The Battle of Rastarkalv (Slaget på Rastarkalv) took place in AD 955 on the island of Frei in the county of Møre og Romsdal, 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 I of Denmark 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 on Nordmøre from Stadlandet. By placing ten standards far apart along a low ridge, Haakon gave the impression that his army was bigger than it actually was. Haakon managed to fool Eirik's sons into believing they were out numbered. 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, King Haakon VII visited the municipality and commemorated the battle. There is a stone monument located near Frei Church in Freidarberg. It consists of an Obelisk Memorial for Egil Ullserk and his men who died at the Battle of Rastarkalv.

Haakon I (Old Norse: Hákon Aðalsteinsfóstri, Norwegian: Håkon Adalsteinsfostre), (c. 920–961), given the byname the Good, was the third king of Norway and the youngest son of Harald I of Norway and Thora Mosterstang.

King Harald determined to remove his youngest son out of harm's way and accordingly sent him to the court friend, King Athelstan of England. Haakon was fostered by King Athelstan, as part of a peace agreement made by his father, for which reason Haakon was nicknamed Adalsteinfostre. The English king brought him up in the Christian religion.

On the news of his father's death King Athelstan provided Haakon with ships and men for an expedition against his half-brother Eirik Bloodaxe, who had been proclaimed king.

Upon his arrival back in Norway, Haakon gained the support of the landowners by promising to give up the rights of taxation claimed by his father over inherited real property. Eirik Bloodaxe soon found himself deserted on all sides, and saved his own and his family's lives by fleeing from the country. Eirik had fled to the Orkney Islands and later to the Kingdom of Jorvik, eventually meeting a violent death on Stainmore, Westmorland, in 954 along with his son, Haeric.

Philip Sparke (born 1951 in London) is a British composer and musician. He is noted for his concert band and brass band music.

Steven Mead (born 1962, Bournemouth, England) is an English virtuoso euphonium soloist and teacher who has played an important role in achieving worldwide recognition of the instrument.

Mead is widely regarded as one of the most successful professional euphonium soloists in the world today, performing over 75 concerts per year with some of the leading orchestras, wind bands and brass bands in the world. In recent years he has played solo concerti with symphony orchestras, including: Germany (Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra) Norway (Trondheim Symphony Orchestra), Finland (Lahti Symphony Orchestra and Helsinki Philharmonic), Poland (Capella Cracoviensis), USA (Minneapolis Pops Orchestra) and the Japan Chamber Orchestra. During a particularly critically acclaimed improvised performance at the Guggenheim Museum in 1988, He has premiered works by Martin Ellerby, Torstein Aagaard-Nilsen, Vladimir Cosma, Goff Richards, John Reeman, Rolf Rudin and Philip Sparke, amongst others. Goff Richards' Pilatus, Aagaard-Nilsen's Concerto for Euphonium and Orchestra, Reeman's Sonata for Euphonium and Ellerby's Euphonium Concerto were all written expressly for Mead.