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Thepetty kingdoms of Norway (Bokmål:smårike) were the entities from which the laterKingdom of Norway was founded. Before theunification of Norway in 872 and during the period of fragmentation after KingHarald Fairhair's death, Norway was divided in severalsmall kingdoms. Some could have been as small as a cluster of villages, and others comprised several of today'scounties.
By the time of the first historical records of Scandinavia, about the 8th century, a number of small political entities existed in Norway. The exact number is unknown, and would probably also fluctuate with time. It has been estimated that there were 9 petty realms in Western Norway during the earlyViking Age.[1] Archaeologist Bergljot Solberg on this basis estimates that there would have been at least 20 in the whole country.[2]
There are no written sources from this time to tell us the title used by these rulers, or the exact borders between their realms. The main written sources we have on this period, thekings' sagas, were not written until the 12th and 13th centuries. While they were in part based onskaldic poems, and possibly onoral tradition, their reliability as sources for detailed events of the Viking Age continues to be debated among historians. The sagas, most notable of which isHeimskringla, often refer to the petty rulers askonungr, i.e.king, as in Agder, Alvheim, Hedmark, Hordaland, Nordmøre og Romsdal, Rogaland, Romerike, Sogn, Solør, Sunmmøre, Trøndelag, Vestfold (which at various times included several of the aforementioned) and Viken; however in Hålogaland the title wasjarl, i.e.earl (compared withCount in the Norse sources, as well as GermanGräf), laterLadejarl (from the rulers power base at Lade, in modern-dayTrondheim). The rulers of all the areas might be called petty kings, herser, subkings, kings or earls depending on the source. A number of small communities were gradually organised into larger regions in the 9th century, and in AD 872 KingHarald Fairhair unified the realm and became its first supreme ruler. Many of the former kingdoms would later become earldoms under the Norwegian high king and some would try to break free again.
Below follows an incomplete list of petty kingdoms of Norway and their known rulers. Most of the people mentioned in this list are legendary or semi-legendary. Some of the areas might have a contested status as petty kingdoms.
Rulers:
Legendary (fromGautreks saga)
Kings from 790 to 987
Might also be called Firda or Firdafylke.
Rulers:Olaf brother of Anund Yngling
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The status of Telemark as a kingdom has been contested by some historians.
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Vingulmark is the old name for the area which today makes up the counties ofØstfold andAkershus, and included the site of Norway's capital,Oslo, which had not been founded at this time. Archaeologists have made finds of richly endowed burials in the area around the estuary of the riverGlomma, atOnsøy,Rolvsøy andTune, where the remains of a ship, theTune ship, was found. This indicates that there was a center of power in this area.[7]
There are indications that at least the southern part of this area was under Danish rule in the late 9th century. In the account ofOttar, which was written down at the court of the English kingAlfred the Great, Ottar says that when he sailed south fromSkiringssal, he had Denmark on the port side for three days.
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