Fairhair dynasty

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Fairhair dynasty (Norwegian: Hårfagreætten) is traditionally regarded as the first royal dynasty of the united Kingdom of Norway. It was founded by King Haraldr hinn hárfagri, known as Harald Fairhair or Finehair, around 890. Its last ruler was (according to traditional royal genealogy) Olav 4. who died in 1387. But its more likely that only three generations of Fairhair rules were in power.

The descent back to Harald Hardrule (1046-1066) is undisputed, but it is a debated topic among modern historians whether he and his half-brother Saint Olav were in fact descended from Harald Fairhair and whether they in fact made such a claim, or whether this lineage is a construction from the 12th century. Sverre Sigurdsson's claim to be the son of Sigurd Munn is also usually considered to be false, which would make Inge Bårdsson the last king of the dynasty.

The concept of a "Hairfair dynasty" is probably an invention from the later mediaeval period, when rivalry between throne pretenders made it appropriate to trace royal lineages back to the 9th century in order to gain legitimacy for their rule. According to the medievalist Claus Krag, the claim that Norwegian kings after the 10th century was descendants of Harald Hairfair dates from about 1150. The Norwegian kings constructed a false genealogy to the Fairhair dynasty in order to claim the territories around Oslo ("Vika"), which most of the time had been paying taxes to the Danish kingdom.

Many of the Norwegian kings of the Hairfair dynasty were in fact Danish vice-kings (or tribute paying rulers), a fact later concealed when Norwegian national history was written in the 19th century. Tha sagas also conceals that until the rule of Olav II, the Ladejarl dynasty from the Northern part of Norway actually held more power in large parts of Norway than than the rulers of the Hairfair dynasty. Since the rulers belonging to the Hairfair dynasty eventually won the power struggle, history was written as if the whole Norwegian kingdom had been under the rule of the Hairfair kings. Some provinces did not come under the rule of the Hairfair rulers before the time of Harald III.