Editing Halfdan the Black

{{Short description|Ninth-century Jarl of Vestfold}}
{{distinguish|text=his grandson [[Halfdan Haraldsson the Black]]}}
{{ infobox noble
| name = Halfdan the Black
| image = Halvdan Svartes saga-Tittelfrise-Gerhard Munthe.jpg
| caption = Halvdan Svartes saga. <br/>Gerhard Munthe, ''[[Heimskringla]]'', 1899
| noble family = [[House of Yngling]]
| father = [[Gudrød the Hunter]]
| mother = [[Åsa Haraldsdottir of Agder]]
| spouse = Ragnhild Haraldsdotter Gulskeg<br/>[[Ragnhild Sigurdsdotter]]
| birth_date =
| birth_place = 
| death_date =
| death_place = 
}}
'''Halfdan the Black''' ([[Old Norse]]: ''Halfdanr Svarti''; {{flourished|{{circa|9th century}}}}) was a king of [[Vestfold]]. He belonged to the [[House of Yngling]] and was the father of [[Harald I of Norway|Harald Fairhair]], the first king of a unified Norway.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110722144006/http://koti.kontu.la/jsalonen/jani/main_saaga_009.html ''Halfdan the Black'' (Vanhoja islantilaisia saagoja)]}}</ref><ref name=snl>{{cite web|url =   https://snl.no/Halvdan_Svarte_-_norsk_sm%C3%A5konge|title=  Halvdan Svarte |publisher = Store norske leksikon
|author= Bjørn Bandlien|access-date=November 1, 2018}}</ref>

==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"/>

==Halvdanshaugen==
[[Image:Halvdanshaugen, Hadeland Folkemuseum, 2008-06-01.jpg|right|thumb|Halvdanshaugen at [[Hadeland Folkemuseum]], one of the several burial sites of Halfdan the Black]]
''Heimskringla'', ''Fagrskinna'', ''Ágrip'' and ''Historia Norwegiæ'' all relate that Halfdan drowned when he fell through the ice at the inlet [[Røykenvik Station|Røykenvik]] in the lake [[Randsfjorden]] on his return home from [[Hadeland]]. His horse and sleigh broke through ice weakened by cattle dung near a watering hole dug in the frozen lake. He was buried in a mound at Stein in [[Ringerike (traditional district)|Ringerike]] (''Halvdanshaugen på Stein'').<ref>{{cite web
 |url          = http://www.historieboka.no/Modules/historiebok_tidsepoke_emne_artikkel.aspx?ObjectType=Article&Article.ID=1511&Category.ID=1170
 |title        = Hva skjuler seg i Halvdanshaugen
 |publisher    = Terje Bautztore norske leksikon
 |author       = Marie Olaussen
 |access-date   = November 1, 2018
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20181105012543/http://www.historieboka.no/Modules/historiebok_tidsepoke_emne_artikkel.aspx?ObjectType=Article&Article.ID=1511&Category.ID=1170
 |archive-date = November 5, 2018
 |url-status     = dead
}}</ref>

''Heimskringla'''s narrative adds that each of the districts of his kingdom wanted to claim his grave, and that it was agreed to divide his body into four pieces so each district could bury a piece of it, resulting in four different sites called ''Halvdanshaugen'' (from the [[Old Norse]] word ''haugr'' meaning mound). According to this version, only his head is buried in [[Ringerike (traditional district)|Ringerike]].<ref>[http://www.snl.no/.nbl_biografi/Halvdan_Svarte/utdypning ''Halvdan Svarte – utdypning'' (Store norske leksikon)]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url =   https://kulturminnesok.no/minne/?queryString=https://data.kulturminne.no/askeladden/lokalitet/28978|title=  Halvdanshaugen / Gravminne
|publisher =kulturminnesok.no |access-date=November 1, 2018}}</ref>

==Sources==
No contemporary sources mention Halfdan, and the details of his life that are provided by later [[kings' sagas]] are considered semi-legendary by modern historians. Although he has his own saga in ''Heimskringla'', it lacks any skaldic verse, which is normally used by Snorri as supporting evidence and this, combined with its rather legendary character, leads historians to be wary of seeing much veracity in it. The "Black" nickname was given to him because of his black hair.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/heim/03halfdn.htm|title = Halfdan the Black Saga}}</ref>

Halfdan is mentioned in [[Snorri Sturluson]]'s ''[[Heimskringla]]'' ({{circa|1230}}), ''[[Fagrskinna]]'' ({{circa|1220}}), ''[[Ágrip af Nóregskonungasögum|Ágrip]]'' ({{circa|1190}}) and ''[[Historia Norwegiæ]]'' (late 12th century). The most elaborate story is found in the latest saga, ''Heimskringla''. According to the [[Latin]] ''Historia Norwegiæ'', Halvdan was a king "in montanis" (in the mountains), which is usually equivalent to [[Oppland]] in the [[Old Norse language|Old Norse]].<ref>Bergljot Solberg, ''Jernalderen i Norge'', (Oslo, 2000)</ref> This conflicts with the version told in ''Heimskringla''.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*[http://www.septentrionalia.org/etexts/fagrskinna.pdf Fagrskinna]{{dead link|date=October 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} in Old Norse
*{{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20120526220700/http://sagnanet.is/saganet/?MIval=/SinglePage&Manuscript=100203&Page=4187&language=english Ágrip]}} in Old Norse
*[http://wayback.vefsafn.is/wayback/20070910175442/http%3A//www.heimskringla.no/original/heimskringla/index.php Heimskringla] in Old Norse
*[[s:Heimskringla|Heimskringla]] in English, from wikisource

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[House of Yngling]]||{{circa|810}}||{{circa|860}}}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Gudrød the Hunter]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Yngling|Head of the House of Yngling]]|years=
|before=[[Gudrød the Hunter]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Harald I of Norway|Harald Fairhair]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Norwegian petty kings]]
[[Category:9th-century monarchs in Europe]]
[[Category:People from Vestfold]]
[[Category:810s births]]
[[Category:Place of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Place of death unknown]]
[[Category:860 deaths]]
[[Category:9th-century Norwegian monarchs]]