The Last Great Viking: Harald Hardrada’s Brutal Rise And Fall

As a boy, Harald reportedly declared he’d be king one day. Now, I can already hear you saying, that’s a very ambitious thing for a little kid to say. But in Harald’s case, it wasn’t foolish arrogance; he was actually going to make it big. Harald’s two older brothers were more than happy running the family farm; he, on the other hand, had bigger dreams. He was also a very rebellious boy. Harald was the youngest half-brother of King Olaf II (later canonized as a saint). Harald was born in about 1015.

Following Olaf’s death, Harald barely escaped with his life, suffering wounds at the disastrous Battle of Stiklestad in which he had participated at only 15 years of age (in 1030) in an effort to help his half-brother, Olaf, reclaim the throne of Norway from the Danish king, Cnut. According to sagas, the battle took place partly under a total solar eclipse.

Harald fled to the court of Yaroslav the Wise in Kyivan Rus. Yaroslav was in need of good military leaders, and, recognising Harald’s talent, he appointed him a captain in his army. Yaroslav had no particular tie to Harald beyond need, but he recognized talent when he saw it.

Harald had a personal motivation for wanting to make his fortune. While in Rus, he asked for the hand of Princess Elisiv, daughter of Yaroslav, but was denied. He was charming, but not rich. With no land or fortune to speak of, he was just not a suitable match. He left Rus intending to become very, very wealthy.

He traveled to Constantinople in search of a fortune. With hundreds of men in tow, he signed up with the elite military unit known as the Varangian Guard upon landing in the Byzantine Empire’s buzzing capital. This was the emperor’s elite bodyguard unit, and its members were serious heavy hitters. It was made up mostly of Viking warriors. Their voracious drinking habits earned them the nickname the emperor’s wineskins, and the warriors were armed with intimidating two-handed axes.

Six-foot Viking axes met Greek fire, a medieval version of napalm that burned boats, and it made for an awesome showdown. It all started in 1035 when Harald saw battle against Arab pirates in the Med. From then on, he saw combat whenever called to and was apparently so effective as a fighter that he became one of the highest-ranking commanders in the Guard.

Harald took a dip in the River Jordan, where Christ was himself baptized. One of the most legendary episodes of his travels in the Holy Land was his cleansing of the desert highways of bandits who preyed on trading caravans, and this all while escorting a Byzantine delegation to Jerusalem.

It was during this campaign that Harald went from a broke exile to a wealthy man. In 1038, Byzantines invaded Sicily, attempting to retake it from Muslim rule. As he had in other conflicts, Harald led the Varangians into battle. In doing so, he found himself fighting alongside Norman mercenaries, as the allies captured several Sicilian towns along the way, no doubt filling his pockets with loot.

By the tally of his court poet (a skald who recorded his exploits), Harald had seen about 18 major battles during his Byzantine period. During his service he also collected official titles and honors, as well as unofficial monikers such as Bulgar-burner, which he is said in later Norse sagas to have earned after fighting a Bulgarian uprising in 1041. Now you don’t get nicknames like that from being gentle.

Young Emperor Michael V ordered the powerful Empress Zoe to be arrested and sent to a nunnery. Zoe’s exile caused an enraged rebellion, in response to which Harald and his Varangians offered their support.

Later saga accounts claim that Harald took part in the blinding of Michael V, who fared poorly in the revolt, being dragged from his hiding place and blinded before he was sent into monastic exile.

And of course, Harald made a fortune. He sent much of it to Yaroslav in Kyiv for safekeeping. There’s a tradition in Byzantine history, which we get from Norse sources, known as palace-plunder; when an emperor died, the members of the Varangian Guard were allowed to claim a share of his portable wealth. Three emperors fell from power during Harald’s service — some dying, one deposed and blinded — and each time, Harald made sure he claimed his share of the loot.

But Harald had made up his mind to go home. The sagas tell this most dramatic of sea escapes: the Byzantines stretched huge iron chains across the harbor entrance; the emperor, unwilling to let such a prize walk away, denied Harald permission to sail; Harald, determined to go, sailed his own ship straight over the chains, and in the ensuing collision, his ship cleared the chain, but the second ship following him split apart on the very same obstacle!

Ever go through the motions of being filthy rich only so you can impress your high school crush? Well, in Kyiv, circa 1045, Harald returned home and, having amassed wealth in three empires, promptly married Princess Elisiv, whom he had wanted for years. Wild. The patient suitor returns home filthy rich, and this time, he’s a worthy match.

Magnus was Harald’s nephew. In 1046, Harald sailed back to a chaotic Scandinavia, where Magnus ruled a Norway still unsettled from years of conflict. After much threatening and scheming, they came to an agreement that Magnus would share the throne with Harald if Harald shared his enormous wealth. Would you not?

Under this arrangement, Magnus died in 1047, leaving Harald as sole king of Norway. Harald was a far cry from the wandering mercenary he had once been, when he was out chasing a crown and a pot of gold wherever they were to be found throughout the known world. He consolidated his power in Norway to make sure no one questioned his rule.

Not content with his kingdom alone in Norway, Harald raided Denmark almost every year from 1048 to 1064, trying to incorporate it into his realm. During this time, he burned the rich trading community of Hedeby and won the Battle of Niså (1062), the largest naval battle of the Viking Age. In the end, however, Harald failed to conquer Denmark, and after extensive destruction, he eventually made peace with the Danes.

And with no other countries to raid, he turned his considerable violence on his own people. Heavy taxes were levied and defiant nobles put down, some by his own hand. It was during his reign at home that he earned the nickname for which he is most remembered, not the lofty titles like the Thunderbolt of the North, but rather, more prosaically, Harald Hardrada, or ‘hard ruler.’

In 1066, banished Tostig Godwinson, brother of England’s King Harold, came to Harald in need of military assistance to invade his own country. Harald, eager for adventure and hungry for new lands, jumped at the chance. His army of about 300 longships and thousands of warriors crossed into England and defeated a northern army in the Battle of Fulford, after which Harald took the city of York.

Many point to his death as the end of the Viking Age. On September 25th, 1066, King Harold of England’s forces surprised Harald’s men at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, England. In the fierce melee, an arrow caught Harald, supposedly not wearing armor, in the throat, and the last great Viking was slain. The sagas say Harald was denied but seven feet of English earth, for he was a taller man than most.

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