Tora Mosterstong — also known as Thora Mostaff — was one of Harald Fairhair

Harald I of Norway

Harald Fairhair or Harald Finehair , , son of Halfdan the Black, was the first king of Norway.-Background:Little is known of the historical Harald...

's concubines

Concubinage

Concubinage is the state of a woman or man in an ongoing, usually matrimonially oriented, relationship with somebody to whom they cannot be married, often because of a difference in social status or economic condition.-Concubinage:...

 and the mother of Håkon the Good

Haakon I of Norway

Haakon I , , given the byname the Good, was the third king of Norway and the youngest son of Harald Fairhair and Thora Mosterstang.-Early life:...

; Harald Fairhair's youngest son and the third king of Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 (ca. 935

935

Year 935 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.-Africa:* A third attempt to conquer Egypt by the Tunisia-based Shi'ite Fatimid dynasty fails....

 – 961

961

Year 961 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* Ani becomes the capital of Armenia under the Bagratuni Dynasty....

).

According to Snorri Sturluson

Snorri Sturluson

Snorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was twice elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing...

's saga

Saga

Sagas, are stories in Old Norse about ancient Scandinavian and Germanic history, etc.Saga may also refer to:Business*Saga DAB radio, a British radio station*Saga Airlines, a Turkish airline*Saga Falabella, a department store chain in Peru...

 of Harald Fairhair, Mosterstong was descended from Horda-Kåre's (Hörða-Kára) ætt

Norse clans

The Scandinavian clan or ætt was a social group based on common descent or on the formal acceptance into the group at a þing.-History:...

 from the island of Moster

Moster

Moster is a former municipality in Hordaland county, Norway.It was created by the split of Finnås on July 1, 1916, which created the new municipalities Moster, Bømlo and Bremnes. At that time Moster had a population of 1.316....

:

«When king Harald was nigh on 70 years old, he had a son with a woman named Tora and was called Mosterstang, her clan was from Moster, and she had good friends, she was related to Horda-Kåre. She was a steady woman and very beautiful; she was counted the king's servant. There were many then who served the king, though they were of good lineage, both men and women. As concerns the children of goodfolk, it was custom to mind well who would ladle water over them and give them their name. When the time approached that Tora expected to give birth to the child, she wanted to travel to king Harald, he was north on Seim, and she was on Moster. She sailed north on Sigurd jarl

Sigurd Haakonsson

Sigurd Håkonsson was a Norwegian nobleman and Jarl of Lade in Trøndelag.Sigurd Håkonsson was the son of Håkon Grjotgardsson, the first Jarl of Lade. In 900, Håkon came into conflict with Atle Mjove over Sogn and fought a battle at Fjaler , in which Håkon was killed...

's ship. They put ashore for the night, and there Tora gave birth to her child up on the slate by the gangplank; it was a boy. Sigurd jarl ladled water over the boy and named him for his own father Håkon Ladejarl

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, when he succeeded his father...

; the boy soon grew beautiful and large of body and looked much like his father. Harald let the boy follow his mother, and the two were at the king's farms while the boy was small.»

Snorri consistently speaks of Tora as concubine and maidservant, which tends to produce the wrong connotations. Horda-Kåre was one of Harald Fairhair's old allies, and some kind of high officer at the battle of Hafrsfjord

Hafrsfjord

Hafrsfjord is a fjord or bay located in the municipalities of Stavanger and Sola in Norway. Stretching 9 kilometres. Hafrsfjord fjord is bounded by Tananger, Sola and Madla...

. When Tora had a place with the king, it must have been part of a conscious policy to keep the two clans close.

Sources

• Soga om Harald Hårfagre (Snorre, 1979, Det Norske Samlaget)