Norwegian Monarchs Family Tree

- Norway’s monarchy has a history stretching back to 872. Matt Baker opens by stating that King Harald V died on August 28, 2026, and was succeeded by his only son, Haakon VIII. The episode traces the Norwegian royal family from the traditionally recognized first king, Harald Fairhair, through Viking rulers, Scandinavian unions, foreign monarchs, and the modern royal family.

- Harald Fairhair is traditionally regarded as Norway’s first king, but his historical status is uncertain. He supposedly reigned from 872 to 931 and belonged to the Yngling dynasty, which appears in Beowulf and was said to descend from the Norse god Freyr. The narrator explains that Harald may be more legendary than historical and that Norway probably remained divided into several smaller kingdoms during the 10th century.

- Eric Bloodaxe provides stronger historical evidence for the early Norwegian royal line. Harald Fairhair’s son was declared king in 931 but was soon displaced by his younger brother, Haakon I. Eric fled to the Orkney Islands before eventually retaking York in England, a former Viking stronghold.

- A coin bearing Eric Bloodaxe’s name provides evidence of his rule at York. The coin carries the inscription “Eric Rex.” His reign ended in 954 when he was killed in battle, bringing Viking rule at York to an end.

- Norway’s throne repeatedly passed between Norwegian and Danish rulers. After Haakon I, Eric Bloodaxe’s son Harald II became king, but he was displaced by his uncle Harald Bluetooth, the king of Denmark. Harald Bluetooth’s name also inspired the name of Bluetooth technology, whose symbol combines the runic letters H and B.

- Olaf I briefly restored a descendant of Harald Fairhair to the Norwegian throne. Norway subsequently came under the Danish king Sweyn Forkbeard, who also conquered England and established what became known as the North Sea Empire. The union of the English, Danish, and Norwegian crowns reached its greatest extent under Cnut the Great.

- Norway regained independence for a period under Olaf II. His reign was especially important because Norway became more fully unified, partly through the establishment of Christianity as the state religion. Olaf was later remembered as Saint Olaf and became Norway’s patron saint.

- Magnus I inherited Norway after Cnut the Great’s death and also ruled Denmark for several years. Known as Magnus the Good, he briefly held both thrones before the kingdoms separated in 1047. Denmark passed to the House of Estridsen, while Norway passed to the House of Hardrada.

- Harald III founded the House of Hardrada after an extraordinary career abroad. A half-brother of Saint Olaf, Harald escaped to Kievan Rus during Cnut’s reign and served as a military leader under Yaroslav the Wise. He later joined the Byzantine Empire’s Varangian Guard under Emperor Michael IV before returning to Norway and becoming king in 1047.

- Harald III’s ambitions extended beyond Norway, but he failed to conquer Denmark and England. His unsuccessful invasion of England in 1066 had lasting consequences for English history because it occurred shortly before the Norman Conquest.

- The Battle of Stamford Bridge weakened Harold Godwinson’s army shortly before the Battle of Hastings. Approximately three weeks before Hastings, the English king defeated Harald III of Norway, who was killed in action. The losses and exertion suffered by Godwinson’s forces contributed to their subsequent defeat by William the Conqueror at Hastings.

- Harald III’s death is traditionally associated with the end of the Viking Age. After his death, Scandinavian monarchs generally concentrated on their own territories rather than undertaking major overseas conquests. One notable exception was Harald’s grandson Magnus III.

- Magnus III expanded Norwegian power across several islands and briefly ruled Dublin. He took control of the Orkney Islands, the Hebrides, and the Isle of Man, and became king of Dublin for approximately one year. He was killed while in Ireland, ending his expansionist campaign.

- Norway experienced more than a century of civil war after Magnus III’s death. His sons retained power for a time, but prolonged internal conflict eventually destabilized the kingdom. The conflict ended under Haakon IV, a descendant of Magnus III through several illegitimate lines.

- Haakon IV became king in 1217 but did not reunify the entire country until 1240. His reign restored political unity after the prolonged civil wars. Greenland and Iceland also became part of the Norwegian realm during his rule.

- Magnus VI modernized Norwegian law and settled territorial disputes with Scotland. Under an agreement with the Scottish crown, Norway surrendered the Hebrides and the Isle of Man, while retaining control of the Shetland and Orkney Islands. Magnus’s son and successor, Eric II, further strengthened the connection with Scotland by marrying a Scottish princess.

- Eric II’s marriage created a direct connection between Norway’s royal family and the Scottish succession. His wife, Margaret, was the daughter of Alexander III of Scotland. Their daughter, also named Margaret, became the only surviving descendant of Alexander III after his death.

