Galtung (noble family)

On the Norwegian "" (The King's Horn) the coat of arms of the old Galte-clan can be seen before it became "Galtung" in the times of Danish superiority over Norway. The coat of arms would have been a "radiant" boar "Gyllenbuste" associated with Yngve-Frøy symbolizing Ynglinga on a blue background along a scallop shell symbolizing the sea or a christian pilgrimage as that of Saint James the Great and Pilgrimage of Compostela. The horn is currently in a Danish collection in Copenhagen, and they've refused Norway's request to return it.

Galtung was a Norwegian noble family dating from the ennoblement of Lauritz Galtung in 1648. However, when he was ennobled, documents existed that indicated the family descended from an older noble family, the Galte family. A male-lineage connection between Galtung and Galte has not been made, but a female-line linkage bridging between Galte and Galtung been documented in genealogical records, but not in the way names are usually passed around as surnames.^[1] The old lineage of Galte that moved from Hatteberg in 1399 still exists in a direct male line up to 2022, as having fallen from grace to become farmers during the Danish period tending to the same lands in Hardanger their ancestors would have been kings and earls of.

The Barony of Rosendal first housed a "baron" with Gaut Gautsson in 1277, as the old title of lendmann was changed to Baron. To Gaut this was a mere change in title, and he continued to refer to himself as a lendmann such as his ancestors had. The Galte family was not related to the later baron family at Rosendal named after Erik Rosenkrants and the later Rosenkrone. Barony Rosendal is made up of the farms Hatteberg, Mel and Eik which are no longer due to the large barony gardens.

The old Galte[]

The first family called Galte, belongs to what was called the uradel (i.e., undocumented as nobility by letters of patent, but widely recognized as nobility in other sources) in the middle ages. The Galte family male-line did not die out in the Middle Ages, but was forced to give up their previous titles and lands as the Danish Reformation brought them down from power. They had their main seat at Hatteberg, Mel, Eik and Torsnes in Jondal, Hardanger. It is believed that the descendants living today represent the oldest surviving noble family in Norway. ^[2]

The old male lineage remains unbroken to this day, in the 42nd generation. The later generations are not listed, as the Galte descendants from the 15-16nth century stopped using the Galte name.

Galte's patrilineal line ca. 200-2022[]

1. King Fornjot of Gotland, Kvenland og Finland (ca. 100-200) who's genealogy of descendants is the basis of Hversu Noregr byggðist.
2. King Kåre (or Kåri, AKA Jøkul) Fornjotsson (ca. 200)
3. King Snjor den Gamle (inn Gamli) Jøkulsson av Kvenland (ca. 300)
4. King Tore (Thorri) Snjosson av Kvenland (ca. 300)
   

   Neck ring, buckle and arm ring made of silver and gold from the viking period found dug down at Hatteberg farm, Rosendal in Hardanger.
5. Sea-king Gor Toresson (Thorrisson) (4-500), a brother of king Nór whom gave Norway name.
6. Sea-king Heytir Gorrson (5-600)
7. Sea-king Sveidi (Sveithi) Heytirsson (5-600)
8. Halfdan the Old (inn Gamli) Sveidasson (6-700)
9. Earl of Oppland Ivar Halfdansson (7-800)
10. King of Western Norway and Earl of Oppland Øystein "Glumra" Ivarsson (788-870)
11. Earl of Møre Ragnvald "Mørejarl" Øysteinsson (ca. 830-892/900) was the man who gave king Harald the first of Norway the name "Fairhair".
12. Earl of Møre and Hordaland Tore "Teiande" Ragnvaldsson (862-938) married to princess Gyda Eiriksdottir of Hordaland and Harald Fairhair's daughter Àlof Àrbot (born ca. 852).
13. Ljot Toresson (ca. 910)
14. Bård "Nesjakonge" Ljotsson (ca. 960)
15. Earl Eilif Bårdsson "Gautske Jarl (Earl of Gauthi)"
16. Orm Eilifsson (ca. 1000-1050)
17. Ogmund Ormsson (1065-1136)
18. Munan Ogmundsson (d. 1137)
19. Gaut Munansson Ænes/Ornes (1120-1160)
20. Jon Gautsson på Ornes (1140-1160)
21. Gaute Jonsson Mel Galte (1190-1270)
22. Baron Gaute "the younger" Gautsson Hatteberg of Mel (ca. 1260-1306)
23. Tore Gautsson på Hatteberg (Galtsson) (1280-?)
24. Ivar Toresson på Hatteberg (ca. 1320)
25. Greip Ivarsson på Hatteberg Galte (1355-1400)

"Gauti" kings and earls inspired many stories. One such is the Hardingas and Gauties in Beowulf who are even portrayed with Yngve's boar Gyllenbusti on their helmet. One such example is the excavated Benty Grange Helmet, one of several found in tumulus's from the time as Beowulf described. Some sagas claim the location of grave tumulus's where some of early Galte-members in this male line of descendants lie buried, and was hence a part of early Galte tradition.

