Hålogaland was the northernmost of the Norwegian provinces in the medieval Norse sagas. In the early

Viking Age The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...

, before Harald Fairhair, Hålogaland was a kingdom extending between the Namdalen valley in Trøndelag county and the Lyngen fjord in

Troms Troms (; ; ; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. It borders Finnmark county to the northeast and Nordland county in the southwest. Norrbotten Län in Sweden is located to the south and further southeast is a shorter border with ...

county.

Etymology and history

Ancient Norwegians said that was named after a royal named Hǫlgi. The Norse form of the name was '. The first element of the word is the genitive

plural In many languages, a plural (sometimes list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated as pl., pl, , or ), is one of the values of the grammatical number, grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than ...

of ', a 'person from Hålogaland'. The last element is ', as in 'land' or 'region'. The meaning of the

demonym A demonym (; ) or 'gentilic' () is a word that identifies a group of people ( inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place ( hamlet, village, town, city, region, ...

' is unknown. Thorstein Vikingson's Saga, 1, describes it as a compound of Hial, "Hel" or "spirit," and "loge", "fire" – although this is largely discredited. The Gothic historian

Jordanes Jordanes (; Greek language, Greek: Ιορδάνης), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat, claimed to be of Goths, Gothic descent, who became a historian later in life. He wrote two works, one on R ...

in his work ' (also known as ''

Getica ''De origine actibusque Getarum'' (''The Origin and Deeds of the Getae''), commonly abbreviated ''Getica'' (), written in Late Latin by Jordanes in or shortly after 551 AD, claims to be a summary of a voluminous account by Cassiodorus of the ori ...

''), written in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, mentions a people "Adogit" living in the far North. This could be an old form of ' and a possible reference to the petty kingdom of Hålogaland. Alex Woolf links the name Hålogaland to the — the "Northern Lights" —, saying that Hålogaland meant the "Land of the High Fire", ' deriving from ', which refers to fire. This is also discredited. A legendary interpretation is found in the medieval accounts of Ynglingatal and

Skáldskaparmál ''Skáldskaparmál'' (Old Norse: 'Poetic Diction' or 'The Language of Poetry'; ; ) is the second part of the ''Prose Edda'', compiled by Snorri Sturluson. It consists of a dialogue between Ægir, the divine personification of the sea, and Bra ...

; " Logi" is described as the personification of fire, a fire giant, and as a "son of Fornjót". In the medieval Orkneyinga saga and the account of ' ('How Norway was inhabited'), Fornjót is described as king of ", and ". The royal lineages of his children are discussed in these and other

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

accounts. The beginning of the ' ("Saga of Thorstein son of Víking") discusses King Logi, who ruled the country north of Norway. Because Logi was larger and stronger than any other man in land, his name was lengthened from ''Logi'' to ', meaning "High-Logi". Derived from that name his country became called ', meaning "Hálogi's land". The spelling of the name changed to modern-day Hålogaland. Another interpretation of the name is presented by Halvdan Koht and Alfred Jacobsen (in Håløyminne 1, 1920): 'Háleygr' is derived from Proto-Scandinavian *HaÞulaikaR, with the elements *haÞu 'battle' and *laik- 'pledge', i.e., a wartime alliance of the many settlements in times of conflict. The '' Hversu Noregr byggðist'' is a legendary account of the origin of various legendary Norwegian lineages. It traces the descendants of the primeval ruler Fornjót (Fornjotr) down to Nór, who unites the Norwegian lands. The Hversu account then gives details of the descendants of Nór and of his brother Gór in the following section known as the ' ("Genealogies", or ', "Founding of Norway"). The ''Hversu'' account is closely paralleled by the opening of the Orkneyinga saga. In 873 AD, according to the Egil's saga (written ) the Kvens and Norse cooperate in battling against the invading Karelians. The chapter XVII of Egil's saga describes how Thorolf Kveldulfsson (King of Norway's tax chief starting 872 AD) from Namdalen, located in the southernmost tip of the historic Hålogaland, goes to Kvenland again: Based on medieval documents, the above meeting took place during the winter of 873–874. Hålogaland's rather close vicinity to Kvenland is also demonstrated in the geographical chronicle ' by the

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

ic Abbot Níkulás Bergsson (Nikolaos), who provides descriptions of lands around Norway: As recorded in '' Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar'', King Hákon Hákonarson settled some of the people of

Bjarmaland Bjarmaland (also spelled ''Bjarmland'' and ''Bjarmia'') was a territory mentioned in sagas from the Viking Age and in geographical accounts until the 16th century. The term is usually understood to have referred to the southern shores of the Whit ...

in the area surrounding the Malangen fjord near modern

Tromsø Tromsø is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the administrative centre of Troms county. The city is located on the is ...

in the 1230s or 1240s. According to

Saxo Grammaticus Saxo Grammaticus (), also known as Saxo cognomine Longus, was a Danish historian, theologian and author. He is thought to have been a clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, the main advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark. He is the author ...

in his '' Gesta Danorum'', King Helgi of Hålogaland married a Princess Thora of Lappland and Bjarmaland, daughter of Prince Gusi, but in other sources he is only given as King of Lappland. In any event, for centuries the Norwegians of Hålogaland had extensive relations with both the Bjarmar and Saami, and to some extent also the Kvens.