- A three-year-old Norwegian princess briefly became Scotland’s designated future queen. Following Alexander III’s death, Eric II and Margaret’s daughter was positioned to inherit the Scottish throne. Her succession presented an opportunity to connect the Norwegian and Scottish royal families more closely.

- Edward I of England proposed marrying the young Scottish heiress to his son, the future Edward II. Had the marriage taken place, the English and Scottish crowns might have been united approximately 400 years earlier than they ultimately were. The plan failed when Margaret died at age six while travelling to Scotland for her coronation.

- Margaret’s death triggered a major Scottish succession crisis. The dispute was eventually resolved when her fourth cousin, Robert the Bruce, came to the throne. A Norwegian royal marriage had therefore helped place Scotland’s succession at the centre of wider European dynastic politics.

- Norway’s succession shifted toward a Scandinavian union through marriages into the Swedish royal family. Eric II remarried but had no sons, so his brother Haakon V succeeded him. Both Eric and Haakon had daughters named Ingeborg who married Swedish princes, creating important links between the Norwegian and Swedish dynasties.

- Magnus VII of Norway was simultaneously recognized as Magnus IV of Sweden. When Haakon V died, his only legitimate descendant was a three-year-old boy who was also elected king of Sweden in the same year. His different regnal numbers reflect the distinct numbering systems used by the two kingdoms.

- Magnus planned to divide his inheritance between his sons, but the succession did not proceed as intended. His son Eric was intended to receive Sweden, while Haakon was designated for Norway. Haakon became Haakon VI before his father died, but Eric died first, and Magnus eventually became so unpopular that he was deposed in Sweden and replaced by his nephew Albert.

- Haakon VI’s marriage to Margaret of Denmark laid the groundwork for a major Scandinavian union. Margaret was the daughter of Danish King Valdemar IV. Their son Olaf II inherited the Danish throne at age five after Valdemar’s death, with his mother serving as regent.

- Olaf II’s succession brought Norway and Denmark under the same regency. When Haakon VI died, Olaf also became king of Norway at age nine, leaving Margaret governing both kingdoms on behalf of her son. Olaf died at 16, after which Margaret became queen in her own right in Denmark and Norway, according to the narrator’s account.

- Margaret’s political influence extended into Sweden after dissatisfaction with King Albert grew. Albert had been born and raised in Germany and brought numerous German officials into the Swedish government. Swedish nobles asked Margaret to help remove him, and she became Sweden’s queen in 1389.

- The Kalmar Union formally united Denmark, Norway, and Sweden in 1397. Margaret’s consolidation of the three crowns established a political union that lasted 126 years, although it experienced interruptions. Rebels briefly installed Karl Knutsson as king of Sweden and, for a shorter period, king of Norway.

- Sweden regained independence in 1523, but Norway remained tied to Denmark. In 1537, during the reign of Christian III, Norway was officially made subordinate to Denmark. Lutheranism also became the state religion of both countries during this period.

- Norway technically remained a distinct kingdom under Danish rule, but its crown was held by the Danish monarch for centuries. The narrator skips the individual Danish kings, treating their reigns as part of the wider history of Denmark rather than examining each Norwegian succession separately.

- The House of Oldenburg became a major European royal dynasty through Scandinavian succession politics. After Margaret I, the crowns passed first to Eric of Pomerania and then Christopher of Bavaria, both descendants of Valdemar IV. When Valdemar IV’s line ran out, Christian I was selected from the House of Denmark because he descended from Eric IV.

- The House of Oldenburg produced branches that ruled in several European countries. One branch, the House of Holstein-Gottorp, eventually inherited the Swedish throne and, more significantly, the Russian throne. The narrator notes that the final seven Russian tsars are generally called Romanovs through their male line but belonged genealogically to the House of Holstein-Gottorp.

- The House of Glücksburg eventually secured the Danish throne. This junior branch of Oldenburg gained the crown after the senior Oldenburg line died out. It later became important to Norway’s monarchy because the country selected a Danish prince from this wider dynastic network when it restored its independent royal line.

- Norway entered a union with Sweden in 1814. The Norwegian crown was ceded to Sweden, and for the following 91 years the Swedish king also ruled Norway. The union ultimately ended through a peaceful independence process rather than a successful war of separation.

- Norway’s independence referendum produced an overwhelming vote to dissolve the union with Sweden. According to the narrator, 99.95% of voters supported separation. The Norwegian government then had to decide whether the newly independent country should become a republic or retain a monarchy.

- Norway chose to retain its monarchy rather than become a republic. Sweden offered its king’s younger son, Prince Carl, as a candidate. Norway instead selected another Prince Carl, the second-born son of Denmark’s future King Frederick VIII.

