Harald Schönhaar

Harald I. Schönhaar (Old Norse: Haraldr hinn hárfagri [ˈhɑrˌɑldr hinː ˈhɑːrˌfɑɣre]; modern Norwegian: Harald hårfagre; Icelandic: Haraldur hárfagri) (approximately 850 - 932) is described in the Icelandic sagas as the first king of Norway.

According to the 12th and 13th-century sources in Norway and Iceland, he is believed to have ruled from approximately 872 to 930. Allegedly, two of his sons, Eric Bloodaxe and Haakon the Good, succeeded Harald as kings after his death.

A large part of Harald's biography remains uncertain as the surviving reports of his life were written down in sagas about three centuries after his death. While it is possible to write a detailed account of Harald as a figure in medieval Icelandic sagas, one could even argue that such a historical figure did not exist at all. His life is described in several king's sagas, none of which are older than the 12th century. Their accounts of Harald and his life differ in many aspects, but it is clear that Harald was regarded in the 12th and 13th centuries as the one who united Norway into a single kingdom.

Since the 19th century, when Norway entered a personal union with Sweden, Harald became a national icon of Norway and a symbol of independence. Despite critical scrutiny of the sagas and medieval reports on the king in the 20th and early 21st centuries, Harald is still considered the father of the Norwegian nation.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE EPITHET "HÁRFAGRI"

The Old Norse hár can easily be translated as "hair" in English, but fagr, the adjective from which fagri is a form, is more difficult to render, as it means "fair, fine, beautiful" (but without the moral connotations of "fair" in English, unlike "unfair"). Although it is convenient and common to render hárfagri in English as "fair-haired," "fair-haired" in English means "blond," while Old Norse quite clearly means "beautiful-haired" (as opposed to the epithet that Harald, according to some sources, once bore: lúfa, "(thick) matted hair"). Accordingly, some translators prefer to render hárfagri as "the fine-haired" or "the beautiful-haired" (though this is not very helpful, as it implies that Harald's hair was slim), or even simply "beautiful hair."

HISTORY

During the 19th and much of the 20th century, historians largely accepted the portrayal of Harald Fairhair in the later Icelandic sagas. However, Peter Sawyer began to question this in 1976, and in the decades around the year 2000, a wave of revisionist research suggested that Harald Fairhair did not exist, at least not in the way he is portrayed in the sagas. The main arguments for this include:

• There are no contemporary records of the claims made by later sagas about Harald Fairhair. The first king of Norway mentioned in contemporary sources is Harald Bluetooth (died c. 985/986), who is referred to as king of both Denmark and Norway on the Jelling stones. The account of Ohthere's report on Norway in the late 9th century to the court of Alfred the Great (around 890) and Adam of Bremen's history from 1075 do not mention a king of Norway for the period in question. Although the sagas refer to Erik Bloodaxe, who partially corresponds to a historical figure, as the son of Harald Fairhair, there is no independent evidence for this genealogical connection. William of Malmesbury in the 12th century describes a Norwegian king named Haraldus, who would fit with later saga traditions, in which Harald Fairhair is said to have a son, Haakon Aðalsteinsfóstri, placed with Æthelstan. But William is a late source, and Harald is far from an unusual name for a Scandinavian character, and William does not give this Harald the epithet Fairhair, while he does give this epithet to the later Norwegian king Haraldr Sigurðarson.
• Although Harald Fairhair appears in various Icelandic sagas, there are few, if any, independent sources. It is plausible that they were all part of a common textual tradition that began with the earliest Icelandic prose account of Harald, Íslendingabók, by Ari Þorgilsson. This work comes from the early 12th century and was written more than 250 years after Harald's alleged death.

Two skaldic poems, Haraldskvæði (also known as Hrafnsmál) and Glymdrápa, attributed to Þorbjörn hornklofi or alternatively (in the case of the first poem) Þjóðólfr of Hvinir, may be older than the sagas and tell of Harald Fairhair. Although they are only preserved in the 13th-century king's sagas, they could (as stated in the sagas) have been passed down orally since the 10th century. The first poem describes life at the court of a king named Harald, mentions that he took a Danish wife, and that he won a battle at Hafrsfjord. The second poem recounts a series of battles won by a king named Harald. However, the information in these poems does not match the stories in the sagas in which they are preserved, and the sagas themselves often disagree on the details of his background and biography. The most reliable manuscripts of Haraldskvæði name the hero of the poem Haraldr Hálfdanarson, not Haraldr hárfagri, and Glymdrápa offers no epithet at all. All the poems suggest is that there once was a king named Haraldr (Hálfdanarson).

