chiefdom · Scandinavia and the Baltic

Hålogaland

700 CE – 900 CE (approx.)

The far northern chieftaincy of Viking Age Norway, home of the traveller Ohthere and of powerful lords who traded furs with the Sámi.

Origins

Hålogaland stretched along the Norwegian coast north of Trøndelag, including the Lofoten islands. Its chieftains grew rich in the Iron Age: the great longhouse at Borg in Lofoten, over 80 metres long, was the seat of a local lord from the 6th century.

Rule and society

The Hålogaland lords controlled trade in furs, walrus ivory, hides and dried fish, much of it taken as tribute from the Sámi. Around 890 Ohthere, a Hålogaland chieftain, described his life and his voyage round the North Cape to King Alfred of Wessex, the earliest written account of the region. Power rested on chieftains rather than a formal kingdom.

Decline and legacy

In the late 9th century the region came under Harald Fairhair and the earls of Lade, whose family is said to have come from Hålogaland. Local magnates such as Tore Hund remained powerful into the 11th century, before the area was fully integrated into the Kingdom of Norway.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Lineage

HålogalandKingdom of Norway 872 CE – present

More states of Scandinavia and the Baltic →

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

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