With the Viking Age setting in the west, one man set out to reclaim the lands, power and culture of his forefathers. His name was Harald Hardrada, and this is his story.
Harald Hardrada - Norwegian, 1015 CE-1066 CE
Born Harald Sigurdsson, Harald Hardrada was king of Norway from 1045 until his death at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066. Son of Sigurd Syr, a chieftain from Norway’s eastern territories, Hardrada garnered the nickname ‘Harald the Ruthless’ due to a series of brutal raids on his neighbouring territories.
Conqueror, exile, mercenary and warlord; Harald Hardrada was many things during his bloody, brutal and eventful life. However, he was one thing above all others: a Viking. Descended, according to Scandinavian saga, from the legendary first ever king of Norway, Harald Fairhair, Hardrada – named due to his style for ‘hard rule’ – came from a long line of war-loving Viking rulers who each, much to the terror of large swathes of Europe, had ravaged, pillaged and ransacked with a frequency that was previously unimaginable. The culture, landscape and language of Europe had irrevocably been altered by the Age of the Vikings, and Hardrada, born into one of its noble institutions, was brought up to be totally wrapped in its ideals and indoctrinated into a mindset the likes of which had seen the nations of Scandinavia dominate the known world for almost 300 years.
It was this in-built, centuries-old lust for war and conquest that saw Hardrada engage in his first ever battle in 1030 CE, a mere 15 years after his birth in Ringerike, Norway. Hardrada’s brother Olaf Haraldsson had been forced into exile in 1028 CE after the Danish King Cnut the Great had taken the Norwegian throne for himself. However, upon Olaf’s return in 1030 CE, Hardrada drummed up the support of 600 men from the Norwegian Uplands and joined with Olaf to take down Cnut. As such, on 29 July 1030 CE Hardrada took the fight to the Danish at the Battle of Stiklestad, fighting with his brother for control of his ancestors’ country. Unfortunately, despite showing considerable military might on the battlefield, Hardrada was defeated by the far larger Danish army, with Olaf being killed in the fighting.
Hardrada barely escaped with his life, having been badly wounded in the melee. In fact, were it not for the covert help of his friend Rögnvald Brusason – the future Earl of Orkney – Hardrada would never have reached the remote farmstead in eastern Norway that he did a few weeks after the battle, nor been able to recover from his serious wounds. A month went by, and with each passing day the reality of what had occurred became all the more apparent to Hardrada. He had let down his brother, father, nation and revered forefathers. He had been defeated at the first hurdle, part-crippled by a foreign invader that remained in control of his country. Unable to bear the guilt any longer, one month after his defeat Hardrada exiled himself to Sweden, journeying north over the mountains by the cover of darkness.
Over the following year little is known of Hardrada’s movements or activities, with not even the sagas of old recalling what transpired. All that is known today is that almost a year to the day after his defeat at Stiklestad, Hardrada arrived in the town of Staraya Ladoga in the Kievan Rus region of north-eastern Europe. The Kievan people were a wild bunch of Slavic tribes renowned for their hardiness, combat prowess and expertise in trade, with their geographical position placing them very much at the gates between the largely Byzantine-controlled east and the Scandinavianoccupied west. So when Hardrada emerged from the wilderness in 1031 CE, his ancestry and prowess in combat saw him warmly welcomed by the Rus’ ruler Grand Prince Yaroslav the Wise, whose wife Ingegerd was a distant relative of his.
Badly in need of military commanders and recognising Harald’s ability in combat, Yaroslav immediately made Hardrada leader of his forces and dispatched him to the western border to fight the Polish peoples at war with the Rus. The faith Yaroslav placed in Harald’s breeding was well founded, with the warrior completing a crushing campaign against Poland, slaughtering hundreds and thousands of Poles and driving them back into their country’s distant heartlands. Following this victory, Yaroslav left Hardrada to engage the Chude peoples of Estonia and the Pechenegs nomads that had been fighting on and off with the Rus for decades, with similarly and horrific results. Hardrada was reportedly demonic on the battlefield, driven by some seemingly unnatural force in a pursuit of his enemy’s blood, transcending into a berserker state that no man could oppose.
These victories for the Rus saw Hardrada gain a fearsome reputation, with a band of 500 men pledging their loyalty to him. Hardrada and his band of mercenary warriors were now the most feared fighting force in Europe and, after securing the Kievan territories in 1033 CE, they set off in a quest for fame and riches heading south to Constantinople, the capital city of the fabulously wealthy Byzantine Empire. Arriving there in 1034 CE and immediately introducing himself to the Byzantine Emperor Michael IV, Hardrada and his men were immediately employed in the Emperor’s Varangian Guard, an elite fighting force controlled directly by the ruler. In theory, the Varangian Guard were supposed to simply protect the Emperor, but due to Hardrada’s desire for battle he was soon fighting on almost every front of the empire.
