Kjotve the Rich
Kjotve the Rich was king of Agder and one of the chieftains who opposed Harald Fairhair at the Battle of Hafrsfjord, the decisive engagement that consolidated Norway under a single ruler.
Kjotve the Rich was king of Agder and one of the chieftains who opposed Harald Fairhair at the Battle of Hafrsfjord, the decisive engagement that consolidated Norway under a single ruler. The Heimskringla identifies him alongside his son Thor Haklang as prominent adversaries in the battle (Heimskringla, The Chronicle Of The Kings Of Norway, 19. Battle In Hafersfjord). After the defeat, Kjotve fled to "a little isle outside, on which there was a good place of strength," taking refuge in an island fortress rather than submitting (Heimskringla, The Chronicle Of The Kings Of Norway, 19. Battle In Hafersfjord).
The Heimskringla's two citations establish Kjotve as both a regional king and a military opponent of Harald. His flight to an island fortress after the battle, rather than death or submission, distinguishes him from other defeated chieftains. The text names his son Thor Haklang alongside him, suggesting a dynastic resistance to Harald's unification rather than an individual stand.
Appears in: Beings, Entities in Heimskringla, Norse Tradition
On trail: Genealogies