Harald III Sigurdsson (1015 – September 25,
1066), later surnamed Harald Hardråde (Old Norse:
Haraldr harðráði, roughly translated as "stern council" or "hard ruler") was the king of
Norway from 1047[1] until 1066. He was also the King of Denmark until 1062. Many details of
his life were chronicled in the Heimskringla. Among English-speakers, he is
generally known as "Harald Hardrada" and remembered for his invasion of England in 1066. The death of Hardrada is often recorded
as the end of the Viking era.
Early Life
Born in 1015, Harald was the youngest of King Olaf
II's three half-brothers born to Åsta Gudbrandsdatter. When Harald was 15,
King Olaf was killed defending his throne from Canute the Great in 1030 at the Battle of Stiklestad. Harald took part in the battle and
although wounded managed to escape before leaving Norway in exile. He was able to form a band of warriors out of men who had also
been exiled as a result of Olaf's death. In 1031 Harald and his men reached the land of the
Kievan Rus where they served the armies of Yaroslav I
the Wise, the King of the Rus. Harald is thought to have taken part in King Yaroslav's campaign against the
Poles and was appointed joint commander of defense forces.
Time in the Byzantine Empire
Some years after Harald and his men had entered the land of the Rus, they packed up and left for the heart of the
Byzantine Empire, the city of Constantinople.
At the time, the Byzantine Empire was the wealthiest empire in Medieval Europe and the Near East. Harald and his men pledged themselves
to the service of the armies of the empire. Harald's forces joined the elite mercenary unit
known as the Varangian Guard. It was not long until Harald had proven himself in battle and
gained the respect of his fellow guardsmen. Harald became the leader of the entire force and used this power to undertake his own
missions. Harald's forces won a great many victories in North Africa, Syria and Sicily. Through ingenuity, he and his men were able to besiege and
defeat a number of castles. A contemporary source reports such tactics as attaching burning resin to birds, setting the castle ablaze, and feigning reluctance to fight, only to launch an attack at
the most advantageous moment. Harald was able to build a large fortune in plunder from his victories.
Harald took part in the suppression of the uprising of Peter Delyan, who attempted to
restore the Bulgarian Empire in 1040-1041. In the Norse sagas, he is hailed as
"Devastator of Bulgaria" and "Scourge of the Bulgarians" due to his participation, and is even thought to have cut down Peter
Delyan in the field of battle. Some authors go as far as to theorize that Harald named Oslo after a
Bulgarian he fell in love with, possibly named Slava or Oslava, though these theories are not known to have any actual
base.[1]
Return to Norway
Using the wealth he had built during his service to the Byzantine Empire, Harald
returned to Norway in 1045. He brought with him a number of men who served with him, and, as a
result, became an immediate threat to the sitting king, Magnus I, who was the son of
Olaf II and nephew of Harald and had returned from exile in 1035 to reclaim his father's throne
after the death of Canute the Great.
Magnus I agreed to share power with his uncle Harald and the two became co-rulers. However, it was only a year later that
Magnus would die. The circumstances surrounding his death were never truly explained. Speculation and increased tension between
the two rulers led to the widespread belief that Magnus was killed by Harald so that he alone would control Norway.
Invasion of England
Harald was killed at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, outside the city of
York, England. The battle took place on 25 September 1066. Harald
died fighting against the forces of King Harold Godwinson of England. He had come to England with the idea of claiming the English Throne as his own. He based this claim on
a supposed agreement between Magnus and Harthacanute whereby if either died without heir,
the other would inherit both England and Norway.
He landed in Northern England with a force of around 15,000 men and 300 longships (50 men in
each boat), and had won a great victory on 20 September against the first English forces he met at the Battle of Fulford two miles (3 km) south of York. Some speculate that Harald's defeat at the
Battle of Stamford Bridge was the result of his belief that King Harold
Godwinson was prepared to surrender. This was not the case, and Harald's army was destroyed at Stamford Bridge. His army was so heavily beaten that fewer than 25 of the 300
recorded longboats Harald used to transport his forces to England were used to carry the survivors back to Norway. Not long after
his victory over King Harald, Harold Godwinson was defeated by William the
Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings. The fact that Harold had to make a forced
march against Hardrada, fight at Stamford Bridge and then move at utmost speed back south to meet the Norman invasion, all in a
matter of days, is widely seen as a primary factor in William's hard-fought victory at Hastings. By then Harold was already king
of England.
Legacy
Harald was the last great Viking king of Norway and his invasion of England and death at
the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066 proved a
true watershed moment. It marked the end of the Viking age. In Norway, although he was at least nominally Christian, Harald's
death also marked the beginning of the Christian era: the High Middle Ages. His body was taken to Trondheim in 1067 and buried in the
Church of St. Mary. About 100 years later his body was reinterred in Helgeseter monastery which was demolished sometime in the
1600s.
On September 25, 2006, the 940th anniversary of Harald's
death, the newspaper Aftenposten published an article on the poor state of Norway's
ancient royal burial sites, including that of Harald Hardrada, which is reportedly located underneath a road built across the
monastery site. In a follow-up article on September 26, the Municipality of Trondheim revealed they would be examining the
possibility of exhuming the king and reinterring him in the Nidaros Cathedral. The
cathedral is currently the burial place of nine Norwegian kings, among them Magnus I
and Magnus II, Harald's predecessor and successor respectively.
In 1980 American science fiction and fantasy author Poul Anderson published The Last
Viking, a three-volume historical novel about Harald. Harald also makes a notable appearance in Thomas Holts novel Meadowland where the tale of Vinlands discovery is
used as the plotline. In 2006, the archeologist-author David Gibbins in his book " Crusader Gold" uses Hardrada in his plot
trying to follow the lost jewish treasure "the menorah", by having the king escaping wounded the battle in England to seek refuge
in Vinland having with him the treasures of Michelgard, the name of Constantinople in Norse language.
See also
Henry Treece wrote a historical novel about Harald Hardrada called The Last of the
Vikings, first published in 1963.
Notes
- ^ Harald became co-ruler in 1046 and sole king in 1047 when Magnus died.
Sources
- Sawyer, P.H. (1994).Kings and Vikings. pgs 118-20, 146-47. Barnes and Noble Books, New York.
- Sturluson, Snorri (2005). King Harald's Saga (Part of the Heimskringla). pgs 45,
46, 47. Penguin Classics..
External links
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