kingdom · Scandinavia and the Baltic

Firdafylke

750 CE – 880 CE (approx.)

Petty kingdom of the western Norwegian fjords of Sunnfjord and Nordfjord, one of the realms conquered by Harald Fairhair.

Origins

Firdafylke, the land of the fjord districts between Sogn and Møre, is known almost entirely from Snorri Sturluson's sagas. It appears as one of the small coastal kingdoms of western Norway in the century before unification.

Rule and society

Little is recorded beyond the sagas. Its people farmed the narrow fjord valleys and fished the coast, and like neighbouring fylki it had its own assembly. Many families from the district later took part in the settlement of Iceland.

Decline and legacy

According to Heimskringla, its king Audbjørn fell fighting Harald Fairhair at the Battle of Solskjel, and the district then passed under Harald's earls. It became part of the Kingdom of Norway and of the Gulating law province.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Lineage

FirdafylkeKingdom of Norway 872 CE – present

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Firdafylke. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/firdafylke
MLA
“Firdafylke.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/firdafylke. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Firdafylke.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/firdafylke.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Firdafylke’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/firdafylke (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