Tore Hund
Encyclopedia
Tore Hund (ca. 990
- ?) was one of the greatest chiefs in Hålogaland
. Tore Hund was one of the leaders of the Stiklestad
peasant faction opposing Norwegian King Olaf II of Norway
. Tore was reported to have been among the chieftains who killed Norway's Patron Saint in the Battle of Stiklestad
in 1030. He also served in the forces of King Canute the Great
on several occasions.
of the country was not only a question of faith. Christianity was also a powerful political tool to subject the old chiefs and for Hålogaland establish rule by a king from the south.
Tore was an influential man in the area of Hålogaland
, his home being the island of Bjarkøy
in Troms
. Tore belonged to the upper echelon among the Norwegian coastal chiefs. He was a member of Bjarkøyætta, one of the more powerful family in Northern Norway during the Viking Age. He was an accomplished Viking
, leading several expeditions towards Russia
and the White Sea
. He traded in Bjarmaland
, today the area of Arkhangelsk
in northern Russia
.
The family of Tore Hund formed alliances with the most powerful chiefs in Norway
. His sister Sigrid Toresdatter was married to Olve Grjotgardsson of Egge
. His brother, Sigurd Toresson was also an important chief in Trondenes
. He was married to Sigrid Skjalgsdatter, a sister of the powerful nobleman, Erling Skjalgsson
of Sola
in Rogaland
. Tore Hund was married to a woman named Ranveig, about whose background little is known. Tore had a son, Sigurd Toresson, with his wife Ranveig. Sigurd later served as a sheriff during the reign of King Harald Hardrade.
When Erling Skjalgsson
was killed in 1028, Tore assumed leadership of the anti-Olaf faction together with Einar Thambarskelfir and Kalv Arnesson, the brother of Finn Arnesson
. In 1026, he joined Canute's forces when they drove out Olaf and was named Canute's representative in Norway
along with Hårek av Tjøtta.
According to Heimskringla
, as Olaf arrived during the summer of 1030, Tore was among those rallying against him. Tore and his men led the line against the king's army at the Battle of Stiklestad
. The battle site was at Stiklestad, a farm in the lower part of the valley of Verdal
80 km north of the city of Trondheim
. According to saga sources, Tore was among those who gave Olaf his lethal wounds, together with Kalv Arnesson and Thorstein Knarresmed from Rovde
in Sunnmøre
.
After the battle, turning political tides soon went against Tore. As Olaf's son Magnus
, backed by some of Tore's former allies, seized power, Tore became a pursued and marginalized figure.
990
Year 990 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.- Religion :* The Pax Ecclesiae, an edict by the church in southern France attempting to outlaw acts of war against non-combatants and the clergy, is promulgated.- Births :* Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor * Edmund II of England,...
- ?) was one of the greatest chiefs in Hålogaland
Hålogaland
Hålogaland was the northernmost of the Norwegian provinces in the mediaeval Norse sagas. In the early Viking Age, before Harald Fairhair, Hålogaland was a petty kingdom extending between Namdalen in Nord-Trøndelag and Lyngen in Troms.-Etymology:...
. Tore Hund was one of the leaders of the Stiklestad
Stiklestad
Stiklestad is a village and parish in the municipality of Verdal in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located east of the municipal center of Verdalsøra and about southeast of Forbregd/Lein. The village is mainly known as the site of the Battle of Stiklestad on 29 July 1030...
peasant faction opposing Norwegian King Olaf II of Norway
Olaf II of Norway
Olaf II Haraldsson was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. He was posthumously given the title Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae and canonised in Nidaros by Bishop Grimkell, one year after his death in the Battle of Stiklestad on 29 July 1030. Enshrined in Nidaros Cathedral...
. Tore was reported to have been among the chieftains who killed Norway's Patron Saint in the Battle of Stiklestad
Battle of Stiklestad
The Battle of Stiklestad in 1030 is one of the most famous battles in the history of Norway. In this battle, King Olaf II of Norway was killed. He was later canonized...
in 1030. He also served in the forces of King Canute the Great
Canute the Great
Cnut the Great , also known as Canute, was a king of Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Sweden. Though after the death of his heirs within a decade of his own and the Norman conquest of England in 1066, his legacy was largely lost to history, historian Norman F...
on several occasions.
Background
Tore Hund was born at the beginning of the Christian era in Norway. Tore was both strongly independent and a devout pagan. ChristianizationChristianization
The historical phenomenon of Christianization is the conversion of individuals to Christianity or the conversion of entire peoples at once...
of the country was not only a question of faith. Christianity was also a powerful political tool to subject the old chiefs and for Hålogaland establish rule by a king from the south.
Tore was an influential man in the area of Hålogaland
Hålogaland
Hålogaland was the northernmost of the Norwegian provinces in the mediaeval Norse sagas. In the early Viking Age, before Harald Fairhair, Hålogaland was a petty kingdom extending between Namdalen in Nord-Trøndelag and Lyngen in Troms.-Etymology:...
, his home being the island of Bjarkøy
Bjarkøy
Bjarkøy is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Bjarkøy. The municipality is spread across several smaller islands, the biggest being the northern side of Grytøya...
in Troms
Troms
or Romsa is a county in North Norway, bordering Finnmark to the northeast and Nordland in the southwest. To the south is Norrbotten Län in Sweden and further southeast is a shorter border with Lapland Province in Finland. To the west is the Norwegian Sea...
. Tore belonged to the upper echelon among the Norwegian coastal chiefs. He was a member of Bjarkøyætta, one of the more powerful family in Northern Norway during the Viking Age. He was an accomplished Viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
, leading several expeditions towards Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and the White Sea
White Sea
The White Sea is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the northeast. The whole of the White Sea is under Russian sovereignty and considered to be part of...
