The Battle of Hafrsfjord was a major battle which occurred at the culmination of the Unification of Norway in 872 AD. The army of King Harald Fairhair of Viken defeated an allied army of Norwegian petty kings at Hafrsfjord in Rogaland, consolidating his rule over Norway.
King Harald sought to unify Norway under his personal rule, and he allied with King Styrbjorn of Rogaland against an alliance of the other petty kings formed to block Harald's plans. The fleets of the two alliances met at the Hafrsfjord off the coast of Rogaland, which had been occupied by King Kjotve the Rich of Agder. The people of Hordaland, Rogaland (under Kjotve's control), Agder, and Telemark brought together ships, weapons, and a great body of men, led by King Eirik of Hordaland; King Sulke of Rogaland, his brother Earl Sote, Kjotve the Rich of Agder, his son Thor Haklang, and the Telemarker brothers Hroald Hryg and Had the Hard. Harald gathered soldiers along the coast as he sailed to the battle, and his uncle Guthorm the Wise secured the aid of Sigurd Styrbjornson and his adoptive brother Eivor at Nottfall. Harald and his army waited at Hafrsfjord, where they were attacked by King Eirik. In the ensuing hard-fought battle, King Eirik fell, followed by King Sulke and his brother Earl Sote. Thor Haklang, who was a great berserker, laid his ship against King Harald's, but Thor and all of his men were slain after a hard-fought boarding action. Kjotve was then forced to flee to a nearby, small island, where there was a good place of strength. Thereafter all his men fled, some to their ships, some up to the land; and the latter ran southwards over the country of Jadar.
It was then that Guthorm, Sigurd, and Eivor's allied Viken-Rogalander army moved from their base at Florli to finish off Kjotve at his fortress. Eivor challenged Kjotve to a holmgang duel before his fortress walls, and, while the Hidden Ones acolyte Hytham failed to assassinate Kjotve during the duel, Eivor ultimately succeeded in stabbing Kjotve dead before the walls. Kjotve's son Gorm Kjotvesson witnessed his father's death, but he refused to surrender, forcing the Rogalanders and Vikeners to assault the walls with ladders. They got past two layers of walls before Eivor entered the great hall and found Gorm escaping; Gorm set fire to the great hall to distract Eivor, who was forced to save himself as Gorm escaped. Despite this, the Battle of Hafrsfjord marked the end of the Unification of Norway, as King Harald invited his allied lords to his althing at Alrekstad and proclaimed the creation of the united Kingdom of Norway under his rule, accepting the submissions of several lords (including Styrbjorn), while those who did not wish to forfeit their power went into exile. Within days of the althing, King Harald sent out troops to survey his new lands, raise his banners, and garrison the major towns, consolidating his rule.
Gallery[]
