Hålogaland

thumb|250 px|Hålogaland around 1000 CE thumb|250 px|Tromsø, by Peder BalkeThe painting illustrates the rugged fjords and island terrain in Hålogaland.|border Hålogaland was the northernmost of the Norwegian provinces in the medieval Norse sagas. In the early Viking Age, before Harald Fairhair, Hålogaland was a kingdom extending between the Namdalen valley in Trøndelag county and the Lyngen fjord in Troms county.

==Etymology and history== Ancient Norwegians said that was named after a royal named Hǫlgi. The Norse form of the name was '. The first element of the word is the genitive plural of ', a 'person from Hålogaland'. The last element is '''', as in 'land' or 'region'. The meaning of the demonym '''' is unknown. Thorstein Vikingson's Saga, 1, describes it as a compound of Hial, "Hel" or "spirit," and "loge", "fire" – although this is largely discredited.