Editing Harald Fairhair (section)

=== ''Heimskringla'' ===
In the ''[[Saga of Harald Fairhair]]'' in ''[[Heimskringla]]'' (written around 1230), which is the most elaborate although not the oldest or most reliable source to the life of Harald, it is written that Harald succeeded, on the death of his father [[Halfdan the Black|Halfdan the Black Gudrödarson]] in [[Rondvatnet]], to the sovereignty of several small, and somewhat scattered kingdoms in [[Vestfold]], which had come into his father's hands through conquest and inheritance.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} His protector-regent was his mother's brother [[duke Guthorm]]. He is described as the descendant of the [[Yngling]]-dynasty, whose history is described earlier in the work.

The [[unification of Norway]] is something of a love story. It begins with a marriage proposal that resulted in rejection and scorn from [[Gyda Eiriksdottir|Gyda]], the daughter of [[Eirik King of Hordaland|Eirik, king of Hordaland]]. She said she refused to marry Harald "before he was king over all of Norway". Harald was therefore induced to take a [[vow]] not to cut nor comb his hair until he was "''[[wikt:þeod#Old English|þjóðkonungr]]''" (''people-king'') of Norway, and when he was justified in trimming it ten years later, he exchanged the epithet "[[wikt:shock#Etymology 2|Shockhead]]" or "Tanglehair" (Haraldr lúfa) for the one by which he is usually known.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}{{efn|The historicity of the nickname and the anecdote around it is considered suspect by some scholars. {{harvnb|Whaley|1993|pp=122–123}}, citing Moe (1926), pp. 134–140.}}<ref>{{Citation |last=Whaley |first=Diana |title=Nicknames and Narratives in the Sagas |url=http://journals.lub.lu.se/ojs/index.php/anf/article/view/11525 |work=Arkiv för Nordisk Filologi |volume=108 |pages=122–23 |year=1993 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170308220736/http://journals.lub.lu.se/ojs/index.php/anf/article/view/11525 |access-date=2017-03-08 |archive-date=2017-03-08 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 866, Harald made the first of a series of conquests over the many [[petty kingdom]]s which would compose all of Norway,{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} including [[Värmland]] in Sweden, which had sworn allegiance to the Swedish [[saga]]-king [[Erik Eymundsson]] (whose historicity is not confirmed). Marching up through the Uplands and into [[Trondheim]] and then south along the coast Harald subdued many petty kings. Snorri credits his success to excellent leadership by him and his uncle Guthorm, as well as military reforms and his hard tax policy. The taxes demanded by Harald were much higher than other kings and a third of the revenues were given to his jarls. This made jarls and rich farmers flock to his cause to enrich themself. One of these was [[Håkon Grjotgardsson]] of Trondheim who allied with Harald and married off his daughter Åsa to him. Harald established the royal estate of Hlade in Trondheim and Håkon became the first of the [[Earls of Lade]], a family which would be one of the dominating forces in Norway for the next 150 years. Harald's third principal ally was [[Rognvald Eysteinsson]], jarl of [[Møre og Romsdal|Møre]]. Snorri describes Rognvald as Harald's closest friend and the one to coin the name "Fairhair". Harald is said to have fathered [[Bjørn Farmann]] and [[Olaf Haraldsson Geirstadalf|Olav Geirstadalv]] with Rognvald's sister Svanhild, ancestors of the famous Christian kings [[Olav Tryggvason]] (named after his grandfather Olav Geirstadalv) and [[Olaf II of Norway|Olav the Holy]].

[[File:Erik Werenskiold - Den fangne kong Gryting føres fram for kong Harald - NG.K&H.B.05044 - National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design (cropped).jpg|thumb|A scene from Heimskringla: [[Gryting, King of Orkdal|King Gryting]] is brought before Harald after being defeated in battle.]]

