Battle of Rastarkalv 955
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
About the battle
The Battle of Rastarkalv (Norwegian: Slaget på Rastarkalv) took place in 955 on the southern part of the island of Frei in the present-day Kristiansund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway.
This was one of several battles between the forces of King Haakon the Good and those of the sons of Eirik Bloodaxe (Eiriksønnene). After their father's death, Harald Greycloak and his brothers were allied against King Haakon with King Harald Bluetooth of Denmark. Haakon had put up a warning system with cairns that would be lighted to tell of approaching war fleets. Therefore, the king was alarmed first with messengers at Nordmøre from Stadlandet. Haakon managed to fool Eirik's sons into believing they were outnumbered. The Danes fled but when they came to the beach, they discovered that their ships had been pushed out to sea. Haakon gained the victory and the Danish forces were slaughtered by Haakon's army.
Egil Ullserk, who was Haakon's leading man, died in the battle. Gamle Eirikssen, one of the sons of Eirik Bloodaxe, also died in the conflict. Haakon buried Egil Ullserk in a ship together with the people who had died in the battle. In 1955 (on the 1000 year anniversary), King Haakon VII visited the area and commemorated the battle.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Rastarkalv (revision 1370272774), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- First battle of Solskjel 870 · 28 km
- Åndalsnes landings 1940 · 56 km
- Battle of Orkdal 870 · 104 km
- Battle of Hjörungavágr 984 · 117 km
- Siege of Trondheim · 137 km
- Siege of Steinvikholm (1537) 1537 · 160 km
Browse more: battles in Norway · Europe · Medieval battles