Halfdan Whiteshanks (

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

: ''Hálfdan hvítbeinn'') was a semi-historical petty king in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, described in the ''

Ynglinga saga ''Ynglinga saga'' ( ) is a Kings' sagas, Kings' saga, originally written in Old Norse by the Icelanders, Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson about 1225. It is the first section of his ''Heimskringla''. It was first translated into Engl ...

''. The following description is based on the account in Ynglinga saga, written in the 1220s by

Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of th ...

. He was the son of

Olof Trätälja Olof Trätälja (Old Norse: ''Óláfr trételgja'', Swedish: ''Olof Trätälja'', Norwegian: ''Olav Tretelgja'', all meaning ''Olaf Woodwhittler'') was the son of the Swedish king Ingjald illråde, ruler of the House of Yngling in the 7th cen ...

of the House of Yngling. His father was sacrificed to

Odin Odin (; from ) is a widely revered god in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Most surviving information on Odin comes from Norse mythology, but he figures prominently in the recorded history of Northern Europe. This includes the Roman Em ...

by the Swedish settlers in

Värmland Värmland () is a ''Provinces of Sweden, landskap'' (historical province) in west-central Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Dalsland, Dalarna, Västmanland, and Närke, and is bounded by Norway in the west. Name Several Latinized version ...

because of a famine. Some Swedes, however, realised that the famine was brought by overpopulation and not by the fact that the king had been neglecting his religious duties. Consequently, they resolved to cross the Ed Forest and settle in

and happened to end up in Soleyar, where they killed king Sölve and took Halfdan prisoner. The Swedish expatriates elected Halfdan king as he was the son of their old king, Olof. Halfdan subjugated all of Soleyar and took his army into

Romerike Romerike is a Districts of Norway, traditional district located north-east of Oslo, in what is today south-eastern Norway. It consists of the Akershus municipalities Lillestrøm, Lørenskog, Nittedal, Rælingen and Aurskog-Høland in the southern ...

and subjugated that province as well. Halfdan was to become a great king, who married Åsa, the daughter of king Eystein, the ruler of

Oppland Oppland is a former county in Norway which existed from 1781 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020. The old Oppland county bordered the counties of Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The ...

and

Hedmark Hedmark () was a Counties of Norway, county in Norway from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, bordering Trøndelag to the north, Oppland to the west, Akershus to the south, and Sweden to the east. The county administration is in Hamar. Hedmar ...

. They had two sons, Eystein Halfdansson and Gudröd. Halfdan conquered a large part of Hedemark,

Toten Toten is a Districts of Norway, traditional district in Innlandet county in the eastern part of Norway. It consists of the municipalities Østre Toten and Vestre Toten. The combined population of Toten is approximately 27,000. The largest town ...

Hadeland Hadeland () is a traditional district in the southeastern part of Norway. It is centered on the southern part of the large lake Randsfjorden in Innlandet and Akershus counties. The district consists of the municipalities Gran in Innlandet cou ...

and a part of

Vestfold Vestfold () is a county and a current electoral district in Norway. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it borders Buskerud and Telemark counties. The county administration is located in Tønsberg, Norway's oldest city, and the larg ...

. When his brother Ingjald Olofsson died, he inherited

. Halfdan died of old age in

and was transported to Vestfold, where he was buried under a mound in Skiringssal.

References

Hvitbeinn, Halfdan Norwegian petty kings Halfdan {{End box