Halfdan the Black (
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...
: ''Halfdanr Svarti''; fl. c. 9th century) was a king of
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 ...
. He belonged to the
House of Yngling
The Ynglings were a dynasty of kings, first in Sweden and later in Norway, primarily attested through the poem ''Ynglingatal''. The dynasty also appears as Scylfings (Old Norse ''Skilfingar'') in '' Beowulf''. When ''Beowulf'' and ''Ynglingatal'' ...
and was the father of
Harald Fairhair
Harald Fairhair no, Harald hårfagre Modern 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 No ...
, the first king of a unified Norway.
In sagas
According to ''
Heimskringla
''Heimskringla'' () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorre Sturlason (1178/79–1241) 1230. The name ''Heimskringla'' was first used in the 17th century, derive ...
'' and ''Fagrskinna'', Halfdan was the son of the Yngling King
Gudrød the Hunter
Gudrød the Hunter ( Old Norse: ''Guðrøðr veiðikonungr'', Norwegian: ''Gudrød Veidekonge'', literally ''Gudrod Hunter-king''; died 820 AD), also known as Gudrød the Magnificent ( Old Norse: ''enn gǫfugláti'', Norwegian: ''den gjeve''), is ...
. ''Heimskringla'' also names his mother, as
Åsa, daughter of King Harald 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 ("south ...
, and his half-brother as
Olaf Geirstad-Alf Olaf Gudrødsson (c. 810 – c. 860), known after his death as Olaf Geirstad-Alf "Olaf, Elf of Geirstad" (Old Norse Ólafr Geirstaðaalfr), was a semi-legendary petty king in Norway. A member of the House of Yngling, he was the son of Gudrød the Hu ...
. Heimskringla relates that when Halfdan's father was killed, Åsa took the 1 year-old Halfdan and returned to
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 ("south ...
, 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 of
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 ...
with his brother Olaf and, through military action, persuaded
King Gandalf of
Vingulmark to cede half his kingdom. Based on the formulaic nature of his ties to his predecessors, his strong affiliation with Agder, and the failure of an early saga dedicated to him to name any family connections, some scholars have suggested that the linkage to the earlier Yngling dynasty of Vestfold was a later invention, created to associate a conquering Halfdan and his son
Harald Fairhair
Harald Fairhair no, Harald hårfagre Modern 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 No ...
with the family glorified in the ''
Ynglingatal
''Ynglingatal'' or ''Ynglinga tal'' (Old Norse: 'Enumeration of the Ynglingar') is a Skaldic poem cited by Snorri Sturluson in the ''Ynglinga saga'', the first saga of Snorri's ''Heimskringla''. Þjóðólfr of Hvinir (Thjodolf), who was a poet ...
'', whom he had displaced.
Halfdan next is said to have 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 successor
Eystein Eystein or Eysteinn is the name of:
* Eystein Erlendsson (d. 1188), Norwegian bishop and saint
* Eystein Halfdansson (fl. c. 730), king of Romerike and Vestfold in what is now Norway
* Eystein Haraldson (died 1157), king of Norway
* Eystein Ivarsso ...
, in a series of battles. This established Halfdan's claim not only to Raumarike, but also to half of
Hedmark, 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) of
Sogn
Sogn is a traditional district in Western Norway ''(Vestlandet)''. It is located in the county of Vestland, surrounding the Sognefjord, the largest/longest fjord in Norway. The district of Sogn consists of the municipalities of Aurland, Bales ...
. 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, also named Ragnhild, had been kidnapped from her home by Hake, a "
berserker
In the Old Norse written corpus, berserker were those who were said to have fought in a trance-like fury, a characteristic which later gave rise to the modern English word '' berserk'' (meaning "furiously violent or out of control"). Berserkers ...
" who encountered her father in
Hadeland
Hadeland () is a traditional district in the southeastern part of Norway. It is centered on the southern part of the large lake Randsfjorden in Innlandet and Viken counties. The district consists of the municipalities Gran in Innlandet county ...
and killed him. Halfdan had her kidnapped from Hake, so that he could marry her. ''Fagrskinna'' does not mention any of these details. However, both sagas agree that Ragnhild and Halfdan had a son who was also named
Harald. (Among the more unlikely claims in ''Fagrskinna'' and ''Heimskringla'' are that this woman was
Ragnhild Sigurdsdotter, daughter of
Sigurd Hjort, king of
Ringerike. This would make Ragnhild the granddaughter or even great-granddaughter of
Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye
Sigurd Snake-in-the-eye ( non, Sigurðr ormr í auga) or Sigurd Áslaugsson was a semi-legendary Viking warrior and Danish king active from the mid to late 9th century. According to multiple saga sources and Scandinavian histories from the 12th ...
– an impossibility, given that most sources suggest that Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye was active only in the ''late'' 9th century, which would mean that he was born a generation or two ''after'' Halfdan the Black.)
Halvdanshaugen
''Heimskringla'', ''Fagrskinna'', ''Ágrip'' and ''Historia Norwegiæ'' all relate that Halfdan drowned when he fell through the ice at the inlet
Røykenvik in the lake
Randsfjorden on his return home from
Hadeland
Hadeland () is a traditional district in the southeastern part of Norway. It is centered on the southern part of the large lake Randsfjorden in Innlandet and Viken counties. The district consists of the municipalities Gran in Innlandet county ...
. His horse and sleigh broke through ice weakened by cattle dung near a watering hole dug in the frozen lake. He was buried in a mound at Stein in
Ringerike (''Halvdanshaugen på Stein'')
''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 different sites called ''Halvdanshaugen'' (from the
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...
word ''haugr'' meaning mound). According to this version, only his head is buried in
Ringerike.
Sources
No contemporary sources mention Halfdan, and the details of his life that are provided by later
kings' 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. The "Black" nickname was given to him because of his black hair.
Halfdan is mentioned in
Snorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) 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 th ...
's ''
Heimskringla
''Heimskringla'' () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorre Sturlason (1178/79–1241) 1230. The name ''Heimskringla'' was first used in the 17th century, derive ...
'' (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 the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
''Historia Norwegiæ'', Halvdan was a king "in montanis" (in the mountains), which is usually equivalent to
Oppland
Oppland is a former county in Norway which existed from 1781 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020. The old Oppland county bordered the counties of Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The c ...
in the
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...
.
[Bergljot Solberg, ''Jernalderen i Norge'', (Oslo, 2000)] This conflicts with the version told in ''Heimskringla''.
References
External links
Fagrskinnain Old Norse
Ágripin Old Norse
Heimskringlain Old Norse
*
Heimskringla
''Heimskringla'' () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorre Sturlason (1178/79–1241) 1230. The name ''Heimskringla'' was first used in the 17th century, derive ...
in English, from wikisource
{{DEFAULTSORT:Halfdan the Black
Norwegian petty kings
9th-century rulers in Europe
People from Vestfold
810s births
Place of birth unknown
Place of death unknown
860 deaths
9th-century Norwegian monarchs