Skip to main content.

History of the Norwegian People, Volume 1

A detailed and exhaustive history of the Norwegian People, written in two volumes. The author, Knut Gjerset, was born in Western Norway in 1865 and immigrated to Chippewa County, Minnesota, in the US with his parents in 1871 and his brother Oluf later got elected to public office there. He received a B.A. in Literature from the University of Minnesota, and also studied at John's Hopkins University from 1895-1896, and the University of Heidelberg, where he was awarded a PhD, from 1896-1898. This first volume deals with the Norwegian History from the earliest times, to the early 14th century and covers topics such as: Prehistoric Norway and iron and Bronze age cultures in the area, the Viking era, The Christianization of Norway and some related information on Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Shetland/Orkney Islands, etc., Early kings of Norway, Norway in the Crusades, and foreign policy reformations at the beginning of the Late Middle Ages. - Summary by Ærik Bjørnsson (16 hr 32 min)

Chapters

Preface

The Country and Its Resources

Scandinavia in Prehistoric Times, The Stone Age

The Bronze Age

The Iron Age

The Migrations

The People

The Dawn of Historic Norway

The Early Viking Expeditions

The Vikings in Ireland and in the Islands

The Vikings in France and Spain

The Vikings in England

Alfred the Great and the Vikings

Names Applied to the Vikings

Struggle Between Norsemen and Danes in Ireland

The Viking Expeditions Eastward. Founding of the Russian Kingdom. The Varangian…

Life and Culture in the Viking Age

Causes of the Viking Expeditions

Towns and Commerce

Dress, Houses, Food, and Drink

Religion and Literature

Early Social Conditions in Norway

The Origin of the Yngling Dynasty

Harald Haarfagre. Unification of Norway

Events Outside of Norway. The Norse Colonial Empire. The Orkney and Shetland Is…

Iceland and the Faroe Islands

Finmarken

Normandy and the Normans

The Norse Colonies in Great Britain and Ireland

The Fall of the Kingdom of York

The Battle of Brunanburh

The Last Years of Harald Haarfagre's Reign

Eirik Blood-Ax

Haakon the Good

The Sons of Eirik Blood-Ax. Haakon Jarl the Leader of the Aristocracy. Loss of …

Olaf Tryggvason. The Introduction of Christianity in Norway

Introduction of Christianity in the Faroe Islands and Iceland

The Discovery and Colonization of Greenland

The Discovery of the Mainland of North America

The Downfall of the Viking Dominion in Ireland. The Battle of Clontarf

The Norsemen in the Hebrides and in the Isle of Man

The Norsemen in Scotland

Conditions in Norway During the Reign of the Jarls Eirik and Svein

Olav Haraldsson or Olav the Saint

Foreign Relations

King Olav Establishes Christianity in Norway. His Laws and Administration

Norway Under Danish Overlordship. The Battle of Stiklestad. King Olav the Saint

Magnus the Good. The Union of Norway and Denmark

The Reign of Harald Haardraade

The Second Conquest of England

Olav Kyrre. The Period of Peace

The Revival of the Viking Spirit. Magnus Barefoot

The Norwegian Coat of Arms

Norway Participates in the Crusades. Eystein Magnusson and Sigurd the Crusader

King Eystein Magnusson's Reign. The Acquisition of Jæmtland

The Reign of King Sigurd the Crusader

The Period of Civil Wars. Magnus the Blind, Harald Gille, and Sigurd Slembediakn

The Inner Organization and Growth of the Church of Norway

Ragnvald Jarl's Crusade

The Second Stage of Civil Wars. The Rule of Erling Skakke and Magnus Erlingsson

The English Conquest of Ireland. Events in the Colonies

Sverre Sigurdsson and the Birkebeiner

King Sverre's Reign

Birkebeiner and Bagler. King Sverre and Pope Innocent III

King Sverre's Immediate Successors

King Haakon Haakonsson and Skule Jarl

King Haakon's Coronation. Colonial Affairs

Crusades and Crusaders

The Annexation of Iceland and Greenland

Haakon Haakonsson's Expedition to the Hebrides. The Close of the Reign

Literature and Culture in the Age of Haakon Haakonsson

Magnus Haakonsson Lagabøter. A New System of Jurisprudence

The Growth of Trade and the Origin of a Distinct Commercial Policy

The Reign of Eirik Magnusson

Haakon Magnusson the Elder. The Change of Norway's Foreign Policy