In the oldest traditions of Hålogaland, Sæming appears as the forefather of the northern ruling families. His name was rooted in Hålogøytal, the poem that gave the earls and chieftains of Hålogaland an ancestry equal to that of the Yngling kings in the south. Where the south had its Ynglingatal, the north had its Hålogøytal.
Sæming was the son of Odin and Skade, the jotun associated with the mountains and Northern Norway. Through Odin, the dynasty received divine authority; through Skade, it was rooted in the northern landscape. Sæming carried both within him: power and land, god and north.
The descendants of Sæming belonged to Hålogaland. One of the oldest centres of power in this tradition was Omd. In several sources, Omd is the same as Andøy [1], and is described as an early centre of settlement, wealth, and leadership. Here, there were farms, chieftain seats, and control over the sea and travel routes.
Through the family lines descending from Sæming, power in the north was passed on. Names, places, and kinship tied Hålogaland together into a region with its own identity and authority long before the unification of Norway. Odin provided the right to rule. Skade provided the land. Omd provided the place. Sæming provided the dynasty.
Hålogaland – The Land in the North
Hålogaland was the northernmost land of early Norway: rich, vast, and known far beyond its own borders. We know this in part through the account of Ottar of Hålogaland, who around the year 890 spoke at the court of King Alfred of Wessex about his homeland.
Ottar described Hålogaland as a region with great resources and few people, where wealth lay in the sea, the mountains, and in trade. Large-scale fishing was carried out here, as well as walrus hunting for ivory and rope-making materials, reindeer hunting, and the collection of taxes and tribute from Sámi territories in the form of furs, hides, and other valuable goods.
Hålogaland was not a remote edge of the world, but a resource-rich region with international connections, where control of nature brought power and prosperity.
Hålogøytal – The North’s Memory in Verse
The ruling people of Hålogaland traced their origins through Hålogøytal, a poem of kings and their families, corresponding to the Ynglingatal in the south. According to tradition, the poem was composed by the great skald Eyvind Skaldaspillir, and established the lineage from gods and early rulers to the earls of Hålogaland.
These poems were composed in strict rhythmic and linguistic forms, intended to be performed aloud and remembered word for word. For that very reason, such poems are often better preserved than continuous prose narratives: mistakes could be heard, corrected, and exposed.
Through Hålogøytal, the power, wealth, and origins of Hålogaland were fixed in form — a memory in verse of a land built on fishing, walrus hunting, reindeer, trade, and taxation of the Sámi. The poem carried history forward long before it was written in prose.
Divine Lineage – The Bjarkøy Family
This lineage later became better known as the Bjarkøy family. Most likely, the kings moved around, so while Andøya may have served as a principal seat during one period, we know even more certainly that Bjarkøy later did as well.
Hans Eidnes, in his work The History of Hålogaland, listed the Bjarkøy lineage as follows.
The Line of Power from Odin to Inger of Austrått
Odin
Skaði
Sæming
The Kings of Hålogaland (Hålogøytal)
Godhjalt
Sverdhjalt
Hoddbrodd
Himilig
Vedrhall
Håvard Handramme
Hemgæst
Gudlaug
Gylaug
Godgæst
Mundil the Old
Herse
Brand Jarl
Brynjolv
Bård
Hergils
Håvard
Harald
Herlaug
(Here Hålogøytal ends)
Transition to the Age of Jarls
Herse of Hålogaland
Grjotgard
The Jarls of Lade
Håkon Grjotgardsson
Sigurd Ladejarl
Håkon Jarl Sigurdsson
Erik Jarl
Svein Håkonsson
Trøndelag Noble Line
Erling Vidkunnsson
Vidkunn Erlingsson
The Austrått Lineage
Bjørn Brynjulfsson
Brynjulf Bjørnsson
Otte Stensson
Nils Henriksson
Inger of Austrått