The old Galte's historical achievements[]

The ancient earls and kings of Western-Norway descended from mythical king Fornjot of Gotland ("Jotland"), Kvenland and Finland through his descendant's king Nor and sea-king Gor. Their sister sister Goe had gone missing, and traveling through Scandinavia from Finland, the two brothers ended up gathering large parts of what was a smaller version of Norway to a kingdom. This story is found in the Orkney Saga in Flateyjarbók, where the author even links the royal bloodline with Odin and Adam. This line accounts for the direct male line of the Galte-family at Hatteberg, the main seat of the family in Hardanger at Vestlandet. People and branches of the family not listed above in the direct male line ending at Hatteberg, were also a major players in European history as they went on to found their own dynasties abroad. One such was Tore "Teiande" Ragnvaldsson's brother, Rolf Ragnvaldsson, better known as he became Rollo, first of the House of Normandie.

Fall from grace[]

The "Gauti" name in Galte-context derives from the close kinly relationship with Gautaland, and was originally a name used for Odin. Munan Ogmundsson fought and died in 1137 at Kroka-Skog as the mother-brother (uncle) of Earl Karl Sunesson of Western-Gautland.

The 15nth century was a cataclysmic fall from grace for the Galte-family in Hardanger. The "nail in the coffin" was when Greip Ivarsson's father-in-law Greip Àmundsson (Ogmundsson) Aga was abducted by danish serving Hartvig Krummedike in 1440. He was eventually let go in return of 120 marks of silver.

The Galte family at Hatteberg had close ties to "neighboring" people at Aga further in the Hardangerfjord, such as when Greip Àmundsson Aga was abducted by Hartvig Krummedike in 1440.

The Benty Grange helmet with a boar is one of several excavated from tumulus's across Western Europe. The use of the boar was hence once easily recognizable and understood symbolism to all.

After the 15nth century, the Galte-family stopped using the "Galte" name officially for obvious political reasons. A supposed link was made by Danish immigrants that they were descendants due to their connection with Torsnes, but this does not occur in the family tree along the rest of the Hardanger Galte descendants descending from Greip Ivarsson, the last Galti who lived at Hatteberg. Hatteberg was pawned in 1399 by Greip Ivarsson to his close relative Gaute Eiriksson Galte to get enough money to acquire ships, as Greip was broke. He needed the ships to set sails west to free the Feroe Islands and bring them back under Norwegian dominion, but he failed. He never managed to buy Hatteberg back, and hence the family main seat changed hands to Gaute Eiriksson Galte (ca. 1340-1412), inherited by Gaute's daughters. Hatteberg then a century later is in the hands of danish Jens Bjelke who sold it to Axel Mowat. Through his daughter Karen's marriage to Erik Rosenkrantz, Hatteberg and Mel became Baroniet i Rosendal, after having served as a Norwegian noble and royal seat for hundreds of years.

Greip Ivarsson's family had moved to Norheim which became Norheimsund, and spread by the wind, as some stayed and others moved. Throughout the 16nth to the 18nth century, Galte-descendants were fined for fighting with the officials sent by Denmark, and to a great extent kept their position as leaders of the locals of Hardanger that were more than just upset with the new, Danish immigrant ruling class whom first confiscated Norwegian lands and shared it among themselves, monopolized the trades, heavily taxing the Norwegian farmers into poverty and then adopting the Norwegian noble family name Galte into Danish noble Galtung as their own.

Some descendants settled in America with the migration rush in the 19nth century, and there are descendants in America today probably not aware of their origin. Of the family in Hardanger, it's hard to say how many descendants there are and they too are often not aware of their descent.

The old Galte-clan today[]

King Eirik of Hordaland died in the battle of Hafrsfjord, as allegedly the first ship to attack Harald's forces and hence one of the first to die.

The old Galte-clan (ætt) descendants still exist, even in a straight male line unbroken from the time of Greip Ivarsson (ca. 1355-1400). As of 2022, the latest male member in the line counts as the 42nd generation. The generations after Greip Ivarsson are not listed, as they stopped using the "Galte" name.

Tolkien was a Beowulf academic, and "Eorlingas" that was the Rohirrim battle crie is a way of saying "Erlings", that is, descendants of earls or simply earls. Erling is used as a name of several later Galte descendants, as well as the modern, female version of Erla.

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  Orkneyingasaga in Flateyjarbók tells of the royal bloodline that supposedly passed down father to sons all the way back to Fornjot, Odin and Adam in antiquity. "Gaut" was one of Odin's names, meaning Geat, as in "Gautatýr" meant God of the Geats.

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  The old Galte had branches of the family in early medieval times move to Iceland, predominantly the northern part of Iceland. Many words between Hardanger dialect and Icelandic are the same to this day.

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  The old farms of Hatteberg, Mel and Eik located to the right in the picture as well as Torsnes to the left in the picture, were once the family seats of the Galte.

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  Tore "Teiande" Ragnvaldsson was brother of Rolf Ragnvaldsson, better known as Rollo of Normandie. Here, king of West Francia Charles the Simple (879-929) is giving his daughter Gisela off to Rolf for marriage, in order to save his people from plunder.

