Module 7

History

From the Viking Age to today's Norway: unions, the Constitution, independence, war, oil and a more diverse society.

Last updated: 2026-11-06

The Viking Age and the first kingdom

The Viking Age in Norway lasted from about the year 800 to 1050. Many people count 793 as the start, when Vikings attacked the monastery of Lindisfarne in England.

The Vikings were skilled sailors. They built long, narrow ships that could sail on the sea and on rivers. They traded, settled in new lands and raided monasteries and towns. Norwegian Vikings travelled especially to Ireland, Scotland, Iceland and Greenland.

Society had three main groups:

• chieftains and other wealthy men
• free farmers
• thralls, who were slaves with no rights

People met at a "ting", an assembly where they decided cases and made laws. The word lives on in the name Stortinget, the Norwegian parliament.

At first Norway was many small areas, each with its own chieftain. According to tradition, Harald Fairhair united the country into one kingdom after the battle of Hafrsfjord, traditionally around the year 872. Historians do not agree on the date (some say the 880s or about 900) or on the details, but Harald is counted as the first king of Norway.

The Vikings believed in the Norse gods, such as Odin and Thor. Around the year 1000 the kings began to introduce Christianity.

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Key points

The Viking Age and the first kingdom

• The Viking Age: about the year 800 to 1050
• Society: chieftains, free farmers and thralls (slaves)
• A ting was an assembly that decided cases and made laws
• Harald Fairhair is counted as the first king to unite Norway
• Norwegian Vikings travelled to Iceland, Greenland and the British Isles, among other places

Christianity and the Middle Ages

• Christianity was introduced around the year 1000, and Olav Haraldsson died at Stiklestad in 1030
• The Black Death came in 1349, and about half the people died
• The Kalmar Union from 1397 joined Denmark, Norway and Sweden
• Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim is built over the grave of Saint Olav
• Stave churches are wooden churches from the Middle Ages

Norway under Denmark

• Norway was under Danish rule for about 400 years, until 1814
• The Reformation came in 1537, and Danish became the written language
• The king was an absolute monarch from 1660
• A husmann worked for the farmer in return for living on and farming a small plot
• The university in Christiania (Oslo) was founded in 1811

1814: The Constitution and the union with Sweden

• 17 May 1814: the Constitution was adopted at Eidsvoll by 112 representatives
• 17 May is Norway's national day
• Norway still had to enter a union with Sweden in 1814
• The union: shared king, but own constitution and parliament
• Sweden decided foreign policy in the union

The road to independence in 1905

• 1884: parliamentarism was introduced, with Johan Sverdrup as the first prime minister
• 1898: the vote for all men; 1913: the vote for women
• 7 June 1905: the Storting dissolved the union with Sweden
• The dissolution was peaceful, without war
• Haakon VII became king of Norway in 1905
• Roald Amundsen reached the South Pole in 1911, and Fridtjof Nansen received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1922

Poverty, emigration and industry

• About 800,000 Norwegians emigrated to North America, the first in 1825
• Hydropower and industry changed the economy
• Trade unions and the labour movement grew
• The Labour Party was founded in 1887
• Shipping and fishing were important industries

The Second World War and the occupation

• 9 April 1940: Germany attacked Norway
• Norway was occupied for five years, until 8 May 1945 (Liberation Day)
• The king and government led the resistance from London
• The home front (Hjemmefronten) was the Norwegian resistance movement
• About 770 Jews were deported from Norway in 1942 and 1943, and most were killed

Rebuilding, oil and international cooperation

• Norway joined the UN in 1945 and NATO in 1949
• The people said no to the EU in 1972 and 1994, but Norway is in the EEA
• Oil was found at Ekofisk in 1969
• The Oil Fund (Government Pension Fund Global) got its first deposit in 1996
• Gro Harlem Brundtland was the first female prime minister (1981)

The history of the Sami and the national minorities

• The Sami are an indigenous people, and the Sami area is called Sápmi
• The Norwegianisation policy aimed to make Sami and Kven people Norwegian
• The Alta case (1979-1981) was about developing the Alta river
• The Sami Parliament was opened in 1989
• Norway has five national minorities

Immigration and modern Norway

• Labour migrants came from the 1960s, and the immigration stop came in 1975
• Refugees have come from many countries, and from Ukraine in 2022
• EU enlargement in 2004 brought labour migration from Eastern Europe
• 22 July 2011: terror attacks in Oslo and on Utøya, 77 people were killed

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