. He traded in Bjarmaland
Bjarmaland
Bjarmaland was a territory mentioned in Norse sagas up to the Viking Age and - beyond - in geographical accounts until the 16th century. The term is usually seen to have referred to the southern shores of the White Sea and the basin of the Northern Dvina River and - presumably - some of the...
, today the area of Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk , formerly known as Archangel in English, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina River near its exit into the White Sea in the north of European Russia. The city spreads for over along the banks of the river...
in northern Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
The family of Tore Hund formed alliances with the most powerful chiefs in 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...
. His sister Sigrid Toresdatter was married to Olve Grjotgardsson of Egge
Egge
Egge is a former municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality is part of the present-day municipality of Steinkjer, including the areas north of the town of Steinkjer, south of the lake Snåsavatnet, west of the lake Fossemvatnet, and east of Beitstad...
. His brother, Sigurd Toresson was also an important chief in Trondenes
Trondenes
Trondenes is a parish and a former municipality in Troms county in Norway. It is located along the Vågsfjorden in the present-day municipality of Harstad. Trondenes includes the majority of the island of Grytøya and part of the island of Hinnøya as well as some smaller islands...
. He was married to Sigrid Skjalgsdatter, a sister of the powerful nobleman, Erling Skjalgsson
Erling Skjalgsson
Erling Skjalgsson was a Norwegian political leader of the late 10th and early 11th century. He has been commonly seen as this period's foremost defender of the historic Norwegian social system...
of Sola
Sola
Sola is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is part of the region of Jæren. The old municipality of Håland was divided into Sola and Madla in 1930....
in Rogaland
Rogaland
is a county in Western Norway, bordering Hordaland, Telemark, Aust-Agder and Vest-Agder. It is the center of the Norwegian petroleum industry, and as a result of this, Rogaland has the lowest unemployment rate of any county in Norway, 1.1%...
. Tore Hund was married to a woman named Ranveig, about whose background little is known. Tore had a son, Sigurd Toresson, with his wife Ranveig. Sigurd later served as a sheriff during the reign of King Harald Hardrade.
Career
Tore opposed the king's attempts to unify and Christianize Norway. He also held personal grudges against the king, after the murder of his nephew Asbjørn Selsbane by one of the king's men and the heavy fine he got for avenging his nephew's death.When Erling Skjalgsson
Erling Skjalgsson
Erling Skjalgsson was a Norwegian political leader of the late 10th and early 11th century. He has been commonly seen as this period's foremost defender of the historic Norwegian social system...
was killed in 1028, Tore assumed leadership of the anti-Olaf faction together with Einar Thambarskelfir and Kalv Arnesson, the brother of Finn Arnesson
Finn Arnesson
Finn Arnesson was a Norwegian nobleman and advisor to both King Olaf II of Norway and King Harald III of Norway and later served King Sweyn II of Denmark...
. In 1026, he joined Canute's forces when they drove out Olaf and was named Canute's representative in 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...
along with Hårek av Tjøtta.
According to Heimskringla
Heimskringla
Heimskringla is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorri Sturluson ca. 1230...
, as Olaf arrived during the summer of 1030, Tore was among those rallying against him. Tore and his men led the line against the king's army at the Battle of Stiklestad
Battle of Stiklestad
The Battle of Stiklestad in 1030 is one of the most famous battles in the history of Norway. In this battle, King Olaf II of Norway was killed. He was later canonized...
. The battle site was at Stiklestad, a farm in the lower part of the valley of Verdal
Verdal
Verdal is a municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Innherad region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Verdalsøra...
80 km north of the city of Trondheim
Trondheim
Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...
. According to saga sources, Tore was among those who gave Olaf his lethal wounds, together with Kalv Arnesson and Thorstein Knarresmed from Rovde
Rovde
Rovde is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. Rovde included the area on both the north and south sides of the Rovdefjorden. The northern area on the island of Gurskøy is currently part of the municipality of Sande and the southern area is part of Vanylven...
in Sunnmøre
Sunnmøre
Sunnmøre is the southernmost traditional district of the western Norwegian county of Møre og Romsdal. Its main city is Ålesund. The region comprises the municipalities of Giske, Hareid, Herøy, Norddal, Sande, Skodje, Haram, Stordal, Stranda, Sula, Sykkylven, Ulstein, Vanylven, Volda, Ørskog,...
.
After the battle, turning political tides soon went against Tore. As Olaf's son Magnus
Magnus I of Norway
Magnus I , known as the Good or the Noble, was the King of Norway from 1035 to 1047 and the King of Denmark from 1042 to 1047. He was an illegitimate son of king Olaf II of Norway, but fled with his mother in 1028 when his father was dethroned. In 1035 he returned to Norway and was crowned king at...
, backed by some of Tore's former allies, seized power, Tore became a pursued and marginalized figure.
Legacy
The Tore Hund Monument, by Norwegian artist Svein Haavardsholm, was erected in 1980 beside the road to the church on Bjarkøy. The memorial honors both the great Viking chieftain Tore Hund and Bjarkøyætta, who had their seat on Bjarkøy.Other sources
- Fidjestøl, Bjarne Legenda om Tore Hund "Festskrift til Alfred Jakobsen" (Trondheim: 1987)
- Krag, ClausClaus KragClaus Krag is a Norwegian educator, historian, and writer. He is a noted specialist in Old Norse philology and medieval Norwegian history. Krag earned his Cand.philol. in 1969...
Aschehougs Norgeshistorie. Vikingtid og riksamling 800-1130 (Oslo: 1995)