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  Snorre Sturlasson blamed Gaut Jonsson of Mel for souring the relationship between king Håkon Håkonsson of Norway og Duke Skule Bårdsson. Snorre and Gaut were not friends, as Gaut supported the Sturlungas of Iceland whilst Snorre (though a Sturlunga himself) was one of duke Skule's men.

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  Tore "Teiande" Ragnvaldsson's brother Torf-Einarr had three sons whom became the Orkney Earls.

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  Alexander III of Scotland was the one to manage come to a military agreement with the Norwegian king Magnus VI Hákonsson, with the Treaty of Perth in 1266 concerning Isle of Man, the Hebrides, the Orkneys and Shetland. Gaut Jonsson of Mel and his son Finn were among the Norwegians to set their seals to validify the treaty.

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  People who were caught with runic books, were eligible to be burned at the stake for witchcraft. The Galte-descendants put their life on the line during and after the Reformation to save them from the Danish. Here for runic illustration, a copy of the runic stone at Galteland in Evje, Aust-Agder.

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  The fjording horse, has a special place in Hardanger and hence Galte-history, as viking descendants had a close bond to their animals compared to other noble families in Europe.

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  The Galte-family's descendants were proud users and creators of the Norwegian folk-costume Hardangerbunad.

The younger Galtung[]

Painted glass (~1636) found on Torsnes farm.

Galtung coat of arms.

The younger Galtung family male-line can be traced back to who was born around 1519. It was his great-grandson Lauritz Galtung, Admiral of the Dano-Norwegian fleet, who later renewed the nobility of the family in 1648, changing the name from Galte to Galtung. The present family belonged to an influential circle of families in the Hardanger area, including the owners of the farms Aga and Torsnes, and had many well-known naval officers, including admirals .^[3][4]

In 1885, historian Henrik Jørgen Huitfeldt-Kaas said that in the period 1670-1870 the family started marrying commoners, and thus, should be considered to have lost their nobility (later it was asserted that this position was influenced by the Danish, whose nobility, to a large degree, supplanted Norwegian nobility during the Dano-Norwegian union. Early in the 18th century the remaining family lived on the old family farm of Torsnes, which is still occupied by descendants today. By the end of the 18th century, many of the family's members could be found in the cities, populating professional classes as lawyers, doctors and such.

Admiral Lauritz Galtung (c. 1615-1661)

Living descendants today include sociologist Johan Galtung, recognised for his contributions to peace research and practice of conflict-solving, the so-called . According to Statistics Norway 100 persons have Galtung as their surname as of 2009.^[5]

Younger Galtung-family in a patrilineal line from ca. 1500-2000[]

1. Johannes/Jens (ca. 1475-1521), possibly married to Gyrid Torgilsdatter (Galtung), but not born a Galtung himself
2. Lauritz Johannesen (ca. 1500-1560) m.1 Magdalena Trondsdatter Rustung m.2 Anna Fartegnsdatter Valen
3. Johannes Lauritzen Torsnes (ca. 1540-1620) m. Herborg Torbjørnsdatter (ca. 1555-1632) «Johannes got his hands on the Torsnes-farm through his wife Herborg. She inherited half of Torsnes together with her brother, Ola Torbjørnsen Sandven.»^[]
4. Bailiff and landowner Lauritz Johannessen Torsnes (1587-1659) m. Elisabet Ottesdatter Orning (ca. 1590-1676)
5. Admiral og lord Lauritz Lauritzen Galtung (1615-1661) m. Barbara Grabow (1631-1695)
6. Junker Johan Lauritsen Galtung til Torsnes (1659-1721) m. Margrete Pedersdatter Leganger (1670-1711)

References[]

Literature[]

• Galtung, Johan Ellertsen: Galtungslekten i fortid og nutid, Oslo 1997.
• Huitfeldt-Kaas, H.J.: De nulevende Adelsslægter i Norge, Christiania 1885.
• Huitfeldt-Kaas, Henrik Jørgen m.fl.: Norske Sigiller fra Middelalderen, Oslo 1899-1950 (seals no. 928, 946, 1089 og 1308)
• Steffens, Haagen Krog: Norske Slægter 1912, Gyldendalske Boghandel, Kristiania 1911
• C. M. Munthe: «Norske slegtsmerker» (Norwegian family emblems), Norsk slektshistorisk tidsskrift, Vol. I, Oslo 1928, pages 32 ff and 155 ff, especially page side 188 and the illustrations no. 189-192
• Haukanes, K. og Jon : Segl og bumerke frå Hardanger, Oslo 1944, pages 23, 101, 248, 281
• Cappelen, Hans: Norske slektsvåpen (Norwegian family coats of arms, with a summary in English), Oslo 1969 (new edition 1976) (with a modern heraldic bookplate in color and a new drawing of the shield in a modern style)
• Løvenskiold, Herman L.: Heraldisk nøkkel, Oslo 1978
• A. Thiset og P.L. Wittrup: Nyt dansk Adelslexikon, København 1904
• Achen, S. T.: Danske adelsvåbener, København 1973