Gyda Eiriksdottir of Hordaland, (Floruit

Floruit

Floruit , abbreviated fl. , is a Latin verb meaning "flourished", denoting the period of time during which something was active...

 872) was a legendary Norwegian Viking age

Viking Age

Viking Age is the term for the period in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, spanning the late 8th to 11th centuries. Scandinavian Vikings explored Europe by its oceans and rivers through trade and warfare. The Vikings also reached Iceland, Greenland,...

 queen consort, according to the sagas the first queen of united 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...

.

The legend

Legend

A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...

 of Gyda describes the unification of Norway as somewhat of a love story. Gyda was the daughter of one of the Petty kings of Pre-united Norway, Eirik, king of Hordaland

Eirik King of Hordaland

Eirik King of Hordaland was a king of Hordaland, then a petty kingdom in southern Norway, in the late 800s. Eirik was the father of Gyda. Eirik lead the first attack against Harald Fairhair at the Battle of Hafrsfjord. Defeated by Harald, Eirik fell; many of his allies were also killed in the...

. Princess Gyda was proposed to by Harold Fairhair, king of the petty kingdom Vestfold

Vestfold

is a county in Norway, bordering Buskerud and Telemark. The county administration is in Tønsberg.Vestfold is located west of the Oslofjord, as the name indicates. It includes many smaller, but well-known towns in Norway, such as Larvik, Sandefjord, Tønsberg and Horten. The river Numedalslågen runs...

.

She said answered that she refused to marry Harald "before he was king over all of Norway". Harald was therefore induced to take a vow

Vow

A vow is a promise or oath.-Marriage vows:Marriage vows are binding promises each partner in a couple makes to the other during a wedding ceremony. Marriage customs have developed over history and keep changing as human society develops...

 not to cut nor comb his hair until he was sole king of Norway, and that ten years later, in 872, he was justified in trimming it; whereupon he exchanged the epithet "Shockhead" or "Tanglehair" for the one by which he is usually known. He was now king of united Norway: he sent for Gyda and reminded her of the promise she made, and they were married.

Most scholars today regard this story as a literary tale inspired by the Romance stories

Romance (genre)

As a literary genre of high culture, romance or chivalric romance is a style of heroic prose and verse narrative that was popular in the aristocratic circles of High Medieval and Early Modern Europe. They were fantastic stories about marvel-filled adventures, often of a knight errant portrayed as...

 that were popular at the courts by the time 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...

 was written.

Children:

• Ålov Årbot (Haraldsdotter)
• Rørek Haraldsson
• Sigtrygg Haraldsson
• Frode Haraldsson
• Torgils Haraldsson