Harald Fairhair was a Norwegian king. According to traditions current in Norway and Iceland in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, he reigned from c. 872 to 930 and was the first King of Norway. Supposedly, two of his sons, Eric Bloodaxe and Haakon the Good, succeeded Harald to become kings after his death.
Harald Fairhair (left) in an illustration from the fourteenth-century Flateyjarbók.
Harald Haarfager later in his life
The 1872 monument to Harald at Haraldshaugen.
Haraldshaugen Monument (June 2018)
Norway, formally the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of Norway. Bouvet Island, located in the Subantarctic, is a dependency; Norway also claims the Antarctic territories of Peter I Island and Queen Maud Land. The capital and largest city in Norway is Oslo.
Opening of Ohthere's Old English account, translated: "Ohthere told his lord Ælfrede king that he lived northmost of all Norwegians…"
The Oseberg ship at the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo
Viking swords found in Norway, preserved at the Bergen Museum
The Gjermundbu helmet found in Buskerud is the only known reconstructable Viking Age helmet.