The Unification of Norway occurred from the 860s to 1020s when Harald Fairhair and his descendants unified the petty kingdoms of Norway into one nation ruled by the Yngling family.
History[]
On the death of King Halfdan the Black of Viken in 866, his son Harald Fairhair succeeded to the sovereignty of several small Norwegian petty kingdoms in Vestfold. That same year, he conquered Varmland in Sweden and also conquered south-eastern Norway from King Eric Anundsson of Sweden.
In 872, the people of Hordaland, Rogaland, Agder, and Telemark brought together a great body of men and ships, hoping to check Viken's expansion. Harald responded by sailing north, gathering men from the land as he went, and the two navies meet at the Battle of Hafrsfjord. Kings Eirik of Hordaland and Sulke of Rogaland fell in battle, as did several other lords and notables, including Sulke's brother Earl Sote and Kjotve the Rich's son Thor Haklang. Harald's victory at Hafrsfjord forced the other lords to acknowledge his sovereignty or flee, and he founded the "Old Kingdom of Norway" with himself as its first king.
However, the Battle of Hafrsfjord caused a mass exodus of Norwegians who had fought against Harald. Many fled to Iceland, Orkney, the Shetland Islands, the Hebrides, and the Faroe Islands, and, in time, Harald was forced to make an expedition to subdue these islands. After Harald's death, the kingdom fell into disunity again, as the kingship was disputed between Harald's descendants and earls under the suzerainty of Denmark. The Battle of Svold in 1000 led to the division of Norway between the Norwegians, Denmark, and Sweden, but Norway was finally reunified under Olaf II of Norway in 1020.