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Archiver > GEN-MEDIEVAL > 2000-03 > 0952295977


From: Stewart Baldwin< >
Subject: Re: SV: OLAV OF NORWAY
Date: Sun, 05 Mar 2000 22:39:37 GMT


On Wed, 1 Mar 2000 17:01:43 +0100, "Jo Rune Ugulen"
<> wrote:

>Stewart Baldwin <> skrev i
>meldingsnyheter:...
>>For the benefit of those of us who don't have access to the above
>>article (and wouldn't be able to read it even if we did), would it be
>>possible to give an English synopsis of the main arguments given by
>>Krag?
>
>I'll include below the summary in English to Krag's article from 1989. In
>addition I should mention that on pp. 253-266 in his book from 1991,
>"Ynglingatal and Ynglingasaga," there is an exstensive English summary, that
>might be worth reading. The remainder of the book is in Norwegian, but
>you'll get a general idea of his views. I believe this book should be
>possible to find in one of the larger libraries.
>
>Summary (by Krag) to Claus Krag's article "Norge som odel i Harald Hrfagres
>tt," (Norsk) Historisk Tidsskrift, vol. 68 (1989), pp.288-302.
>Note: Italics in the original text, are here between ' and '
>
>[Start]
>Most historians, following their medieval saga-writing predecessors, have
>claimed that the Norwegian kings lfr Tryggvason, lfr Haraldsson, Haraldr
>harri and their successors, were all the descendants of Haraldr hrfagri.
>This claim has been combined with another one, both in the sagas and
>nowadays, namely that Haraldr hrfagri did not only unify the kingdom, but
>that he also, although the unification was ephemeral at first, rooted the
>idea of a Norwegian kingdom, commonly thought of afterwards as a hereditary
>possession ('al') belonging to Haralds male descendants.
>The most important single figure in establishing this long dynastical line -
>and in disestablishing it - is Haraldr harri; the subsequent kings all
>descended from him. There is really no evidence that he claimed the throne
>as a descendant of the first Haraldr. The contemporary sources, both
>Byzantine and Norse skaldic material, indicate that his ascendancy was
>solely based on the fact that he was the half-brother of Saint Olaf, on
>whose side he had fought in the battle of Stiklastair. Only in later
>sources does he appear as a member of the hrfagri family. This can be seen
>both as an effort by the medieval writers to create unity and coherence in
>Norwegian history, and as a tribute to the Norwegian kings, especially
>Sverrir and his descendants. They had a very strong interest in looking upon
>the Norwegian kingdom as hereditary, and the dynasty as very old.
>The view outlined above is not entirely new. It was held with some
>persistency by Nielsen, Bugge and Bull, but subsequently lost support,
>mostly because of Koht's firm belief in the traditional view.
>Only Nielsen doubted also that lfr Tryggvason and lfr Haraldsson (Saint
>Olaf) descended from Haraldr. But there is good reason to reexamine the
>facts. There is no actual evidence that 10th and early 11th century Norway
>was really at that time regarded as 'al' in the hrfagri family - on the
>contrary, Danish kings were also kings of Norway most of the time. Nor do we
>see such a large number of claimants to the throne as would have been
>expected if there really had existed, as a constitutional fact, national
>bonds on kingship, with the hrfagri descendants as a privileged group.
>Another disturbing fact is that the two lf's were from stlandet [i.e.
>Eastern Norway, J.R.U.'s comment], where their forefathers seem to have been
>vassals under the Danish king, and where Haraldr hrfagri never really
>gained supremacy.
>The evidence used by modern historians to support the descendancy of lfr
>Haraldsson from Haraldr, crumbles when reexamined. Some skalds (ttarr,
>Sigvatr) call him 'nijungr Haralds' and 'arfvorr Haralds,' but it is
>rather obvious, from skaldic usage generally, that this Haraldr is not
>Haraldr hrfagri, but 'Haraldr grenski,' lfs father. When it comes to
>lfr Tryggvason and contemporary sources, there really exists no so-called
>evidence at all. Neither do skaldic expressions such as 'Haralds ttleif,
>Haralds haukey,' and so on, denoting "Norway", point to other than Harald's
>role as the legendary first ruler of the whole country. Similarly, England
>is called 'Ellu ttleif' and later kings 'Ellu konr', without the skald
>implying that Ella founded a dynasty or that England belonged to his
>descendants.
>[End]

Thanks for providing the summary. This brings up the obvious question
of how much of the ancestry of these kings can be verified. For
example, Adam of Bremen (writing in the 1070's) makes Olaf I of Norway
the son of one Thrucco [i.e., Tryggve, Book 2, chapter 34], king of
Norway, who in turn was give by Adam as the son of king Hacco of
Norway [Book, chapter 32], who was said to be of the stock of Inguar
(Ivar) and descended from a race of giants [Book 2, chapter 22].

Adam of Bremen makes St. Olaf the son of one Cracabben [Book 2,
chapter 49], stated in Book 2, chapter 38 to be a nickname of Olaf son
of Thrucco. However, Scholia 27 (not written by Adam, according to a
note in Tschan's translation) of Adam's work makes Craccaben a
successor of Olaf I.

Both Adam and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle state that Harald (Hardrada)
was a brother of St. Olaf, and Florence of Worcester (d. 1118) adds
that Harald and Olaf were brothers only through the same mother, and
gives the name of Harald's father as king Siward (i.e., Sigurd) of
Norway.

So far as I know, Ari's slendingabk (written ca. 1130?) is the
earliest source to give the orthodox genealogies of the two Olafs and
Harald.

Are there other early (i.e., pre-Ari) sources for the ancestry of
these kings not listed here?

Stewart Baldwin

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