In 872, after a [[battle of Hafrsfjord|great victory at Hafrsfjord]] near [[Stavanger]] against [[Kjotve the Rich]], Harald found himself king over the whole country, ruling from his [[Kongsgård]] seats at [[Avaldsnes Kongsgård estate|Avaldsnes]] and [[Alrekstad]]. His realm was, however, threatened by dangers from without, as large numbers of his opponents had taken refuge, not only in [[Iceland]], then recently discovered; but also in the [[Orkney Islands]], [[Shetland Islands]], [[Hebrides Islands]], [[Faroe Islands]] and the northern European mainland.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} However, his opponents' leaving was not entirely voluntary. Many Norwegian chieftains who were wealthy and respected posed a threat to Harald; therefore, they were subjected to much harassment from Harald, prompting them to vacate the land. At last, Harald was forced to make an expedition to the West, to clear the islands and the Scottish mainland of some [[Vikings]] who tried to hide there.{{efn|According to Peter H. Sawyer, this expedition probably never took place, cf. "Harald Fairhair and the British Isles", in "Les Vikings et leurs civilisation", ed. R. Boyer (Paris, 1976), pp. 105–09}}<ref>P. H. Sawyer, "Harald Fairhair and the British Isles", in "Les Vikings et leurs civilisation", ed. R. Boyer (Paris, 1976), pp. 105–09.</ref>

Snorri describes Harald's marriage to the daughter of Svási, here called [[Snæfrithr Svásadottir|Snæfrithr]], but in his account they are described as [[jötnar]] rather than finns ([[Sámi people|sami]]). Gyda is said to have been made a ''friðla'' (concubine) of Harald after her father Eirik of Hordaland had been killed in battle by Harald's followers. Harald is said to have divorced Åsa and rejected Gyda and several other concubines to marry a Jutish princess called Ragnhild the Mighty. The couple only had one child, [[Eirik Bloodaxe]], before her premature death. Eirik Bloodaxe was named after Ragnhild's father as was custom in medieval Scandinavia. Likely due to Eirik Bloodaxe royal mother, he was favored above Harald's other sons. Eirik himself had an unquestioning, near psychopathic loyalty to Harald. Unlike other authors, Snorri does not attribute Eirik's cruelty solely to Gunnhild. When Harald and Snæfrith's son Ragnvald Rettilbeine became known as patron of sorcerers and a practitioner of magic, Harald ordered him to cease such activity. When Ragnvald did not listen Harald sent Eirik Bloodaxe to murder him. Eirik had his half-brother and all of his sorcerers [[Arson in medieval Scandinavia|burned in their hall]]. When Bjørn Farmann was killed in a conflict with Eirik, Harald stepped in on Eirik's side against his other sons.

There are several accounts of large feasting [[mead hall]]s constructed for important feasts when Scandinavian royalty was invited. The Värmlandish chieftain Áki ([[Swedish language|Swedish]] ''Åke jarl'') invited both king Harald Fairhair and the Swedish [[saga]]-king [[Erik Eymundsson]], but had the Norwegian king stay in the newly constructed and sumptuous one, because he was the youngest one of the kings and the one who had the greatest prospects. The older Swedish king, on the other hand, had to stay in the old feasting hall. The Swedish king was so humiliated that he killed Áki. Harald drove Erik Eymundsson out of Värmland and inserted Áki's son Ubbi ([[Swedish language|Swedish]]: ''Ubbe'') as jarl. Harald is then said to have made a punitive raid into [[Västra Götaland]], to weaken Erik Eymundsson.{{efn|It is uncertain if Västra Götaland was part of the early Swedish kingdom at this point. In Snorri's time it was, and Snorri might have connected the episodes to each other based on the borders of his own time}}

As Harald's sons came of age their unruly behavior became a source of instability in Norway. Snæfrith's sons [[Halfdan Long-Leg]] and Gudrød Ljome burned Rognvald jarl alive in his hall and took his lands in More and [[Orkney]]. Halfdan Long-Legs was killed on Orkney by Rognvald's son [[Torf-Einarr]] and Gudrød was brought to justice by Harald. The estates in Møre are returned to Rognvald's other son [[Thorir Rögnvaldarson|Thorir the Silent]] who was given Harald's daughter Ålov in marriage as [[Weregild|compensation]]. A variation of this story also appears in ''[[Orkneyinga saga]]''. Afterwards, Gudrød was kept in Harald's [[hird]], in a position where Harald could prevent him from similar transgressions.

The account describes Hákon the good as Harald's youngest son, through a servant named Thora.