haakon

listen to the pronunciation of haakon
English - English
A male given name; that of many kings of Norway
v. orig. Christian Frederik Carl Georg Valdemar Axel born Aug. 3, 1872, Charlottenlund, Den. died Sept. 21, 1957, Oslo, Nor. King of Norway (1905-57). Born prince Carl of Denmark, he was offered the Norwegian crown after the restoration of the country's independence in 1905. He accepted only after receiving approval by a plebiscite, and he took the Old Norse name of Haakon. In World War II he fled to England after the German invasion of Norway (1940), and his refusal to abdicate inspired Norwegians to resist the German occupation. Haakon IV Haakonsson Haakon the Old Haakon VII

Related Terms

Haakon IV Haakonsson
known as Haakon the Old born 1204, Norway died December, 1263, Orkney Islands King of Norway (1217-63). After he became king, his mother answered doubts about his paternity by passing through an ordeal of hot irons. He established Norwegian sovereignty over Iceland and Greenland (1261-62) and died defending the Hebrides and the Isle of Man from the Scots. He was a noted patron of the arts, and his reign began the "golden age" in medieval Norwegian history