Modern usage

In modern times, the term Hålogaland is used in a variety of senses. For some purposes, all of Northern Norway,

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), previously known as Spitsbergen or Spitzbergen, is a Norway, Norwegian archipelago that lies at the convergence of the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean. North of continental Europe, mainland Europe, it lies about midway be ...

and

Jan Mayen Jan Mayen () is a Norway, Norwegian volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean with no permanent population. It is long (southwest-northeast) and in area, partly covered by glaciers (an area of around the Beerenberg volcano). It has two parts: la ...

are covered under the term Hålogaland. For other purposes the counties of

Nordland Nordland (; , , , ) is one of the three northernmost Counties of Norway, counties in Norway in the Northern Norway region, bordering Troms in the north, Trøndelag in the south, Norrbotten County in Sweden to the east, Västerbotten County to t ...

and Troms constitute Hålogaland. Hålogaland or even Mid Hålogaland are frequent terms covering the smaller districts of Ofoten, Lofoten and Vesterålen, as well as the municipalities of Gratangen,

Harstad Harstad may refer to: Places *Harstad (town) Harstad (; ) is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Harstad Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is also the administrative centre of Harstad Municipality. The city has a populati ...

Ibestad Ibestad may refer to: Places *Ibestad Municipality, a municipality in Troms county, Norway *''Ibestad'', also known as Hamnvik, a village within Ibestad Municipality in Troms county, Norway *Ibestad Church, a church in Ibestad Municipality in Troms ...

, Kvæfjord, and Tjeldsund of

county. The term has also been used in this last sense, minus the Lofoten archipelago. The name is currently used by the Dioceses of Nord-Hålogaland, Sør-Hålogaland, as well as by a

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

, a theater and a large bridge. A derived name is

Helgeland Helgeland is the most southerly Districts of Norway, district in Northern Norway. Generally speaking, Helgeland refers to the part of Nordland county that is located south of the Arctic Circle. It is bordered in the north by the Saltfjellet moun ...

which refers to southern Nordland.

History

Hålogaland figures extensively in the Norse sagas, and in the ', especially the ''

Ynglinga Saga ''Ynglinga saga'' ( ) is a Kings' sagas, Kings' saga, originally written in Old Norse by the Icelanders, Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson about 1225. It is the first section of his ''Heimskringla''. It was first translated into Engl ...

'' and '. It was inhabited by the race of Hölgi (') who was the eponymous hero of Hålogaland. In the saga, '' Heimskringla'', a man called Gudlög led a number of Norwegian pirates that were fought by the Swedish king Jorund and king Godgest of Hålogaland was given a horse by the Swedish king Adils. The first earl of Lade, Håkon Grjotgardsson, ruler of Trøndelag, came from Hålogaland, and sought to extend his kingdom southwards. Here, he met with Harald Fairhair, and joined him. Archaeologists have uncovered the Chieftain House at Borg in Lofoten ('), a large

building believed to have been already established around the year 500. Archaeological studies commenced here in 1983 and in 1986–89, a joint Scandinavian research project was conducted at Borg. Excavations brought to light remains of the largest building ever to be found from the Viking Era in Norway, 83 meters long and 9 meters high. The chieftain's seat at Borg is estimated to have been abandoned around AD 950. Today the site is the location of the Lofotr Viking Museum.

Geography

Hålogaland is a drowned coastline containing extensive mountainous fjords and islands. It was a refuge for Viking ships as well as a way station for voyagers to the

White Sea The White Sea (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; ) is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the nort ...

, which offered access to Russia.

Narvik () is the third-largest List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway, by population. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Narvik (town), town of Narvik. Some of the notable villag ...

was an important World War II objective. In 2008, the name was proposed as the possible name of an independent Northern Norway.

References

Other sources

* * Berglund, Birgitta (1994) ''Helgeland historie'' (Mosjøen) *Bertelsen, Reidar (1985) ''Lofoten og Vesteralens historie: Fra den eldste tida til ca. 1500 e'' (Kommunene i Lofoten og Vesteralen)

External links

Lofotr Viking Museum

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haalogaland Districts of Trøndelag Districts of Nordland Districts of Norway Saga locations Petty kingdoms of Norway