The Earls of Lade ( no, ladejarler) were a dynasty of Norse '' jarls'' from

Lade Lade may refer to: People * Brendon Lade (born 1976), an Australian rules footballer * Sir John Lade (1759–1838), a baronet and Regency horse-breeder * Heinrich Eduard von Lade (1817–1904), a German banker and amateur astronomer * The Jarls ...

(

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 settlemen ...

: ''Hlaðir''), who ruled what is now

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; sma, Trööndelage) is a county in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County ( no, Trondhjems Amt); in 1804 the county was split into Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag by the King of Denma ...

and

Hålogaland Hålogaland was the northernmost of the Norwegian provinces in the medieval Norse sagas. In the early Viking Age, before Harald Fairhair, Hålogaland was a kingdom extending between the Namdalen valley in Trøndelag county and the Lyngen fjord ...

from the 9th century to the 11th century. The seat of the Earls of Lade was at Lade Gaard, now located in the eastern parts of the city of

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

. The site is near the seaside of the

Trondheimsfjord The Trondheim Fjord or Trondheimsfjorden (), an inlet of the Norwegian Sea, is Norway's third-longest fjord at long. It is located in the west-central part of the country in Trøndelag county, and it stretches from the municipality of Ørland i ...

, which was an important waterway in the

Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Germ ...

. According to

Snorri Snorri (; ) is a masculine given name. People with the name include: * Snorri Þorbrandsson, a character in the Icelandic ''Eyrbyggja saga'' * Snorri Goði or Snorri Þorgrímsson (963–1031), a prominent chieftain in Western Iceland, featured i ...

, King Harald I of Norway was a great commander but lacked a fleet. For that he was assisted by

Håkon Grjotgardsson Håkon Grjotgardsson (Old Norse: ''Hákon Grjótgarðsson'') (c. 860–870 – c. 900–920) was the first Earl of Lade and an ally of Harald Fairhair, King of Norway. Biography Nicknamed Håkon the Rich (''Hákon jarl hinn riki'') and Håkon the ...

. In gratitude Harald made him the first earl of Lade.Jørn Sandnes: ''Håkon Grjotgardsson, Jarl'' (Norsk biografisk leksikon)
/ref>

Notable Earls of Lade

* Hákon Grjótgarðsson (c. 860–870 – c. 900–920), an ally and father-in-law 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 ...

* Sigurðr Hákonarson (died 962), friend and advisor of Hákon the Good *

Hákon Sigurðarson Haakon Sigurdsson ( non, Hákon Sigurðarson , no, Håkon Sigurdsson; 937–995), known as Haakon Jarl (Old Norse: ''Hákon jarl''), was the ''de facto'' ruler of Norway from about 975 to 995. Sometimes he is styled as Haakon the Powerful ( n ...

(c. 937–995), ruler of Norway from about 975 to 995 *

Eiríkr Hákonarson Erik Hakonsson, also known as Eric of Hlathir or Eric of Norway, (, 960s – 1020s) was Earl of Lade, Governor of Norway and Earl of Northumbria. He was the son of Earl Hákon Sigurðarson and brother of the legendary Aud Haakonsdottir of Lade. H ...

(960s – 1020s), governor of the majority of Norway under Svein Forkbeard * Sveinn Hákonarson (died c. 1016), governor of a part of Norway under Olaf the Swede *

Hákon Eiríksson Haakon Ericsson (Old Norse: ''Hákon Eiríksson''; no, Håkon Eiriksson; died c. 1029–1030) was the last Earl of Lade and governor of Norway from 1012 to 1015 and again from 1028 to 1029 as a vassal under Danish King Knut the Great. Biogra ...

(died c. 1029–1030), governor of Norway under Canute the Great, last of the Earls of Lade

References

Other sources

* Holmsen, Andreas (1976) ''Norges historie: fra de eldste tider til 1660'' (Oslo: Universitetsforlaget) *Stylegar, Frans-Arne (2013) ''Håkon Jarl'' (Oslo: Spartacus forlag AS) * Titlestad, Torgrim (2011) ''Norge i vikingtid'' (Stavanger: Saga Bok AS) *Thuesen, Nils Petter (2011) ''Norges historie'' (Oslo: Forlaget Historie og Kultur)

External links

Lade gård
Viking Age people in Norway

{{Norway-hist-stub