From Arab pirates in the Mediterranean to rebel forces amassed in Sicily and onto Arab strongholds throughout Asia Minor, Hardrada became the scourge of any Byzantine enemy. He was deployed like a rampaging bull on the battlefield, one that could seemingly not be killed in combat no matter how far the odds were stacked in his opponents’ favour. Returning back to Constantinople in 1041, Hardrada was now famed not just for his battle prowess, but also for his immense wealth, with almost seven years worth of plunder being amassed into a vast fortune that rivalled that of many kings. Indeed, Hardrada had raided so much that he had to send large portions of his loot back to Yaroslav for safe keeping – no boat was capable of carrying the sheer weight of the bountiful precious metals and jewels.
While Hardrada’s position under the Byzantine Emperor Michael IV was unassailable, with the Varangian Viking chief being highly praised for his deeds, upon the Emperor’s death in December of 1041 CE he quickly fell out of favour, becoming caught up in the middle of a war of succession. Realising that his position was never going to be same again, Hardrada escaped a now turbulent Constantinople just months later, returning by boat through the Black Sea to the Kievan Rus. Upon returning to a rapturous welcome from Yaroslav, Hardrada promptly married the latter’s daughter Ellisif and, for a short time, settled down in Kievan capital, engaging in little combat and remaining in the Rus for a further three years.
However, as the days and years dripped by, Hardrada was still tormented by his defeat at Sticklestad. He hadn’t set foot in his native Norway for almost 15 years and, despite his vast riches and subsequent victories, was haunted by the legacy left to him by his ancestors. Norway, he decided, must be returned once more to Norwegian hands. Setting forth from Novgorod in early 1045 CE, Hardrada journeyed back to the country of his birth, arriving in Sweden once more later on in the year. Here, Hardrada received excellent news: Norway was already back in Norwegian hands, with the illegitimate son of Olaf, Magnus the Good, sitting securely on the throne. Apparently, Cnut the Great’s sons had abandoned Hardrada’s much-loved Norway, and were currently fighting for control of England.
Hardrada set off immediately to Norway and, after arriving in 1046 CE and negotiating with Magnus directly, struck a deal that he would joint rule the country in exchange for half of his immense wealth. For the next two years, both Magnus and Harald ruled Norway, holding separate courts and rarely meeting. Hardrada now had everything he could want, owning much land, ruling his country and being fabulously wealthy too. However, after two years of supposedly living an ideal life, the Viking blood within Hardrada’s veins called once more, leading him into a campaign of revenge against Denmark for the death of his brother and the pillaging of his ancestral lands. As such, in 1048 CE Hardrada plundered Jutland, pillaged and burned Hedeby – the most important Danish trade centre in the entire country – and launched a colossal naval assault on the Danish royal pretender Sweyn Estridsson. This battle was the infamous Battle of Nisa, and saw Hardrada lead 300 ships against Sweyn in a conflict that left many ships on both sides ‘empty’.
Despite defeating Sweyn at Nisa and successfully launching multiple Viking raids on Denmark over the next six years, Hardrada never did take the Danish throne, and due to lack of finance was forced to begrudgingly declare peace with him in 1064 CE. Now recognising that he would never reclaim the Danish throne as his own, Hardrada shifted his attentions towards another rich and historic land: England. England had been controlled by Cnut the Great’s son Harthacnut until 1042, when he died childless. As such, Edward the Confessor had crowned himself king in his absence and proceeded to rule the island nation for over 20 years. When Hardrada heard in early 1066 CE that Edward had died on 5 January, he immediately decided to launch one more glorious Viking conquest. Now 50, Hardrada mush have knew that his time on Earth was coming to an end and, before he passed on to the afterlife to meet his hallowed ancestors, he needed to succumb once more to the call of his blood.
For the native English who witnessed the approach of 300 longships and 15,000 men on 8 September 1066 CE in north-east England, it must have felt like observing the coming of the apocalypse. The force was one of the greatest Viking armies ever to be assembled, and if unopposed would bring the nation to its knees. Stepping forth on English soil, Hardrada could taste the coming war, and after just 12 days he was not to be disappointed, with a 5,000-strong subsidiary English force crushed at the Battle of
Fulford – see the ‘Three ruthless victories’ boxout for more information. Striding through the English dead, finally back in his element after years of inactivity and luxury, little did Hardrada know that this was to be his last victory. Just five days later, his army was surprised by the fierce force of the now English King Harold Godwinson, who arched over 180 miles in four days to meet with the Viking warlord at the Battle of Stamford Bridge. It was a battle that would end Hardrada – for a step-by-step account of the battle, please see the ‘Hardrada’s last hurrah’ boxout – and, as history shows, have a profound effect on the course of England and Europe going forward.
Mere weeks after defeating Hardrada at Stamford Bridge, Godwinson himself would too be defeated by the Norman prince William, in large part due to troop exhaustion from the combat and enforced marching too and from York. As such, William became William the Conqueror, and instigated a centuries-long period of Norman rule over England, radically transforming its economy, language, architecture, law and education. Indeed, by the time the Norman presence in England had dissipated, the medieval age had long since transformed into the Renaissance, and its new, intoxicating culture, religion and science had swept away much of Europe’s once-strong Viking presence. When Harald Hardrada fell on the battlefield in England, it was more than just the flame of one great life being extinguished; it would prove to be the death of the last Viking warrior king.
