Norsk

Where the family lived and travelled

The places where the family lived and held property, and the journeys told in the sagas and the letters.

  • Giske: A low island at the edge of the open sea north of Ålesund. Seat of the Giske family, with the marble church from the 12th century, burial mounds and a stone house by the landing place.
  • Hjørungavåg: The sea battle against the Jomsvikings in 986. Tradition places it at Liavågen in Hareid.
  • Borgund: The trading town (kaupang) of Sunnmøre, near present-day Ålesund. The marble for the churches came from Humla.
  • Magerholm: Probably the quarry for the marble in Giske church (Heldal et al. 2026). About 25 km by sea to Giske.
  • Sola: The seat of Erling Skjalgsson, Torberg's father-in-law.
  • Egge: Kalv Arnesson's farm near Steinkjer.
  • Austrått: Finn Arnesson's farm at Ørland, later Fru Inger's seat.
  • Rein: The Rein family's farm in Rissa. Tora Skoftesdatter married into it.
  • Nidaros: Royal seat and archiepiscopal see from 1152/53.
  • Stiklestad: The battle of 1030 where Olaf the Holy fell. Kalv led the peasant army.
  • Bergen: The largest town in the country. The family owned Bjarnegarden in Sutarstretet and properties by Bryggen.
  • Bjarkøy: The great farm of the Bjarkøy family north of Harstad, on the sea route where the goods from the north went south.
  • Vágar: The trading place near Kabelvåg where the Lofoten fish was gathered. Bjarne Erlingsson held a meeting at Brudarberg here.
  • Ytre Senja: The fishing villages Gryllefjord, Torsken, Mefjord and Øyfjord paid landvare (a fishing-ground rent) to the estate.
  • Sudreim: The manor of the Sudreim family in Romerike.
  • Oslo: Bishop's see and Akershus.
  • Tønsberg: Royal estate and Tønsberghus.
  • Grefsheim: Alv Knutsson's seat at Nes in Hedmark.
  • Finne: Magnhild Oddsdatter's farm at Voss.
  • Stamford Bridge: Here Harald Hardrada and Øystein Orre fell on 25 September 1066.
  • Orkney: Earldom under Norway. Kirkwall and St Magnus Cathedral.
  • Shetland: The Giske estate had 71 farms here in 1582.
  • Inverness: Here Bjarne Erlingsson concluded a settlement with Robert the Bruce in 1312.
  • Dunfermline: The royal seat of Malcolm III.
  • Ulster: Here Magnus Barefoot fell in 1103.
  • Flanders: Skofte wintered here in 1102 to 1103.
  • Nørvasund: The Strait of Gibraltar, which the sagas call Nørvasund.
  • Rome: Here Skofte Ågmundsson died in 1103.
  • Avignon: The papal court, where Giske chapel received a letter of indulgence in 1345.
  • Niså in Halland: The sea battle of 9 August 1062 at the river mouth. Finn Arnesson was jarl over the province.
  • Funen: Here Kalv Arnesson fell around 1051.
  • Constantinople: The imperial city where Harald Hardrada and Ulv Uspaksson served.
  • Holmgard (Novgorod): Here Kalv Arnesson fetched Magnus the Good in 1034 to 1035.
  • Aldeigjuborg (Ladoga): The trading place at the entrance to Gardarike (Kievan Rus').
  • Kænugard (Kiev): The princely city where Harald won Ellisiv.
  • Varberg: Here Junker Hans became engaged in 1464.
  • Skara: Bishop's see in Västergötland, where Tre Rosor had roots.
  • Copenhagen: The city of the union kings, where the debt for Trøndelag was to be paid in 1423.
  • Lübeck: The chief city of the Hansa, where the stockfish from Bergen went on to.
  • Visby: On Gotland Sigurd Jonsson was appointed drottsete (steward of the realm) in 1439.