Harald immediately gathered an army and went northward over the Dovre Mountain, and after several battles conquered the whole of Trondelag, the common name of all the districts about the Throndhjem (Drontheim) Fjord. Here he procured ships, sailed southward along the coast and conquered one district after another in the western part of the country. Finally, the remaining kings gathered their men and ships and met Harald in naval battle in Hafrsfjord, a little inlet in Jæderen, near the present city of Stavanger. The battle was fierce and long, but Harald finally gained the day. After this battle, which occurred in 872, King Harald met no opposition, and was acknowledged as king of the whole of Norway. Shortly after the battle the king attended a feast given by Ragnvald, the Earl of More (Morejarl), and the latter cut the king's hair, which had not been cut or combed for ten years, and gave him the surname, the Fairhaired. Harald shortly afterward married Gyda. King Harald deprived the peasant-proprietors of their allodium or udal-right, and compelled them to pay land dues of their possessions. Over every _Fylki_ or district he placed an earl (_jarl_), who was to administer justice and collect the taxes, of which he retained one-third as salary. In case of war the earl was to serve the king with sixty warriors. Each earl had under him four _herses_, each of whom had a royal estate of twenty marks annual income to manage, and was bound to support twenty men-at-arms. Many of the proud peasants objected to the rule of Harald and to the payment of taxes. They wanted to be independent, as before, and left the country. Many of them settled on the Faroe Islands and the Scotch islands, and in the summer they would make viking cruises and harry the coasts of Norway to revenge themselves on the king. To stop this Harald sailed westward one summer with a fleet, fought the vikings and took possession of Shetland and the Orkney Islands, and placed an earl in charge of them. Many of the fleeing Northmen then sailed northward with their goods and men and settled in _Iceland_, where they established a free state, which existed for nearly 400 years.