The Second Battle of Solskjell was an engagement in

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 ...

's conquest of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. After the First Battle of Solskjel, Solve Klove, son of Huntiof, King of Nordmøre, set himself up as a pirate and spent that winter raiding and plundering King Harald's men and possessions on the Møre coast. King Harald himself had left to spend the winter in

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 ...

. Solve had also spent time at the court of King Arnvid of Sunnmøre, and they had gathered together a large group of people who had been dispossessed by Harald's conquest. The following summer Harald again gathered an army and sailed south. On hearing news of Harald's intentions' Solve traveled to King Audbjorn in

Fjordane Sogn og Fjordane (; English: "Sogn and Fjordane") was, up to 1 January 2020, a county in western Norway, when it was merged to become part of Vestland county. Bordering previous counties Møre og Romsdal, Oppland, Buskerud, and Hordaland, the cou ...

and convinced him to join forces against Harald. The force sailed north to meet Harald by Solskjel. Here both kings Arnvid and Audbjorn fell, but Solve again escaped. ''Heimskringla'' tells that Harald's men, Asgaut and Asbjorn as well as Grjotgard and Herlaug, the sons of earl

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 ...

, were all killed in battle. Solve subsequently resumed his pirate raids and caused much trouble to Harald in several years after. King Harald took possession of Sunnmøre and made

Rognvald Eysteinsson Rognvald Eysteinsson (''fl.'' 865) 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 ...

the founding

jarl Jarl is a rank of the nobility in Scandinavia. In Old Norse, it meant "chieftain", particularly a chieftain set to rule a territory in a king's stead. ''Jarl'' could also mean a sovereign prince. For example, the rulers of several of the petty k ...

of the Jarls of Møre.''Ragnvald Øysteinson Mørejarl'' (Store norske leksikon)
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References

Primary source

* Sturluson, Snorri.
Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway
', translated Lee M. Hollander. Reprinted

University of Texas Press The University of Texas Press (or UT Press) is a university press that is part of the University of Texas at Austin. Established in 1950, the Press publishes scholarly books and journals in several areas, including Latin American studies, Texan ...

, Austin, 1992.

Other sources

*Finlay, Alison (editor and translator) ''Fagrskinna, a Catalogue of the Kings of Norway'' (Brill Academic. 2004) *Hermannsson, Halldór (2009) ''Bibliography of the sagas of the kings of Norway'' (BiblioBazaar) *Jones, Gwyn (1984) ''A History of the Vikings'' (Oxford University Press. 2nd ed) .

See also

References

Primary source

Other sources

Related reading