Editing Halfdan the Black (section)

==In sagas==
[[Image:Norwegian petty kingdoms ca. 860.png|right|thumb| Petty kingdoms ca. 860 AD. The kingdom of Halfdan the Black is shown in red]]
According to ''[[Heimskringla]]'' and ''Fagrskinna'', Halfdan was the son of the Yngling King [[Gudrød the Hunter]]. ''Heimskringla'' also names his mother, as [[Queen Åsa|Åsa]], daughter of King Harald of [[Agder]], and his half-brother as [[Olaf Geirstad-Alf]]. Heimskringla relates that when Halfdan's father was killed, Åsa took the 1 year-old Halfdan and returned to [[Agder]], where Halfdan was raised. When he was 18 or 19 years old, Halfdan became king of Agder. He quickly began adding to his kingdom, through political negotiation and military conquest. He divided the kingdom of [[Vestfold]] with his brother Olaf and, through military action, persuaded [[Gandalf Alfgeirsson|King Gandalf]] of [[Vingulmark]] to cede half his kingdom.  Based on the formulaic nature of his ties to his predecessors, his strong affiliation with Agder, and the failure of an early saga dedicated to him to name any family connections, some scholars have suggested that the linkage to the earlier Yngling dynasty of Vestfold was a later invention, created to associate a conquering Halfdan and his son [[Harald Fairhair]] with the family glorified in the ''[[Ynglingatal]]'', whom he had displaced.<ref name=nbl>{{cite web|url =   https://nbl.snl.no/Halvdan_Svarte|title=  Halvdan Svarte |publisher =Norsk biografisk leksikon|author= Claus Krag
|date= 28 September 2014 |access-date=November 1, 2018}}</ref>

Halfdan next is said to have subdued an area called [[Raumarike]]. To secure his claim to Raumarike, Halfdan first defeated and killed the previous ruler, [[Sigtryg Eysteinsson]], in battle. He then defeated Sigtryg's brother and successor [[Eystein]], in a series of battles. This established Halfdan's claim not only to Raumarike, but also to half of [[Hedmark]], the core of Sigtryg and Eystein's kingdom. These details are only mentioned in ''Heimskringla''.

''Fagrskinna'' and ''Heimskringla'' both agree that Halfdan's first wife was Ragnhild, daughter of King Harald Gulskeg (Goldbeard) of [[Sogn]]. Halfdan and Ragnhild had a son named "Harald" after his grandfather, and they sent him to be raised at his grandfather's court. Harald Gulskeg, being elderly, named his grandson as his successor, shortly before his death. Ragnhild died shortly after her father, and the young king Harald fell sick and died the next spring. When Halfdan heard about his son's death, he travelled to Sogn and laid claim to the title of king. No resistance was offered, and Halfdan added Sogn to his realm.<ref name="nbl"/>
The narrative in ''Heimskringla'' then adds another conquest for King Halfdan. In Vingulmark, the sons of Gandalf of Vingulmark, [[Hysing]], [[Helsing]], and Hake, attempted to ambush Halfdan at night, but he escaped into the forest. After raising an army, he returned to defeat the brothers, killing Hysing and Helsing. Hake fled the country, and Halfdan became king of all of Vingulmark.

According to ''Heimskringla'', Halfdan's second wife, also named Ragnhild, had been kidnapped from her home by Hake, a "[[berserker]]" who encountered her father in [[Hadeland]] and killed him. Halfdan had her kidnapped from Hake, so that he could marry her. ''Fagrskinna'' does not mention any of these details. However, both sagas agree that Ragnhild and Halfdan had a son who was also named [[Harald I of Norway|Harald]].  (Among the more unlikely claims in ''Fagrskinna'' and ''Heimskringla'' are that this woman was [[Ragnhild Sigurdsdotter]], daughter of [[Sigurd Hjort]], king of [[Ringerike (traditional district)|Ringerike]]. This would make Ragnhild the granddaughter or even great-granddaughter of [[Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye]] – an impossibility, given that most sources suggest that Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye was active only in the ''late'' 9th century, which would mean that he was born a generation or two ''after'' Halfdan the Black.)<ref name="nbl"/>