Håkon Grjotgardsson

Håkon Grjotgardsson (Old Norse: Hákon Grjótgarðsson) (838–900), nicknamed Håkon the Rich (Hákon jarl hinn riki) was the son and heir of Grjotgard Herlaugsson Lade. Håkon became the ruler of the petty kingdom of Trøndelag, the Earl of Lade in the eastern part of Trondheim, Norway, when he succeeded his father. His daughter Åsa, married Harald Fairhair and was the mother of Guttorm Haraldsson. Håkon was also the father of Sigurd Håkonsson, who was the father of Haakon Sigurdsson.

Håkon had his royal residence at Ørlandet in Ørland at the mouth of the Trondheimsfjord. The exact extent of his control over the area is not well known.

Håkon sought to extend his kingdom southwards. Harald Fairhair advanced across the mountains of Eastern Norway to subjugate Trøndelag. After some fighting, Håkon and Harald entered a union of joint forces. Håkon was made earl of Sunnfjord and Nordfjord.

After Harald Fairhair conquered Møre and Fjordane, he assigned the governance of the former to Rognvald Eysteinsson and the latter to Håkon. Atle Mjove continued to govern Sogn. Hákon and Atle Mjove soon came into conflict over Sogn and fought the battle of Fjaler (Old Norse: Fjalir), in which Hakon was killed. Atle Mjove was severely wounded in the battle and taken to Atløy where he died.

Related reading

• Viking Empires, Angelo Forte, Richard Oram and Frederik Pedersen (Cambridge University Press. June 2005)
• The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings, Peter Sawyer, Editor (Oxford University Press, September 2001)