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The petty kingdoms of Norway (Bokmål: smårike) were the entities from which the later Kingdom of Norway was founded. Before the unification of Norway in 872 and during the period of fragmentation after King Harald Fairhair's death, Norway was divided in several small kingdoms. Some could have been as small as a cluster of villages, and others comprised several of today's counties.

By the time of the first historical records of Scandinavia, about the 8th century, a number of small political entities existed in Norway. The exact number is unknown, and would probably also fluctuate with time. It has been estimated that there were 9 petty realms in Western Norway during the early Viking Age.^[1] Archaeologist Bergljot Solberg on this basis estimates that there would have been at least 20 in the whole country.^[2]

There are no written sources from this time to tell us the title used by these rulers, or the exact borders between their realms. The main written sources we have on this period, the kings' sagas, were not written until the 12th and 13th centuries. While they were in part based on skaldic poems, and possibly on oral tradition, their reliability as sources for detailed events of the Viking Age continues to be debated among historians. The sagas, most notable of which is Heimskringla, often refer to the petty rulers as konungr, i.e. king, as in Agder, Alvheim, Hedmark, Hordaland, Nordmøre og Romsdal, Rogaland, Romerike, Sogn, Solør, Sunmmøre, Trøndelag, Vestfold (which at various times included several of the aforementioned) and Viken; however in Hålogaland the title was jarl, i.e. earl (compared with Count in the Norse sources, as well as German Gräf), later Ladejarl (from the rulers power base at Lade, in modern-day Trondheim). The rulers of all the areas might be called petty kings, herser, subkings, kings or earls depending on the source. A number of small communities were gradually organised into larger regions in the 9th century, and in AD 872 King Harald Fairhair unified the realm and became its first supreme ruler. Many of the former kingdoms would later become earldoms under the Norwegian high king and some would try to break free again.

Below follows an incomplete list of petty kingdoms of Norway and their known rulers. Most of the people mentioned in this list are legendary or semi-legendary. Some of the areas might have a contested status as petty kingdoms.

List of petty kingdoms and earldoms

Kingdom of Agder

Rulers:

Legendary (from Gautreks saga)

Harald the Agder-King (legendary)
Víkar (Harald Agder-king's son)
Harald Vikarson (Son of Vikar)
Bjæring, possibly only a chief(local legend from Hægebostad)
Vigbrands fra Agder – c. 690^[3]
Herbrand Vigbrandsson^[3]
Kissa
Kjotve the Rich

Kings from 790 to 987

Harald Granraude, 7??–815, father of Åsa
Åsa Haraldsdottir of Agder, between 815 and 834–838, mother of Halfdan the Black
Halfdan the Black, father of Harald Fairhair, from 838.
Kjotve the Rich, late 9th century
Harald Grenske, 976–987

Kingdom of Fjordane

Might also be called Firda or Firdafylke.

Rulers: Olaf brother of Anund Yngling

Audbjørn^[4]

Kingdom of Grenland

Kingdom of Gudbrandsdalen

Rulers:

Dale-Gudbrand

Kingdom of Hadeland

Rulers:

Höd
Halfdan Hvitbeinn

Kingdom of Hardanger

Kingdom of Hedmark

Rulers:

Halfdan Hvitbeinn
Sigtryg Eysteinsson
Eystein Eysteinsson, brother of Sigtryg
Halfdan the Black, was king of half of Hedmark after defeating rulers Sigtryg and his brother, Eystein.

Kingdom of Hordaland

Rulers:

Kingdom of Hålogaland

Rulers:

Saeming (legendary son of Odin)
Thrand (son of Saeming)
Gudlog 480s?^[5]
Eystein
Halfdan
Håkon Grjotgardsson

Kingdom of Land

Earldom of Lade

Rulers:

Hákon Grjótgarðsson, an ally of Harald Fairhair, first Earl of Lade in about: c. 860–870 – c. 900–920 AD
Sigurðr Hákonarson, friend and advisor of Hákon the Good
Hákon Sigurðarson, ruler of Norway from about 975 to 995
Eiríkr Hákonarson, governor of the majority of Norway under Svein Forkbeard
Sveinn Hákonarson, governor of a part of Norway under Olaf the Swede
Hákon Eiríksson, governor of Norway under Canute the Great

Kingdom of Namdalen

Earldom of Nordmøre

Kingdom of Oppland

Rulers:

Eystein, father of Åsa who married Halfdan Hvitbeinn (see Ynglinga Saga, paragraph 49)
Halfdan "the Aged" Sveidasson (c. 750)
Ivar Halfdansson (c. 770)
Eystein "Glumra (the Noisy)" Ivarsson, son-in-law of Ragnvald the Mountain-High and father of Ragnvald Eysteinsson (788)

Kingdom of Orkdalen

Rulers:

Gryting ?–c. 870

Kingdom of Ranrike

Rulers:

