Fairhair Dynasty

The Hairfair dynasty is traditionally regarded as the first royal dynasty of the united Norway, a branch of Yngling s. It was founded by king Haraldr Hinn Hárfagri around AD. 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 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.

The Hairfair dynasty 930-1030

Members of the Hairfair dynasty ruled for 40 years

''Lade'' Earls acting as vice-kings under the Danish king for 41 years.

The kings Óláfr Tryggvason and Oláfr Hinn Helgi . Their family ties with the Fairhair dynasty probably a 12th century invention, ruled for 18 years.

Sources

The life of the Fairhair dynasy kings is recorded by the Islandic historian Snorri Sturluson in Heimskringla written about 1225.

Debate

Real rulers? 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 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 .

Genealogy
Many of the claims by royal pretenders to belong to the Hairfair dynasty are obvious falsehoods (most notably Sverre Sigundson ).

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Fairhair Dynasty