Norway

Abstract

Warm Atlantic currents, sheltered fjords and an abundance of fish encouraged settlement along the long western Norwegian coast. However, little is known of the Norwegian tribes and their independent kingdoms until the advent of the Viking Age which began in about 800. The Vikings - emanating from the bay, vik, now known as the Skagerrak - made their presence felt, raiding and settling in what is now Britain, France, Iceland, Ireland, Greenland and the Faeroe Islands. By 900 a Viking chieftain, Harald I Fairhair, had managed by peaceful agreement and battle to subdue all opponents and proclaim himself the first King of a unified Norway.