Tryggve Olafsson ?–963 AD

Kingdom of Raumarike

Rulers:

Sigurd Hring 8th century
Ragnar Lodbrok 8th century
Halfdan Hvitbeinn
Eystein Halfdansson Son of Halfdan
Halfdan the Mild Son of Eystein
Gudrød the Hunter Son of Halfdan
Sigtryg Eysteinsson
Halfdan the Black Son of Gudrød

Kingdom of Ringerike

Rulers:

Kingdom of Rogaland

Rulers:

Gard
Rugalf Gardsson
Ogvald Rugalfsson mid 6th century( from Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka)
Ingjald Ogvaldsson fl. c. 600
Jossur Ingjaldsson fl mid 7th century
Hjor Jossurasson fl. 8th century
Hjorleif Hjorsson the Fornicator fl. mid-late 8th century
Halfur Hjorleifsson
Hjor Halfsson ? –c. 870s
Sulke ? –870
Geirmundur Hjorarsson

Kingdom of Romsdal

Rulers:

Raum the Old legendary
Jötunbjörn the Old son of Raum
Raum
Hrossbjörn
Orm Broken-shell
Knatti
Thórolf and Ketill Raum (in one version, Thórolf and Ketill Raum are sons of Orm).

Kingdom of Sogn

Rulers:

King Harald Gullskjegg (translate: Harald the Goldbeard): 770–850 AD (according to Fagrskinna and Heimskringla )

Kingdom of Solør

Rulers:

Halfdan Hvitbeinn

Earldom of Sunnmøre

Kingdom of Telemark

The status of Telemark as a kingdom has been contested by some historians.

rulers or figures:

Geirthjof of Oppland (First battle of Telemark)^[5]
Fridthjof (Second battle of Telemark)^[5]

Kingdom of Toten

Rulers:

Halfdan Hvitbeinn

Kingdom of Trøndelag

Rulers:

Håkon Grjotgardsson

Kingdom of Vestfold

Rulers:

(Sigtryg of Vetteland)^[6]
Eirik Sigtrygsson^[6]
Agnar Eiriksson^[6]
Eirik Agnarsson
Halfdan Hvitbeinn (part of Vestfold)
Eystein Halfdansson Eriks son in law
Halfdan the Mild Eysteins son
Gudrød the Hunter Son of Halfdan
Halfdan the Black Ruled half the kingdom. Son of Gudrød.
Olaf Gudrødsson Ruled half the kingdom. Son of Gudrød.
Ragnvald the Mountain-High
Bjørn Farmann
Olaf Haraldsson Geirstadalf, brother of Bjørn
Harald Gudrødsson Grenske, 976–987

Kingdom of Vestmar

Rulers:

Dag the mild

Kingdom of Vingulmark

Vingulmark is the old name for the area which today makes up the counties of Østfold and Akershus, and included the site of Norway's capital, Oslo, which had not been founded at this time. Archaeologists have made finds of richly endowed burials in the area around the estuary of the river Glomma, at Onsøy, Rolvsøy and Tune, where the remains of a ship, the Tune ship, was found. This indicates that there was a center of power in this area.^[7]

There are indications that at least the southern part of this area was under Danish rule in the late 9th century. In the account of Ottar, which was written down at the court of the English king Alfred the Great, Ottar says that when he sailed south from Skiringssal, he had Denmark on the port side for three days.

Rulers:

Gudrød the Hunter, half of Vingulmark
Alfgeir (Old Norse: Álfgeir)
Gandalf Alfgeirsson
Halfdan the Black Son of Gudrød
Olaf Haraldsson
Tryggve Olafsson
Harald Gudrødsson Grenske, 976–987
Svein Alfivuson, 1030–1035

Kingdom of Viken

Rulers:

Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye

Kingdom of Voss (Vörs)

Rulers:

Skilfir
Skjöld
Eirík
Alrek( from Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka)
Víkar ( from Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka)
Vatnar ( from Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka)
Ímald and Eirík

References

^ Bjørn Ringstad, Vestlandets største gravminner. Et forsøk på lokalisering av forhistoriske maktsentra, (Bergen, 1986)
^ Bergljot Solberg, Jernalderen i Norge, (Oslo, 2000)
^ ^a ^b Ættartolurbækur Jóns Espólíns Sysslumanns (1980-), Espólín, Jón, (Reykjavík: Samskipti, 1980-), FHL book 949.12 D2e v. 6; FHL microfilms 73,257-73., p. 42, FHL microfilm 73257.
^ An article from BT on archaeological digs on Nordfjordeid (Norwegian) Retrieved 18 September 2007
^ ^a ^b ^c "Kingdoms of Northern Europe – Norway (Norge)". The History Files. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c Snorre: Norske Kongers Chronica, 1633 – archive.org
^ Solberg 2000, p. 279