kingdom · Scandinavia and the Baltic

Hordaland

750 CE – 880 CE (approx.)

Petty kingdom around the fjords of modern Bergen, remembered in saga tradition for resisting Harald Fairhair's unification of Norway.

Origins

Hordaland, the coast and fjords around what is now Bergen, was a populous district of western Norway in the Iron Age. The sagas describe it as a kingdom in the 9th century, ruled by local kings with fleets and many retainers.

Rule and society

Its people farmed, fished and sailed; many western Norwegian raiders and settlers of the Viking Age came from here. Hordaland belonged to the Gulating law province. According to Snorri, Harald Fairhair vowed not to cut his hair until he ruled all Norway after Gyda, daughter of a Hordaland king, refused to marry a petty king.

Decline and legacy

Its kings joined the coalition defeated by Harald at Hafrsfjord, traditionally around 872, and Hordaland became part of the Kingdom of Norway. Bergen, founded in the 11th century, grew into medieval Norway's chief town.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Lineage

HordalandKingdom of Norway 872 CE – present

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

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