The Second War of Krøyland

The Second War of Krøyland was a war between Krøyland and Nordaland, and Fjordheim. It began in 858 and ended in 864, and was won by Håkon Rimøks, the Jarl of Nordaland and Krøyland.

Cause
Originally Krøyland had been a Jarldom of it's own, but during The First War of Krøyland, which lasted from 703 to 709, it became a part of Fjordheim. For the next 149 years it remained that way, until The Second War of Karmøy.

In 703 the Jarl of Nordaland died without an hair. He did, however, on his deathbed, proclaim that he wanted his son in law, Håkon Rimøks, to take the throne after him. Håkon Rimøks was the Storbonde of Læurnes, married to the daugther of the Jarl, and already had a son that was a descendence of the Jarls of Nordaland.

Håkon Rimøks accepted, but proclaimed that he was going to keep Læurnes under his rule. The other Storbondes of Krøyland were unhappy about the rule of Fjordheim (partly due to hard ruling and hight taxes, and partly due to The First War of Krøyland), and when Håkon Rimøks proclaimed that thay would have lower taxes if they came under his rule as the Jarl of Nordaland, they agreed.

The War
Fjordheim, however, was not happy about losing Krøyland, and declared war. Håkon initially gathered his army and placed it at the eastern side of the Sivjefjord. He was awaiting reinforcements from his new subjects in northern Nordaland, and thought it would be better to hold the eastside of the fjord and let the armies be united there, than to unite them on the westside and then have to cross the fjord to fight his enemies. The reinforcements did not come as early as he had been hoping for, and he was defeated in a battle on the eastern side of the fjord. He then retreated with a large part of his army still intact, and crossed the fjord to Læurnes. The enemies embarked their ships and followed him. Håkon wanted to spare the lives of the population of the town, and hoped that a further retreat would have the enemy follow him even further - without taking their time to plunder the town. They did, and followed him further westwards along the coast. On the way, Håkon met his reinforcements from Nordaland, and they descided to trick their enemy. The now united fleet continued sailing west, but when they passed the fjord Yrifanger, the ships from Nordaland hid in the fjord. Håkon's ships continued sailing west, until the fleet from Fjordheim had passed Yrifanger. As the hidden fleet sailed out of the fjord they turned, and effectively surrendered the enemy fleet. The forces were now about even, but during The Battle of Yrifanger Håkon crushed the enemy fleet. They then sailed eastwards again, in order to claim the areas on both sides of the Sivjefjord, but due to casualties they were unable to take the eastern side of the fjord. The war therefore ended by splitting the two Jarldoms Fjordheim and Nordaland (now containing large parts of Krøyland) through the Sivjefjord.

Aftermath
The border between Nordaland and Fjordheim was drawn through the Sivjefjord, which it still is today. This was a little of a compromise, since Håkon wanted the eastern part of Sivjefjord to be a part of his Jarldom as well, but he was still the definitive winnert of the war.

Nordaland became a much stronger Jarldom after this, which may be the explenation why it have survived to this day. It's relationship to Fjordheim, however, became a little bitter.

Just 5 years after the end of the war, The Second War of The North began between Åsmark and The Skilamrilusian Empire. Fjordheim allied itself with The Skilamrilusian Empire and conquered the northern part of Åsmark. This may partly have been because of it's recent loss of Krøyland, and also because the new jarl was less reluctant to backstabb Åsmark.