Rögnvaldr Mœrajarl

Rognvald of Møre is Harald Fairhair's great friend and supporter — and the man who gave the king the name the world remembers. A powerful earl and Harald's staunch ally through the long unification, it is Rognvald who, when all Norway is at last won and the king's hair has grown ten years uncut and matted in fulfilment of his oath, cuts and dresses it — and, seeing how fine it proves, gives Harald the by-name hárfagri, Fairhair. Rognvald's own line runs far: he is the ancestor of the earls of Orkney and, the sagas say, of Rolf (Rollo) who founded Normandy. He embodies the loyal great man on whom a king's new order rests — the earl whose friendship helps make the kingdom, and whose hand, cutting the conqueror's hair, marks the moment the founding is complete. The friend present at the naming of Norway's first king.