Officers: prévôtés, bailiwicks, seneschals · Kingdom of Norway: King Sverre and the Birkebeiner · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Hålogaland

The long northern coast from Bindal to Malangen and the Lofoten and Vesterålen islands: the land of the great chieftains of the sagas and of the winter cod fishery.

The king's men take the land tax and the Sami tribute in furs, skins and down, and the stockfish from Vågar goes south to Bergen. On 1 January 1200 the Lofoten fishery is about to begin: the cod (skrei) come in from January to April and boats gather from all the north at Vågar. The great chieftain farms, Bjarkøy, Trondenes, Steig and Tjøtta, are old seats of power; who holds them, and who holds the Sami tribute for the king in 1200, is not pinned.

Who he is

Name
Not pinned: the king's officers and the chieftains of Hålogaland
Title
The king's officers in Hålogaland, who also take the Sami tribute (finnskatt); and the old chieftain kindreds of Bjarkøy, Steig and Tjøtta
Since
Not pinned
Confidence
low

The Bjarkøy kindred descends from Tore Hund's family; Vidkunn Jonsson of Bjarkøy served Magnus Barefoot (about 1100); the family's heads between about 1150 and 1220 are not given in Store norske leksikon. Who held the king's commission in the north, and the Sami tribute with it, in 1200 is not pinned.

Overlord

King Sverre

What it holds

  • The Norse coast and islands of Helgeland, Salten, Lofoten, Vesterålen, Ofoten and southern Troms
  • The Sami tribute (finnskatt) of the inner fjords and of Finnmark, taken for the king
  • The fishing market at Vågar in Lofoten
  • The chieftain seats of Bjarkøy, Trondenes, Steig and Tjøtta

How it was acquired

Royal administration under Sverre's sysselmann system; the district's thing and levy are older.

Allies and rivals

Loyal to Sverre under the king's officers; the district's farmers and the Bagler as the possible danger.

How things stand that morning

Held for Sverre; quiet as far as the sources show. The winter fishery opens in January.

Wealth

Stockfish and cod-liver oil; the Sami tribute in furs, skins, down and walrus-hide rope; the trade with the Sami (finnkaup). The north is the source of much of Bergen's export. No figures.

Military

The Hålogaland levy and the chieftains' ships; no castle.

Threats

  • Competition with Karelian tribute-takers in Finnmark
  • Disputes over the fishery and the tribute

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

  1. January to April 1200The Lofoten winter fishery: the cod come in and the boats of the north gather at Vågar; the fish is dried for shipment to Bergen in summer.Depends on: The cod and peace on the coast. Stopped by: Nothing likely.

Places of note

  • Trondenes: Old chieftain seat and church site (the present stone church is later).
  • Bjarkøy: Seat of the Bjarkøy chieftains.
  • Tjøtta: Old chieftain seat of Helgeland.
  • Vågar: The fishing market of Lofoten.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The tribute and fishery are well attested in kind; the holders in 1200 are not. The Bjarkøy family's line in the later 12th century is obscure (Store norske leksikon).

On the map: The Norse coast and islands; the inland is drawn on the Sami province records.

Primary sources for Norway (Sverre)

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

  • The Danish annals of Lund, Ryd and other houses (12th and 13th centuries; Lund continued to 1307, Ryd to 1288). Short dated entries from Lund, the archbishop's seat, and from Ryd in Schleswig. Read online
  • Chronicle of the Kings of Mann and the Isles, Anonymous (monks of Rushen abbey, Mann) (about 1257, with continuations to 1316). The only native record of the kingdom of Mann and the Hebrides. Read online
  • The Icelandic annals to 1578 (compiled from the late 13th century onward from older notes). Year-by-year notices that fix Icelandic chronology. Read online
  • Deeds of the Danes, Saxo Grammaticus (about 1185 to 1208). Saxo was writing at Lund in 1200 under Absalon, who died in March 1201, and his last books are an insider's history of Valdemar I and Knud VI to 1185: the Wendish wars, the taking of Rügen, the submission of Pomerania in 1185, the Danish fleet, Absalon's power and the Danish quarrel with the Empire. Read online
  • The saga of King Sverre of Norway, Karl Jónsson and a continuator (begun about 1185 under Sverre's own supervision, completed about 1210 to 1220). The king's own authorised saga. Read online
  • The saga of the descendants of Knut (the kings of Denmark) (about 1250 to 1260). An Icelandic kings' saga of Denmark that draws on Saxo and Danish tradition and ends in 1187 with Knud VI and Absalon's Wendish wars. Read online
  • The sagas of the Baglers (about 1210 to 1220, in a shorter and a longer version). Begins with Sverre's death in March 1202 and the reigns of Hákon Sverrisson, Guttorm and Inge Bårdsson against the Bagler kings Erling Steinvegg and Philippus, so it has nothing for 1200 itself. Read online
  • Saga of the Earls of Orkney, Anonymous (Icelandic) (about 1200 to 1230; surviving text mainly from Flateyjarbok, about 1390). The saga's last chapters are about Earl Harald Maddadsson, who in 1200 held Orkney under King Sverre of Norway and Caithness under William the Lion: his long rule, his quarrel with the Scottish king that cost him Caithness in 1196 to 1197, his recovery of it, and the maiming of Bishop John of Caithness and the king's revenge in 1201 to 1202. Read online

6 more in the sources library for Scandinavia.

Sources and studies

  1. Bjarkøyætta (Store norske leksikon)
  2. Sverre, norsk konge (Store norske leksikon)
  3. Hålogaland (English Wikipedia)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.