Harald Fairhair's campaign in Götaland was an attack that took place in the 870s.

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 the ...

writes in ''Harald Fairhair's saga'' that Harald Fairhair disputed the Swedish king

Eric Eymundsson Eric Anundsson or Eymundsson was a semi-legendary Swedish king who supposedly ruled during the 9th century. The Norse sagas describe him as successful in extending his realm over the Baltic Sea, but unsuccessful in his attempts of westward expansi ...

's hegemony in what is today southern Norway. He attacked and forced Viken to accept his rule and then plundered and burnt in Rånrike. Because of this the Norwegian

skald A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: , later ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry, the other being Eddic poetry, which is anonymous. Skaldic poems were traditionally ...

Þorbjörn hornklofi Þórbjǫrn Hornklofi (Modern Norwegian: ''Torbjørn Hornklove'') was a 9th-century Norwegian skald and one of the court poet of King Harald Fairhair. His poetry has sometimes been regarded as a contemporary source of information regarding King Har ...

boasted that the Swedes stayed indoors whereas the Norwegians were out on the sea. The Gauts (

Geats The Geats ( ; ang, gēatas ; non, gautar ; sv, götar ), sometimes called ''Goths'', were a large North Germanic tribe who inhabited ("land of the Geats") in modern southern Sweden from antiquity until the late Middle Ages. They are one of th ...

) did not accept this and assembled their forces. In the spring, they put stakes in Göta älv to stop Harald's ships. Harald Fairhair put his ships alongside the stakes and plundered and burnt everything he could reach. The Norwegian skald said of this: The Geats arrived to the ships with a great army to fight king Harald, but they lost after great losses. Then the Norwegians travelled far and wide in Götaland, winning most of the battles. In one of the battles, the Geatish commander Hrani the Geat fell. Harald then proclaimed himself the ruler of all land north of Göta älv and north and west of lake

Vänern Vänern ( , also , ) is the largest lake in Sweden, the largest lake in the European Union and the third-largest lake of all Europe after Ladoga and Onega in Russia. It is located in the provinces of Västergötland, Dalsland, and Värmland in ...

and placed

Guttorm Haraldsson Guttorm Haraldsson was the first son of King Harald Fairhair of Norway and Åsa, daughter of Håkon Grjotgardsson, who was the first Earl of Lade. Harald had wrested Rånrike in Viken from the Swedish King Erik Eymundsson. Harald made Guttorm king ...

to defend the region with a large force.

References

* Sturluson, Snorri.
Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway
', translated

Lee M. Hollander Lee Milton Hollander (November 8, 1880 – October 19, 1972) was an American philologist who specialized in Old Norse studies. Hollander was for many years head of the Department of Germanic Languages at the University of Texas at Austin. ...

. Reprinted University of Texas Press, Austin, 1992. {{DEFAULTSORT:Harald Fairhair's Campaign In Gotaland Battles involving Norway Battles involving the Vikings G Geats Battles involving Sweden Götaland 870s conflicts 9th century in Norway Harald Fairhair