Battle of Rastarkalv



The Battle of Rastarkalv (Slaget på Rastarkalv) took place in AD 955 on the southern part of the island of Frei in the present-day Kristiansund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, 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. 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 at 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 outnumbered. 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 (on the 1000 year anniversary), King Haakon VII visited the area and commemorated the battle. There is a stone monument located near Frei Church in Nedre Frei. It consists of an Obelisk Memorial for Egil Ullserk and his men who died at the Battle of Rastarkalv.