Kings of Norway

The list of Norwegian monarchs (Norwegian: kongerekken or kongerekka) begins in 872: the traditional dating of the Battle of Hafrsfjord, after which victorious King Harald Fairhair merged several petty kingdoms into that of his father. Named after the homonymous geographical region, Harald's realm was later to be known as the Kingdom of Norway.

Traditionally established in 872 and existing continuously for over 1,100 years, the Kingdom of Norway is one of the original states of Europe: King Harald V, who has reigned since 1991, is the 64th monarch according to the official list. During interregna, Norway has been ruled by variously titled regents.

Several royal dynasties have possessed the Throne of the Kingdom of Norway: the more prominent include the Fairhair dynasty (872–970), the House of Sverre (1184–1319), and the House of Oldenburg (1450–1481, 1483–1533, 1537–1814) including branches Holstein-Gottorp (1814–1818) and Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (1905–2016). During the civil war era (1130–1240), several pretenders fought each other. Some rulers from this era are not traditionally considered lawful kings and are usually omitted from lists of monarchs. Between 1387 and 1905, Norway was part of various unions.

Kings of Norway used many additional titles between 1450 and 1905, such as King of the Wends, King of the Goths, Duke of Schleswig, Duke of Holstein, Prince of Rügen, and Count of Oldenburg. They called themselves Konge til Norge ("King to Norway"), rather than Konge af Norge ("King of Norway"), indicating that the country was their personal possession, usually with the style His Royal Majesty. With the introduction of constitutional monarchy in 1814, the traditional style "by the Grace of God" was extended to "by the Grace of God and due to the Kingdom's Constitution", but was only briefly in use. The last king to claim godly reign was Haakon VII, who died in 1957. The King's title today is formally Norges Konge ("Norway's King"), indicating that he belongs to the country (rather than the other way around), with the style "His Majesty".

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Wikipedia