- The future Haakon VII insisted that the Norwegian people approve his appointment. A second referendum was held in November 1905, with approximately 80% voting in favour of Prince Carl becoming king. He accepted the throne and adopted the name Haakon VII.

- Haakon VII’s regnal name deliberately connected the restored monarchy to Norway’s earlier royal history. The narrator explains that Haakon VI had been the last adult king to reign in Norway before the Kalmar Union. Choosing the name Haakon VII therefore reinforced the idea that Norway was restoring its own historical monarchy rather than simply adopting a foreign royal house.

- Haakon VII ruled Norway for 51 years through two world wars. Norway was technically neutral during the First World War. During the Second World War, Nazi Germany occupied the country, forcing the king to flee to the United Kingdom.

- Olav V succeeded Haakon VII in 1957 and ruled for 33 years. Born Alexander, he adopted the name Olav V when he became king. His wife, Princess Märtha of Sweden, had died from illness several years before his accession, and he never remarried.

- Olav V spent his entire reign without a queen consort. Despite his wife’s early death, the couple had three children, including a son who would continue the royal line. Olav died in 1991 and was succeeded by that son, Harald V.

- Harald V’s accession marked the return of a Norwegian-born king after 610 years. The narrator presents this as an important milestone because the Norwegian crown had spent centuries attached to foreign dynasties or monarchs ruling multiple Scandinavian kingdoms. Harald reigned for 35 years before his son Haakon succeeded him in 2026, according to the episode.

- Haakon VIII has dynastic connections to the current royal families of Sweden and Denmark. Through his grandmother Märtha, he is described as third cousin to Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf. Through his grandfather, he is also third cousin to Denmark’s King Frederik X.

- Haakon VIII is related to Britain’s King Charles III through two separate family connections. Through his great-grandmother Maud, Haakon is connected to Queen Elizabeth II. Through Haakon VII, he is also related to Prince Philip, giving the Norwegian and British royal families multiple genealogical links.

- The Greek monarchy provides another connection between the Norwegian and British royal families. Greece elected the Danish prince George as its king in 1863. George I of Greece was Haakon VII’s uncle and the paternal grandfather of Prince Philip, meaning that Charles III and Haakon VIII belong to the same male-only dynastic line, as described in the episode.

- Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra became Norway’s heir apparent when Haakon VIII took the throne. She is his firstborn child. The succession therefore places a woman first in line to become Norway’s next monarch.

- Norway changed its succession rules during the 20th century. Before 1971, only males could become monarchs. Before 1990, males were also preferred over females in the succession order. Under the modern rules described in the episode, the firstborn child takes precedence regardless of sex.

- Prince Sverre Magnus is second in line to the Norwegian throne. He is Haakon VIII’s only other child. After him comes the king’s sister, Princess Märtha Louise, followed by her three daughters, none of whom hold royal titles.

- Norway deliberately maintains a smaller titled royal family than the United Kingdom. The narrator explains that royal titles are generally limited to grandchildren of a monarch in the direct line. The succession is also restricted to a reigning monarch’s children, siblings, and siblings’ children.

- Ingrid Alexandra’s eventual accession would remove her aunt and cousins from the line of succession. Under the rules described in the episode, Princess Märtha Louise and her daughters would no longer remain in the succession once Ingrid became queen. The arrangement reflects Norway’s preference for a compact royal institution rather than an expansive network of titled relatives.

- Queen consort Mette-Marit is presented as one of the Norwegian monarchy’s most controversial figures. The narrator says she was friends with Jeffrey Epstein and misrepresented the frequency of her communications with him. The episode identifies the association as a source of reputational difficulty for the royal family.

- Mette-Marit’s son from a previous relationship has also become a source of controversy. The narrator states that Marius Borg Høiby was recently convicted of rape and domestic abuse. The episode places the case among the scandals affecting public perceptions of Norway’s monarchy.

- Princess Märtha Louise has attracted controversy through her spiritual claims and personal relationships. The king’s sister has long claimed to communicate with angels. After divorcing her first husband, who later died by suicide, she began a relationship with American Durek Verrett.

- Märtha Louise married Durek Verrett in 2024. Verrett describes himself as a shaman and claims to be partly alien. He also sells expensive amulets that are said to possess healing powers, making his public identity and commercial activities another source of controversy surrounding the royal family.

- Scandals have not eliminated public support for Norway’s monarchy. The narrator cites recent polling indicating that approximately 60% of Norwegians still support retaining the institution. This suggests that the monarchy continues to enjoy majority support despite controversies involving members of the royal family.

- Haakon VIII’s reign presents an unresolved question about the monarchy’s future. The episode ends by asking whether the new king will increase public support or whether he could preside over the final years of Norway’s monarchy. The narrator leaves the question open rather than predicting a definite outcome.