Battle of Fitjar

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The Battle of Fitjar in 961 was the last battle of Håkon the Good, in which he repelled the Danish invasion, but was mortally wounded himself.

For the prehistory, see the article about Håkon I. It was the final phase of a power struggle between the Danish King Harald Blauzahn , who supported Erik's son Harald Graufell , on the one hand and Håkon on the other.

The first Danish attack at Rastarkalv

Håkon had reformed Norway's defense at sea. He had fortifications built on the coast and set up a chain of fire signals, which should alert the king and the defense by relaying torch signals when a large fleet arrived. Smaller raids should not be reported, but instead should be fought locally. The Erik sons intended to gain rule over Norway. In the first attempt in 955 or 957, the Danes successfully faked a small raid, while in truth they reached Norway with all their naval power. It was run by Gamle Eriksson, the son of Erik Blutaxt. There were 20 ships with 800 men. They weren't noticed until they reached Stadlandet . Håkon and Sigurd Ladejarl were in Bud with a few ships . They hastily gathered the local chiefs and their teams. He examined the army in Rastarkalv near Frei . They only brought together 400 men. Gamle Eriksson brought his men ashore south of Frei on a flat meadow that stretched to the slope of a hill. Håkon had a long line formed so that he could not be caught by the opponent. His standard bearer Egil Ullserk meanwhile went with ten men and ten troop flags behind the ridge. The ruse succeeded, the fighters from Gamle Eriksson believed that fresh troops appeared behind them and threatened to cut them off from their ships, and fled. But the deception was short-lived and Gamle Eriksson reformed the attack. Then Egil Ullserk stormed forward with his few men and concentrated his attack on the enemy war flag. There was a duel with Gamle Eriksson in which both fell. Without a military leader, the enemy fighters began to flee to the ships. But these had been pushed into the sea by Håkon's men. Those who could waded to the ships. The fleet withdrew to Denmark.

The second Danish attack at Fitjar

The second attempt was made in 960/961. Håkon had next to no connections to Denmark, and so he learned nothing of the new armament. He was visiting Fitjar when the Danish fleet unexpectedly reached the area for him. He could only muster a small group of fighters. The Danes were six times as strong. Tradition reports that in view of the overwhelming power, Håkon threw off his well and stormed forward with his bare upper body to instill courage in his people through the example. He hoped to be able to repeat Rastakalv's tactics and concentrated the attacks of his fighters on the opposing troop leaders in order to make the enemy army leaderless. He succeeded in doing this too. Many troop leaders died, including two brothers (or half-brothers) of Harald Blauzahn. Having lost the commanders at the beginning of the battle led to confusion and chaos in the enemy army, so that the Danes withdrew. But just as the battle was won, Håkon was badly hit by an arrow. He died from his injuries.

Norway then accepted the rule of the Erik sons, and Harald Graufell became King of Norway.

literature

  • Kim Hjardar: Håkon den gode og slaget ved Fitjar . In: Per Erik Olsen (ed.): Norges Kriger. Fra Hafrsfjord to Afghanistan . Oslo 2011. ISBN 978-82-8211-107-2 . Pp. 18-23.