ruler Fornjót (Fornjotr) down to Nór, who is here the eponym and first great king of Norway, who unites the Norwegian lands (petty kingdoms). The Hversu account then gives details of the descendants of Nór and of his brother Gór in the following section known as the ("Genealogies", or , "Founding of Norway"). The Hversu account is closely paralleled by the opening of the Orkneyinga saga. In 873 AD, according to the Egil's saga (written ) the Kvens and Norse cooperate in battling against the invading Karelians. The chapter XVII of Egil's saga describes how Thorolf Kveldulfsson (King of Norway's tax chief starting 872 AD) from Namdalen, located in the southernmost tip of the historic Hålogaland, goes toKvenland again: Based on medieval documents, the above meeting took place during the winter of 873–874. Hålogaland's rather close vicinity to Kvenland is also demonstrated in the geographical chronicle by the Icelandic Abbot Níkulás Bergsson (Nikolaos), who provides descriptions of lands around Norway: As recorded in Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar, King Hákon Hákonarson settled some of the people of Bjarmaland in Malangen near modern Tromsø in the 1230s or 40s. According to Saxo Grammaticus in his Gesta Danorum, King Helgi of Hålogaland married a Princess Thora of Lappland and Bjarmaland, daughter of Prince Gusi, but in other sources he is only given as King of Lappland. In any event, for centuries the Norwegians of Hålogaland had extensive relations with both the Bjarmar and Saami, and to some extent also the Kvens. Modern usage In modern times, the term Hålogaland is used in a variety of senses. For some purposes, all of Northern Norway plus Svalbard and Jan Mayen are covered under the term Hålogaland. For other purposes the counties of Nordland and Troms constitute Hålogaland. Hålogaland or even Mid Hålogaland are frequent terms covering the smaller districts of Ofoten, Lofoten and Vesterålen, as well as the municipalities Bjarkøy, Gratangen, Harstad, Ibestad, Kvæfjord and Skånland of Troms og Finnmark county. The term has also been used in this last sense, minus the Lofoten archipelago. The name is currently used by the Dioceses of Nord-Hålogaland, Sør-Hålogaland, as well as by a Court of Appeal, a theater and a large bridge. A derived name is Helgeland which refers to southern Nordland. History Hålogaland figures extensively in the Norse sagas, and in the , especially the Ynglinga Saga and . It was inhabited by the race of Hölgi