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 (1178/79–1241) ca. 1230. The name Heimskringla was first used in the 17th century, derived from the first two words of one of the manuscripts (kringla heimsins - the circle of the world).

Heimskringla is a collection of sagas about the Norwegian kings, beginning with the saga of the legendary Swedish dynasty of the Ynglings, followed by accounts of historical Norwegian rulers from Harald Fairhair of the 9th century up to the death of the pretender Eystein Meyla in 1177. The exact sources of his work are disputed, but included earlier kings' sagas, such as Morkinskinna, Fagrskinna and the twelfth century Norwegian synoptic histories and oral traditions, notably many skaldic poems. Snorri had himself visited Norway and Sweden. For events of the mid-12th century, Snorri explicitly names the now lost work Hryggjarstykki as his source. The composition of the sagas is Snorri's.

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List of Norwegian monarchs

The list of Norwegian monarchs (Norwegian: kongerekken or kongerekka) begins in 872, the traditional dating of the Battle of Hafrsfjord, after which the victorious Harald Fairhair merged several petty kingdoms into that of his father. Harald's realm was later to be known as the Kingdom of Norway.

In 970 the Fairhair dynasty became patrilineally extinct upon the death of Harald I's grandson Harald II. After short periods under the kings of Denmark in the late 10th and early 11th century, Norway was ruled by native dynasties, including kings such as Olaf II, Harald III, and Sverre, until the 14th century. During the civil war era (1130–1240), several pretenders fought each other. Some rulers from this era are not traditionally considered lawful kings and are usually omitted from lists of monarchs.

In 1387 Norway entered the personal union with Denmark and Sweden, known as the Kalmar Union. Sweden left the union in 1523, but Norway and Denmark remained under the same crown. Between 1450 and 1814, the kings of Norway were Oldenburgs residing in Copenhagen. Absolute monarchy was adopted in 1660.

History of the Kings (Peniarth 23C)

The History of the Kings, or Brut y Brenhinedd, is a Welsh translation of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain). The manuscript, which was copied in the late fifteenth century, is probably the only illustrated Welsh-language medieval narrative. It is part of the Peniarth Manuscripts collection at the National Library of Wales (Peniarth Ms. 23C).

The text of Peniarth 23C is written on parchment and decorated with fifty-nine illustrations, of which fifty-seven are of kings, and some illuminated initial letters, including zoomorphic forms. It is probable that it was produced in North Wales.

Folio 1. Aeneas.

Folio 1. Aeneas.

Folio 13r. Madog.

Folio 13r. Madog.

Folio 17v. Cordeilla ferch Lŷr.

Folio 17v. Cordeilla ferch Lŷr.

Folio 18r. Morgan and Cunedda.

Folio 18r. Morgan and Cunedda.

Folio 18v. Rhiwallon.

Folio 18v. Rhiwallon.

Folio 27v. Beli Mawr fab Mynogan.

Folio 27v. Beli Mawr fab Mynogan.