See also Eyvindr Finsson skáldaspillir;
Sighvatr Þorðarson
Further Reading
Literature
Andersen, Per Sveaas. Samlingen av Norge og kristningen av
landet 800–1130. Handbok i Norges historie 2. Bergen: Uni-
versiteisforlaget, 1977, pp. 84–99, 247–73.
Birkeli, Fridtjov. “Hadde Hákon Adalsteinsfostre likevel en
Biskop Sigfrid hos seg?” Historisk tidsskrift (Norway) 40
(1960–61), 113–36.
Birkeli, Fridtjov. “The Earliest Missionary Activity from England
to Norway.” Nottingham Mediaeval Studies 15 (1971), 27–37;
Holmsen, Andreas. Norges historie fra de eldste tider til
1660.3rd ed. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget, 1971, pp. 141–51.
Foote, Peter G., and David M. Wilson. The Viking Achievement:
The Society and Culture of Early Medieval Scandinavia. Lon-
don: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1970, pp. 36–42, 46–7, 280–2.
Jones, Gwyn. A History of the Vikings. 2nd ed. Oxford and New
York: Oxford University Press, 1984, pp. 92–6, 118–23.
Koht, Halvdan. “Haakon Adalsteinsfostre.” Norsk biografi sk
leksikon 5. Oslo: Aschehoug, 1931, pp. 152–7.
Daphne L. Davidson
HÁKON HÁKONARSON (1204-1263)
Hákon Hákonarson, king of Norway 1217–1263, was
born in 1204, the son of King Hákon Sverrisson, and
grandson of Sverrir Sigurðarson.
After King Ingi Bárðárson’s death in 1217, the
Birkibeinar (“birch-legs”) disagreed on his successor.
The choice was among Hákon Hákonarson, Ingi’s son
Guttormr, and Ingi’s brother Earl Skúli. Hákon was
elected king but Skúli continued as earl and adviser to
the young king, responsible for the rule of a third of
Norway. In 1219, Hákon was engaged to Earl Skúli’s
daughter Margrét, and they were married in 1225.
During the 1220s, Hákon and Skúli had to fi ght a
group of rebels, the Ribbungar from Viken. The fi ght
lasted until 1227 and became a major reason why the
king and Skúli supported each other. But gradually
Hákon began to act increasingly independently, and
during the 1230s open confl ict broke out between Hákon
and Skúli over the administration of the kingdom. In
1239, Skúli rebelled against Hákon, and assumed the
title of king at Eyraþing in Niðaróss (Trondheim). Hákon
crushed the resistance, and in 1240 Skúli was killed by
the Birkibeinar. After that, Hákon was the uncontested
king of Norway.
Practical cooperation between the archbishop and
the kingdom characterized the greater part of Hákon
Hákonarson’s reign. In collaboration with the Church,
hereditary succession to the throne was established.
Hákon was recognized as the lawful successor to the
kingdom of Norway at a meeting in Bergen in 1223.
The archbishop confi rmed the decision, and this act
validated the principles concerning ecclesiastical infl u-
ence on the succession; this infl uence had its roots in the
Law of Succession to the Throne from 1163. In 1240,
allegiance was sworn to Hákon’s eldest legitimate son,
Hákon, which proved a clear victory for the hereditary
throne. At the same time, the principle of legitimacy
was strengthened, since the son Hákon was preferred
to an older, illegitimate half-brother. Papal assent that
Hákon Hákonarson’s successors were to rule Norway
came in 1247, when Hákon was crowned by Cardinal
William of Sabina.
In Hákon Hákonarson’s time, European chivalric lit-
erature began its infl uence in Norway. Hákon Hákonar-
son, and later his son Magnús, wanted the Norwegian
court to be comparable with those in Europe. Hákon
had a number of European Latin works translated into
Old Norse. The oldest of these translations is Tristrams
saga from 1226. Five MSS containing riddarasögur
expressly state that the works were translated at Hákon’s
request, and it is likely that Hákon also had Konungs
skuggsjá written, modeled on the European specula.
These translations were signifi cant for the Norse cultural
milieu, and among other things infl uenced a number of
Íslendingasögur, among them Laxdoela saga. The rid-
darasögur became popular especially in Iceland, where
as early as 1300 people began composing their own.
During Hákon’s reign, the people of Lübeck began
trading with Norway. The importance of this trade
increased, and in 1250, Hákon signed a treaty with the
city. The following year, an agreement was entered into
with Novgorod concerning peace in the northern tribu-
tary countries. Hákon was also active in Scandinavian
politics after 1248, when trouble arose in Denmark and
Sweden. He married his son Hákon to Earl Birgir’s
daughter in Sweden, and his other son, Magnús, to King
Erik’s daughter in Denmark.
From 1220, Hákon Hákonarson had tried to subjugate
the Norse islands in the west, but this conquest was
impossible as long as there were confl icts in Norway.
After Skúli’s death, however, Hákon attempted to secure
control over Iceland. Through the chieftains in Iceland,
who were also his retainers, he succeeded in gaining
control of the goðorð little by little. Thereafter, he could
distribute the goðorð among the chieftains he found best
suited to advancing his policies. In addition, he received
support from the Norwegian bishops in Iceland; and in
1262–1264, he subjected Iceland and Greenland to the
kingdom of Norway.
In the Hebrides and on the Isle of Man, there had
been trouble throughout Hákon’s reign, and-in 1262 the
Scots attacked the islands. Hákon gathered a mercenary
army and attacked Scotland in 1263. The result was
meager, and he did not secure Norwegian control over
the islands. Hákon then went to the Orkney Islands,
where he died in the winter of 1263.HÁKON HÁKONARSON