Harold I (Haarfager) began the unification of the country by deposing many of the chieftains (traditionally including Hrolf of Rollo). It was in this period that the Norsemen (Northmen) supposedly made their conquests in Iceland; in the Faroes, Shetlands, Orkneys, Hebrides; and in Scotland and Ireland.
Olaf I, Trygvesson, who, with the aid of English clergy, converted Norway, Iceland, and Greenland. He was defeated by the kings of Denmark and Sweden, who supported the Norwegian nobility. There followed a period of noble disruption.
Harald III, Haardraade, who was defeated by King Harold of England in the Battle of Stamford Bridge. There followed another period of confusion, marked by constant wars of succession and by a struggle against the growing power of the clergy. Nevertheless the expansion of trade brought increasing prosperity.
Sverre. He was able to maintain a strong monarchy in the face of aristocratic and clerical opposition, thanks to support from the small landowners. Nevertheless Norway continued to be troubled with dynastic conflict.
Erik II (the Priest Hater), whose reign was marked by a war with the Hansa towns, in which he suffered a reverse. As a result he was obliged to grant the towns full privileges in Norway and to join the Hanseatic League.
The crown in Scandinavia depended on its vassals for soldiers and for administration. The introduction of cavalry (first recorded in Denmark, 1134) accentuated this feudal tendency, and a new nobility emerged. This nobility was a professional military class always ready for war, exempt from taxes; it quickly became a governing class receiving local offices and lands as a reward for military services. From Denmark this new society spread to Norway and Sweden. Thenceforth the nobles added a further complication to dynastic wars, causing a series of crises and restricting the normal evolution of royal power.
German capital and German merchants began to penetrate Scandinavia, achieving by the second half of the 13th century a dominating position. The growth of the Hanseatic League delayed the progress of the native bourgeoisie, but commerce led to the active growth of towns and town life. Population was increasing rapidly, lands were cleared, the arts were advancing in distinction and perfection under the patronage of wealthy kings and prosperous prelates.
The heroic age of the Icelandic skalds (court poets) in the 10th and 11th centuries brought the art to an involved perfection and a concentration on war, which ultimately killed it. Meanwhile the kings, interested in politics as well as war (notably Sverre of Norway, 1185), began to patronize the Norwegian storytellers, particularly the Icelanders, and the sagas emerged. The greatest master of the new form was an Icelander, Snorri Sturleson (1179–1241), an active political figure in both Iceland and Norway. Snorri's Edda Snorra Sturlusonar (Younger Edda) in prose and verse, containing the rules of versification, the old myths, and a collection of ancient Icelandic poems, is unique. History was written by Saxo Grammaticus (c. 1208), whose Historia Danica is the chief source for the Hamlet story. Both Snorri and Saxo were preoccupied with the ideals of national unity, strong royal power, and resistance to baronial particularism. (See Norway)
