battle and Harald lost. He and his son, Gyrd Haraldsson, were both killed. King Gudrød looted Harald's treasure and took and married Åsa.

References

Norwegian petty kings 9th-century rulers in Europe {{Europe-royal-stub