In Its Own Realm at Hadeland

Hadeland in the Sagas

With this simple title, I wish to describe the area that Hadeland consisted of in ancient times, as described in Heimskringla by Snorri Sturluson. This work tells the stories of the Norwegian kings. Snorri wrote it in Iceland around the year 1220. He was a chieftain, author, and poet, and the book commonly referred to simply as “Snorre” is one of Norway’s most important historical works.

The borders of Hadeland were significantly different during the Viking Age compared to today. Furthermore, the term “Viking” was not originally used as we use it now; instead, people spoke of “going on a viking,” meaning to go raiding. It is widely believed that the word “viking” is connected to piracy (possibly from “vik,” meaning bay or inlet). Vikings were both farmers and fierce warriors.

Harald Fairhair and the Struggle for Power

King Harald Fairhair is often credited with uniting Norway into one kingdom, though this claim has certain qualifications. Harald had eleven wives at the same time and therefore many children. After his death in 933, a fierce struggle for power broke out, and Norway was once again divided into several small and somewhat larger kingdoms.

His father, Halfdan the Black, was a petty king who ruled in Vestfold and the Opplands. He belonged to the Norwegian branch of the Yngling dynasty. According to saga tradition, the Ynglings descended from the Norse gods. Halfdan the Black died suddenly when he and his horse fell through the ice and drowned in Lake Randsfjorden. The Yngling dynasty most likely originated in Uppsala, Sweden, and was a ruling dynasty.

Vikings in the Wider World

Vikings traveled throughout the known world of their time. They are said to have fought alongside both the Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitaller in the Holy Land, Jerusalem. The First Crusade took place in 1098.

Vikings from Hadeland (reference missing) reportedly traveled as far west as Spain and fought in what is now Turkey, at the site of the ancient city of Byzantium, located just outside present-day Istanbul. In this city, the Templars carried out some of their most brutal actions. Whether Vikings were involved here remains undocumented in this account. According to tradition, after a massacre in which men, women, and children were killed, a letter was sent to the Pope stating: “Rejoice, for the horses have waded to their ankles in blood. We have killed them all—children, women, and the elderly. God is good.”

After this battle, their banner was reportedly called “Byzant,” composed of black and white squares.

The Varangians and Byzantium

We know that several Norwegian kings traveled to Byzantium, which remained the Eastern Roman Empire until 1453. What is certain is that various Norwegian kings became what must be described as bodyguards to Byzantine rulers.

When passing Hakadal, one can clearly see the ski hill called Varingskollen. In Byzantium, Vikings were known as “Varangians,” meaning “the sworn ones”—those who pledged themselves to carry out tasks together.

Some Viking kings stood for peace and prosperity; others represented quite the opposite. When Harald Fairhair fought the petty king Haki and won, the area was afterward called Hakadal.

The Name and Borders of Hadeland

Snorri states that the name “Hadeland” is documented as early as the Dyna Stone, dating to around 1050. He believed that the first syllable in the name Hadeland reflects strife and conflict.

Only 100 years ago, Hadeland was a much larger geographical area than it is today. Skrukkelia once belonged to Hadeland but is now under Hurdal. Until around 1675, the districts of Toten, Gjøvik, Vardal, and Biri were part of what was then called Hadafylki. The northern parts of Lake Randsfjorden were included until about 1775.

There are also indications that Ringerike, Modum, Krødsherad, Valdres, and Hedemarken were once under the authority of the old Hadafylki.

Laws, Christianity, and the End of the Viking Age

In the mid-800s, Halfdan the Black entered history, as previously mentioned, the father of Harald Fairhair. He was the son of Gudrød the Hunter King. Halfdan the Black is said to have established the law used at the regional assembly (Lagting). This law likely formed the basis for the later Eidsivating Law.

In Magnus the Lawmender’s national law of 1273, we see that Ringerike, as mentioned earlier, was included in the Hadeland realm. This was new information compared to Snorri’s account, which stated that Ringerike and Hadeland had separate kings.

It was during the reign of Harald Hardrada that the Viking Age came to an end and Christianity firmly took hold in Hadeland and the Opplands. The Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066, where Harald Hardrada was defeated, marked the end of the Viking Age.

Finally, Norwegian Vikings settled in large numbers in the English region of York. Many people there have DNA showing Norwegian ancestry, something of which many are proud.