Kingdom of Norway (872–1397)
The term Norwegian Realm and Old Kingdom of Norway refer to the Kingdom of Norway's peak of power at the 13th century after a long period of civil war before 1240. The kingdom was a loosely unified nation including the territory of modern-day Norway, modern-day Swedish territory of Jämtland, Herjedalen, Ranrike (Bohuslän) and Idre and Särna, as well as Norway's overseas possessions which had been settled by Norwegian seafarers for centuries before being annexed or incorporated into the kingdom as 'tax territories'. To the North, Norway also bordered extensive tax territories on the mainland. Norway, whose expansionism starts from the very foundation of the Kingdom in 872, reached the peak of its power in the years between 1240 and 1319.
Norway at its greatest extent, around 1263
Statue of Rollo in Ålesund, Norway.
Haraldr Halfdansson, first monarch of the Fairhair dynasty
Painting of St. Olaf. Located in S. Carlo al Corso in Rome, Italy. – Pius Weloński, Sant'Olav di Norvegia (1893)
The civil war era in Norway began in 1130 and ended in 1240. During this time in Norwegian history, some two dozen rival kings and pretenders waged wars to claim the throne.
King Sverre crossing the mountains of Voss
King Magnus is mutilated. Illustration by Eilif Peterssen for Magnus The Blind's saga, from Heimskringla (1899 edition).
Erling Skakke burns the house of a supporter of Sigurd Markusfostre as imagined by artist Wilhelm Wetlesen in the 1899 edition of Heimskringla
King Sverre crossing the mountains of Voss as imagined by Peter Nicolai Arbo