Editing Norway (section)

=== Viking Age ===
{{Main|Petty kingdoms of Norway|Viking Age}}
{{See also|Unification of Norway|Hereditary Kingdom of Norway}}
{{multiple image|align = right|direction = diagonal|total_width = 280|image1 = Le bateau viking dOseberg (4835828216).jpg|caption1 = The [[Oseberg ship]] at the [[Viking Ship Museum (Oslo)|Viking Ship Museum]] in Oslo|image2 = Viking swords at Bergen Museum.jpg|caption2 = [[Viking sword]]s found in Norway, preserved at the [[Bergen Museum]]}}
By the time of the first historical records of Scandinavia, about the 8th century, several small political entities existed in Norway. It has been estimated that there were nine petty realms in Western Norway during the early [[Viking Age]].<ref>Bjørn Ringstad, ''Vestlandets største gravminner. Et forsøk på lokalisering av forhistoriske maktsentra'', (Bergen, 1986)</ref> Archaeologist Bergljot Solberg on this basis estimates that there would have been at least 20 in the whole country.<ref>Bergljot Solberg, ''Jernalderen i Norge'', (Oslo, 2000)</ref>

In the Viking period, Norwegian Viking explorers discovered [[Iceland]] by accident in the ninth century when heading for the [[Faroe Islands]], and eventually came across [[Vinland]], known today as [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]], in Canada. The Vikings from Norway were most active in the northern and western [[British Isles]] and eastern [[Norse colonization of North America|North America isles]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://naturalhistory.si.edu/vikings/voyage/subset/vinland/archeo.html|title=Vinland Archeology|website=naturalhistory.si.edu|access-date=11 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180308031025/https://naturalhistory.si.edu/vikings/voyage/subset/vinland/archeo.html|archive-date=8 March 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Gjermundbu helmet - cropped.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.65|The [[Gjermundbu helmet]] found in [[Buskerud]] is the only known reconstructable [[Viking Age]] helmet.]]

According to tradition, [[Harald Fairhair]] unified them into one in 872 after the [[Battle of Hafrsfjord]] in [[Stavanger]], thus becoming the first king of a united Norway.<ref>[[#Larsen|Larsen]], p. 83.</ref> Harald's realm was mainly a South Norwegian coastal state. Fairhair ruled with a strong hand and according to the sagas, many Norwegians left the country to live in Iceland, the [[Faroe Islands]], [[Greenland]], and parts of [[Great Britain|Britain]] and Ireland.<ref>[[R. F. Foster (historian)|Foster, R. F.]] (2001) ''The Oxford History of Ireland''. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|019280202X}}</ref>

[[Haakon I of Norway|Haakon I the Good]] was Norway's first Christian king, in the mid-10th century, though his attempt to introduce the religion was rejected. [[Norse mythology|Norse traditions]] were replaced slowly by [[Christian mythology|Christian ones]] in the late 10th and early 11th centuries. This is largely attributed to the missionary kings [[Olaf I of Norway|Olaf I Tryggvasson]] and [[Olaf II of Norway|Olaf II Haraldsson]] (St. Olaf). Olaf Tryggvasson conducted raids in England, including attacking London. Arriving back in Norway in 995, Olaf landed in [[Moster (island)|Moster]] where he built a church which became the first [[Old Moster Church|Christian church]] in Norway. From Moster, Olaf sailed north to [[Trondheim (city)|Trondheim]] where he was proclaimed King of Norway by the Eyrathing in 995.<ref>[[#Larsen|Larsen]], p. 95.</ref> One of the most important sources for the history of the 11th century Vikings is the treaty between the Icelanders and Olaf II Haraldsson, king of Norway circa 1015 to 1028.<ref>Jones, Gwyn, A history of the Vikings (Oxford 2001).</ref>

[[Feudalism]] never really developed in Norway or Sweden, as it did in the rest of Europe. However, the administration of government took on a very conservative feudal character. The [[Hanseatic League]] forced royalty to cede to them greater and greater concessions over foreign trade and the economy, because of the loans the Hansa had made to the royals and the large debt the kings were carrying. The League's monopolistic control over the economy of Norway put pressure on all classes, especially the peasantry, to the degree that no real [[burgher (title)|burgher]] class existed in Norway.<ref>[[#Larsen|Larsen]], p. 201.</ref>