Sigurd Håkonsson (died 962) () was a Norwegian nobleman and Jarl of Lade in

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; or is a county and coextensive with the Trøndelag region (also known as ''Midt-Norge'' or ''Midt-Noreg,'' "Mid-Norway") in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County (); in 1804 the county was ...

. Sigurd Håkonsson Ladejarl was the son of

Håkon Grjotgardsson Håkon Grjotgardsson (Old Norse: ''Hákon Grjótgarðsson'') 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 old (''Hákon jarl hinn gamli'') ...

, the first Jarl of Lade (). In 900, Håkon came into conflict with Atle Mjove over

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, Balestra ...

and fought a battle at

Fjaler Fjaler is a municipality in the county of Vestland, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sunnfjord. The administrative centre is the village of Dale. Other places in Fjaler include Espedal, Flekke, Folkestad, Guddal, and Hel ...

(), in which Håkon was killed. Upon reaching maturity, Sigurd inherited his father's position. Sigurd Håkonsson was married to Bergljot Toresdatter, daughter of Tore Teiande Ragnvaldsson () and Ålov Årbot Haraldsdatter. In 892, Tore Ragnvaldsson became

Jarl of Møre Jarl was a rank of the nobility in Scandinavia during the Viking Age and Early Middle Ages. The institution evolved over time and varied by region. In Old Norse, it meant "Germanic chieftain, chieftain", specifically one appointed to rule a territ ...

after the death of his father,

Ragnvald Eysteinsson Rognvald Eysteinsson () was the founding Jarl (or Earl) of Møre in Norway, and a close relative and ally of Harald Fairhair, the earliest known King of Norway. In the Norse language he is known as Rǫgnvaldr Eysteinsson (''Mǿrajarl'') and in ...

. During the reign of King

Haakon I of Norway Haakon Haraldsson (c. 920–961), also Haakon the Good (Old Norse: ''Hákon góði'', Norwegian: ''Håkon den gode'') and Haakon Adalsteinfostre (Old Norse: ''Hákon Aðalsteinsfóstri'', Norwegian: ''Håkon Adalsteinsfostre''), was the king o ...

, Sigurd had an influential position as the king's friend and adviser. He sought in particular to mediate between the king and the people during the king's attempt to introduce Christianity. After the death of Haakon at the

Battle of Fitjar The Battle of Fitjar (''Slaget ved Fitjar på Stord'') took place in 961 in Fitjar on the island Stord in the county of Hordaland, Norway. Battle and aftermath The Battle of Fitjar at Stord was the last battle in a war between the sons of Eric ...

(''Slaget ved Fitjar på Stord'') in 961,

Harald Greycloak Harald Greycloak (Old Norse: ''Haraldr gráfeldr'', lit. "Harald Grey-hide"; Norwegian: ; Danish: ; c. 935 – c. 970) was a king of Norway from the Fairhair dynasty. Harald acquired his nickname "Gray-hide" after an encounter with the crew o ...

, the son of

Eirik Bloodaxe Eric Haraldsson ( , ; c.930−954), nicknamed Bloodaxe ( , ) and Brother-Slayer (), was a Norwegian king. He ruled as King of Norway from 932 to 934, and twice as King of Northumbria: from 947 to 948, and again from 952 to 954. Sources His ...

and his brothers became kings of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. In autumn 962, Sigurd Håkonsson and his warriors were burnt to death by Harald Greycloak, while staying the night at Aglo, in modern-day

Skatval Skatval is a village in Stjørdal Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located on the Skatval peninsula about northwest of the town of Stjørdalshalsen. The inhabitants are called as ''Skatvalsbygg''. Skatval Church is located in th ...

Stjørdal Municipality () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Stjørdalen Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the List of towns and cities in ...

. Sigurd was killed as part of Harald's effort to reunite all of Norway under his rule. In 970, his killing was later avenged by Sigurd's son,

Haakon Sigurdsson Haakon 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 (), though the '' Ágrip'' and '' Historia Norw ...

, who had become an ally of King

Harold Bluetooth Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson (; , died c. 985/86) was a king of Denmark and Norway. The son of King Gorm the Old and Thyra Dannebod, Harald ruled as king of Denmark from c. 958 – c. 986, introduced Christianity to Denmark and consolidated his ...

. Sigurd had

Kormákr Ögmundarson Kormákr Ögmundarson (Old Norse: ; Modern Icelandic: ) was a 10th-century Icelandic skald. He is the protagonist of '' Kormáks saga'' which preserves a significant amount of poetry attributed to him. According to ''Skáldatal,'' he was also the ...

as a court poet. Fragments of Kormákr's lay on Sigurd Håkonsson, ''Sigurðardrápa'', are preserved in ''

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 ...

'' and in ''

Heimskringla () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland. While authorship of ''Heimskringla'' is nowhere attributed, some scholars assume it is written by the Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson (117 ...

.''''Sigurðardrápa'' (Skaldic Project Academic Body)
/ref>

References

Primary Sources

The primary records are from the ''

'' by

Snorri 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 th ...

Other sources

*Hollander, Lee M. (Ed.) (1949) ''The Sagas of Kormák and The Sworn Brothers'' (Princeton University Press for the American-Scandinavian Foundation) *Hreinsson, Viðar(Ed.) (1997) ''The Complete Sagas of Icelanders - Volume I'' (Reykjavík: Leifur Eiríksson Publishing) *Stenersen, Øyvind; Libæk, Ivar (2003). ''The History of Norway'' (. Lysaker: Forlaget Historie og Kultur) *Thuesen, Nils Petter (2011). ''Norges historie'' ( Oslo: Forlaget Historie og Kultur) {{ISBN, 978-8292870518] 962 deaths Ladejarl dynasty Norwegian earls 10th-century counts in Europe