Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
872
Harald Hårfagre (Harald Fair-Hair) fights his fellow Viking chieftains in the Battle of Hafrsfjord and
unites Norway for the first time. Some 20,000 people flee to Iceland.
997
Trondheim is founded at the mouth of the Nid River and is the first major settlement in the coun-
try; it becomes the first capital of the fledgling kingdom.
c 1000
Almost five centuries before Columbus, Leifur Eiríksson, son of Eiríkur Rauðe (Eric the Red), ex-
plores the North American coast, which he names Vinland, meaning the 'land of wine'.
1024
Olav II founds the Church of Norway and establishes it as Norway's state religion throughout his
realm, a situation that continues to this day.
1030
After being sent into exile by King Canute (Knut) of Denmark in 1028, King Olav II returns, only to
be killed in Trøndelag at the Battle of Stiklestad.
1049
Harald III (Harald Hardråde, or Harald 'Hard-Ruler'), half-brother of St Olav, founds Oslo and uses
it as a base to launch far-ranging raids across the Mediterranean.
1066
The Viking age draws to a close after Harald III dies at the hands of King Harold of England at the
Battle of Stamford Bridge in England.
1261
