The battle at Hakadal was the first battle in

Snorre Sturlasson 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 the ...

's narration 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 Nor ...

unification of Norway The Unification of Norway (Norwegian Bokmål: ''Rikssamlingen'') is the process by which Norway merged from several petty kingdoms into a single kingdom, predecessor to modern Kingdom of Norway. History King Harald Fairhair is the monarch who ...

. ''

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 ...

'' tells of how when king

Halfdan the Black Halfdan the Black (Old Norse: ''Halfdanr Svarti''; fl. c. 9th century) was a king of Vestfold. He belonged to the House of Yngling and was the father of Harald Fairhair, the first king of a unified Norway. In sagas According to ''Heimskringla'' ...

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 ...

died his son Harald was still only a child of ten. The kings of the surrounding countries quickly attempted to take advantage of the perceived weakness of the child king. While several kings from

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 ...

were gathering forces in the north, king

Gandalf Alfgeirsson Gandalf Alfgeirsson (Old Norse: ''Gandálf Álfgeirsson'') was a legendary king of the petty kingdom Alfheim, in south-eastern Norway and south-western Sweden He is portrayed in Snorri Sturluson's saga ''Heimskringla''. Heimskringla relates that ...

of Alfheimr was the first to strike. He split his army in two, one force led by his son

Hake The term hake refers to fish in the: * Family Merlucciidae of northern and southern oceans * Family Phycidae (sometimes considered the subfamily Phycinae in the family Gadidae) of the northern oceans Hake Hake is in the same taxonomic order ( ...

was to advance on land, while the other, led by Gandalv, was to cross the sea and attack the Vestfold army from the rear. On hearing of the enemy army approaching king Harald's regent, his uncle Guttorm, quickly raised an army and marched towards the army advancing overland. Guttorm destroyed the enemy army, and Hake fell there. The valley where they fought has later taken his name. After the battle Guttorm turned his forces to face the army of king Gandalv that had landed in Vestfold, further south. Guttorm forced Gandalv to retreat, and destroyed most of his army.

References

- Snorre Sturlasson's Heimskringla translated by Samuel Laing (London, 1844). {{DEFAULTSORT:Battle Of Hakadal Battles of the unification of Norway, H 860s conflicts 9th century in Norway