Saga Descriptions

Harald appears in several sagas, some of which allegedly quote older skaldic poems. If the linguistic dating of the poems is correct, they would represent the earliest reports on Harald Fairhair.

Hrafnsmál
Hrafnsmál, also known as Haraldskvæði, is a fragmentary skaldic poem generally believed to have been composed by the skald Þorbjörn Hornklofi in the 9th century. There is no complete manuscript of the poem, and modern editions of the poem rely on the collection of sections. Since both the dating of the parts and the meter match, it could be separate compositions, though scholarly consensus remains undecided. Part of the poem is quoted by Snorri in Heimskringla as a source for his account of the battle of Hafrsfjord, while another part is cited in Fagrskinna as information about Harald. In both, Hornklofi is named as the composer.

The poem mostly consists of a conversation between an unnamed Valkyrie and a raven; the two discuss the life and military deeds of Harald Fairhair. The poem describes Harald as an Yngling, but it does not use his famous epithet hárfagri (Fairhair), instead using his much-quoted earlier nickname Lufa. The bulk of the poem seems to describe the battle of Hafrsfjord, in which Harald fought Kjotve the Rich and Haklang. The poem mentions Ragnhild, who is portrayed in Heimskringla as Harald's queen and the mother of Erik Bloodaxe, as well as the retinue of ulfheðnar warriors, which saga tradition attributes to Harald.

Glymdrápa
Like Hrafnsmál, Glymdrápa is a laudatory poem attributed to Þorbjörn Hornklofi, which describes various battles won by Harald. It is dated to the late 9th century, but an exact dating is difficult, and due to its fragmentary nature, it could be a compilation of unconnected stanzas. Unlike Hrafnsmál, its relationship to Harald and the events it supposedly describes in Heimskringla is not clear.

Sendibitr
Sendibitr, the last and shortest poem cited by Snorri, is attributed to Jórunn skáldmær (Jorunn the Skald-maid), one of the few female poets mentioned in the sagas. It tells of a conflict between Harald and his son Halfdan, who is described in Heimskringla as Halfdan the Black (the Younger), Harald's son by Åsa Håkonsdottir. Finnur Jónsson dates this poem to the late 10th century. If the dating is correct, it is the first example of Harald bearing the epithet hárfagri (Fairhair) in the text. However, it is generally agreed that the exact dating remains uncertain. It has been suggested that the poem refers to past events, meaning that the poet lived at a later time than the events described. The linguistic dating of the poem is not conclusive.

Íslendingabók
The earliest narrative source mentioning Harald is Íslendingabók, written in the 12th century. It states that Iceland was settled during his lifetime. Harald is thus portrayed as the main agent in the Nordic settlement of Iceland and beyond. Iceland was settled by "discontented" individuals from Norway who resisted Harald's claim to tax lands that the owners had previously held as absolute property. It is the earliest non-skaldic account of Harald using the epithet hárfagri.

Ágrip af Nóregskonungasögum
Ágrip af Nóregskonungasögum is dated to around 1190. It describes how Harald, at the age of 20, became the first king of all of Norway. It describes a battle at Hafrsvágr (different from Hafrsfjord) against a king named Skeithar-Brandr. The text cites a poem called Oddmjór, in which Harald is described as a Scylding, while other sources refer to him as an Yngling. It describes how he fought wars for 10 years before conquering all of Norway.

Historia Norwegiæ
In Historia Norwegiæ, dated around 1220, it is mentioned that Iceland was discovered during Harald Fairhair's time by Ingólfr Arnarson and Hjörleifr Hróðmarsson. The work details the history of the Yngling dynasty, with the legendary king Ingvi as Harald's ancestor and Halfdan the Black as his father.

Fagrskinna
Fagrskinna is likely written around 1220 and is a catalog of Norwegian kings. In the first part, it describes Harald Fairhair's lineage through his paternal grandfather Gudrød the Hunter and his maternal grandfather Sigurd Snake-eye, as well as his parents, Halfdan the Black and Ragnhildr. The text also describes how Halfdan had another son named Harald by a woman named Ragnhildr, daughter of King Harald Goldbeard of Sogn. Halfdan inherited Sogn after the death of Harald Goldbeard and died himself. Halfdan inherited Sogn from his first son, and the story is repeated by Snorri in Heimskringla, suggesting that two conflicting stories about Harald's ancestry were merged into one.