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Haakon I the Good
Haakon the Good, by Peter Nicolai Arbo
King of Norway
Reign	934–961
Predecessor	Eric I
Successor	Harald II
Born	c. 920 Håkonshella, Hordaland, Norway
Died	961 Håkonshella, Hordaland (fatally wounded in the Battle of Fitjar)
Burial	Seim, Hordaland, Norway
Issue	Thora
House	Fairhair dynasty
Father	Harald Fairhair
Mother	Thora Mosterstong
Religion	Norse paganism, Roman Catholicism

Haakon Haraldsson (c. 920–961), also known as Haakon the Good (Old Norse: Hákon góði, Norwegian: Håkon den gode) and sometimes Haakon Adalsteinfostre (Old Norse: Hákon Aðalsteinsfóstri, Norwegian: Håkon Adalsteinsfostre), was the third king of Norway and the youngest son of Harald Fairhair and Thora Mosterstang. Haakon was frequently successful in battle but not in his attempts to introduce Christianity, which aroused an opposition he did not feel strong enough to resist.

Early life

King Harald determined to remove his youngest son out of harm's way and accordingly sent him to the court of King Athelstan of England. Haakon was fostered by King Athelstan, as part of a peace agreement made by his father, for which reason Haakon was nicknamed Adalsteinfostre. The English court introduced him in the Christian religion. On the news of his father's death, King Athelstan provided Haakon with ships and men for an expedition against his half-brother Eirik Bloodaxe, who had been proclaimed king.

Reign

At his arrival back in Norway, Haakon gained the support of the landowners by promising to give up the rights of taxation claimed by his father over inherited real property. Eirik Bloodaxe soon found himself deserted on all sides, and saved his own and his family's lives by fleeing from the country. Eirik fled to the Orkney Islands and later to the Kingdom of Jorvik, eventually meeting a violent death at Stainmore, Westmorland, in 954 along with his son, Haeric.

In 953, Haakon had to fight a fierce battle (Slaget på Blodeheia ved Avaldsnes) at Avaldsnes against the sons of Eirik Bloodaxe. Haakon won the battle at which Eirik's son Guttorm died. One of Haakon's most famous victories was the Battle of Rastarkalv (Slaget på Rastarkalv) near Frei in 955. By placing ten standards far apart along a low ridge, he gave the impression that his army was bigger than it actually was. He managed to fool Eirik’s sons into believing that they were out-numbered. The Danes fled and were slaughtered by Haakon’s army. The sons of Eirik returned in 957, with support from the Danish king, Gorm the Old. But again they were defeated by Haakon's effective army system.

Succession

Three of the sons of Eirik Bloodaxe (Gamle, Harold, and Sigurd) landed unnoticed on Hordaland in 961 and surprised the king at his residence in Fitjar. Haakon was mortally wounded at the Battle of Fitjar (Slaget ved Fitjar) after a final victory over Eirik’s sons. The King’s arm was pierced by an arrow and he died later from his wounds. He was buried in the burial mound (Håkonshaugen) in the village of Seim in Lindås municipality in the county of Hordaland. Eyvindr Skáldaspillir, his court poet composed a skaldic poem upon his death. Hákonarmál is a skaldic poem about the fall of King Haakon at the Battle of Fitjar and his reception in Valhalla.

After Haakon's death, Harald Greycloak, third son of Eirik Bloodaxe, jointly with his brothers became kings of Norway. However, they had little authority outside Western Norway. Harald, by being the oldest, was the most powerful of the brothers. The succession issue was settled when he ascended the throne as Harald II. Subsequently the Norwegians were tormented by years of war. In 970, King Harald II was tricked into coming to Denmark and killed in a plot planned by Sigurd Haakonsson's son Haakon Sigurdsson, who had become an ally of Harald Bluetooth.

Modern references

• Haakon’s Park (Håkonarparken) opposite Fitjar Church is the location of a statue of King Haakon sculpted by Anne Grimdalen. The statue was erected during 1961 at the one thousand year commemoration of the Battle of Fitjar.
• Håkonarspelet is a historical play writen by Johannes Heggland in 1997.
• Haakon is a major character in Mother of Kings by Poul Anderson.
• Haakon is the protagonist in God's Hammer by Eric Schumacher .

Ancestors from the sagas

Note

This article contains information from "Haakon" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.

References

1. "Haakon I". The Free Dictionary.
2. Håkon 1 Adalsteinsfostre (Store norske leksikon)
3. "Hakon the Good". Catholic Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2007-02-18.
4. Claus Krag: Håkon 1 Adalsteinsfostre, Konge (Norsk biografisk leksikon)
5. Eric Bloodaxe (History of York)
6. Haakon the Good and the Sons of Gunhild (Yesterday's Classics, LLC)
7. Håkon den godes landskap på Frei og slaget på Rastarkalv (Siw Helen Myrvoll Grønland. University of Oslo. 2014)
8. Hákonarmál (Heimskringla.no)
9. King Haakon The Good of Norway buried at Saeheim
10. Håkonarparken (visitsunnhordland.no)
11. Kongen med gullhjelmen (Håkonarspelet)
12. Mother of Kings by Poul Anderson. (New York: Tor/Forge 2001) ISBN 0-765-34502-1
13. God's Hammer by Eric Schumacher. (Paul Mould Publishing. 2nd edition, 2005) ISBN 978-1586900175

Other sources

• Enstad, Nils-Petter (2008) Sverd eller kors? Kristningen av Norge som politisk prosess fra Håkon den gode til Olav Kyrre (Kolofon forlag)
• Krag, Claus (1995) Vikingtid og rikssamling 800-1130 (Oslo: Aschehoug's History of Norway, 2)

External links

• Saga Hákonar góða (Heimskringla Snorra Sturlusonar)
• Hákonar Saga Aðalsteinsfóstra
• The Lay Of Hákon (Hákonarmól) by Eyvind Finnsson Skáldaspillir

Template:Persondata

• 920 births
• 961 deaths
• Fairhair dynasty
• Monarchs killed in action
• Norwegian monarchs
• Viking Age monarchs
• Vikings killed in battle
• 10th-century monarchs in Europe
• Roman Catholic monarchs