Håkon Grjotgardsson

Who was Håkon Grjotgardsson?

Håkon Grjotgardsson, nicknamed Håkon the Rich was the son and heir of Grjotgard Herlaugsson Lade. Håkon became the ruler of the petty kingdom of Trøndelag, the Earl of Lade in the eastern part of Trondheim, Norway. His daughter Åsa, married Harald Fairhair and was the mother of Guttorm Haraldsson. Håkon was also the father of Sigurd Håkonsson, who was the father of Haakon Sigurdsson.

Håkon had his residence at Ørlandet at the mouth of the Trondheimsfjord. The exact extent of his control over the area is not well known.

Håkon sought to extend his kingdom southwards. Harald Fairhair advanced across the mountains of Eastern Norway to subjugate Trøndelag. After some fighting, Håkon and Harald entered a union of joint forces. Håkon was made earl of Sunnfjord and Nordfjord.

After Harald Fairhair conquered Møre and Fjordane, he assigned the governance of the former to Rognvald Eysteinsson and the latter to Håkon. Atle Mjove continued to govern Sogn. Hákon and Atle Mjove soon came into conflict over Sogn and fought the battle of Fjaler, in which Hakon was killed. Atle Mjove was severely wounded in the battle and taken to Atløy where he died.