Hardrada’s Lineage
Great great grandfather Harald Fairhair 850 – 932 CE
Noted by many historians to be the first King of Norway, Fairhair became a legendary figure during the Viking Age, with his deeds relayed in numerous epic sagas. He supposedly won many battles against Norwegian opponents on his way to becoming the country’s ruler, and famously had anywhere between 11 to 20 sons.
Great grandfather/grandfather Halfdan Sigurdsson of Hadafylke 935 – 995 CE
Little is known about Hardrada’s grandfather, other than that he was supposedly Halfdan Sigurdsson, the alleged son of King Sigurd Hrise of Norway, Hardrada’s great grandfather. Both Hrise’s and Halfdan’s lineage is unconfirmed, with only information as passed down from Icelandic sagas mentioning their link to Harald.
Father - Sigurd Syr 970 – 1018 CE
According to Icelandic sagas, Syr was a prudent and modest man who was known for hands-on approach to the management of his lands and properties. Records also indicate that he was a wealthy man, and that in 998 CE, chose to be baptised with his wife into the Christian faith.
Nephew - Magnus Olafsson 1024 CE – 1047 CE
At times both King of Norway and King of Denmark, Hardrada’s nephew Magnus garnered the nickname ‘Magnus the Good’. He was crowned King of Norway at 11 and King of Denmark at 18, ruling both lands until his mysterious death aged 23. Upon his death the kingdoms were split, with Hardrada taking the Norwegian crown, and Sweyn Estridsson the Danish Crown.
War of Words
While it is true that Hardrada’s reign was characterised by raiding, war and blood, he was also reportedly a sound diplomat and economist, and used his skills to bring a period of stability to Norway when much of Scandinavia was in turmoil. Two of the most notable examples of the king’s ability to expand his empire by words rather than axe are, firstly, his arrangement of new international trade routes and deals – a decision that brought in much wealth to Norway, with deals struck with the Kievan Rus and the vast Byzantine Empire – and, secondly, his dissemination of Christianity throughout the lands of Norway. Indeed, Hardrada had been converted early to Christianity, and upon becoming king of Norway he implemented many policies geared towards promoting it – be that through direct communication or via the construction of churches and the reparation of existing ones.
Three Ruthless Victories
Asia Minor campaign 1035 CE
Following his joining of the Byzantine Varangian Guard, Hardrada was dispatched to Asia Minor to put down a widespread piratical Arab uprising. A series of running battles continued in which Harald pushed the Arab forces back into mainland Asia. Following this initial success, Hardrada led a search and destroy operation deep into the Asia Minor, slaughtering thousands and taking over 80 Arab strongholds.
Battle of Ostrovo 1041 CE
While the leader of the Varangian Guard, Hardrada led the Byzantine forces against a Bulgarian army in Greece. In 1040 Peter Delyan, a native Bulgarian, led an uprising against Byzantine rule and declared himself king. Hardrada killed his foe, crushed his forces in battle and re-suppressed Bulgaria to such an extent that it remained under Byzantine rule for another 145 years.
Battle of Fulford 20 September 1066 CE
Hardrada’s last great victory, the Battle of Fulford saw him land in England and defeat northern Earls Edwin and Morcar of York in a battle involving over 15,000 soldiers. Harald’s tactical masterstroke was positioning his troops so that he could absorb the heavy English infantry charge before countering down his right flank and breaking the enemy’s lines. This victory won him the city of York.
Life after Harold
Despite a succession of other Norwegian and Scandinavian kings following Hardrada’s death, none of them truly had Viking in the blood, and the Viking Age ended as abruptly as it begun 300 years previously. Far from the war-loving, plundering and raiding mentality that won the Vikings almost all of northern Europe and 300 years of world history, these successors had neither the will nor the military might to maintain the Viking Age and their way of life with Scandinavian influence subsiding, and gradually becoming subsumed into wider European culture over the following decades.
For example, Hardrada’s successor was Magnus Haraldsson, who was left King regent upon Harold’s departure for England. However, after only reigning for three peaceful and uneventful years, he died of ringworm, leaving his brother Olaf III to take the crown, who proceeded to rule Norway till his death in 1093. However, while his rule was long, it was not Viking, with the king renouncing any offensive foreign policies and diverting funds to the defence of Norwegian borders. This pattern of defensive and peaceful ruler continued, with the only combat experienced being that of the civil wars of the 12th and 13th centuries.
The domination of Viking culture had come crashing down with Hardrada’s defeat at Stamford Bridge and Europe was now entering a new, more peaceful and civilised age. For Hardrada, in his last glorious stand, had being fighting on the razor’s edge of a more savage time, one that saw the lands, language and laws of Europe changed forever. The last true Viking king was dead, and with him, so too the Viking Age.