Harald Hardrada, The Last Viking King

Harald Hardrada was the epitome of badass, despite being born Christian, he lived his life as a true Viking. Born into the line descended from Harald ‘Fairhair’ the first king of Norway. At 15 he was exiled from his homeland after fighting in the battle of Stiklestad to put his brother, Olaf Haraldsson, on the throne of Norway. During the battle he and his brother engaged Cnut the Greats army of 14,400 with just 3,600 men.

After the defeat he suffered at Stiklestad and the death of his brother, Hardrada travelled south to Kievan Rus’ where he spent time recovering before serving in the military of Grand Prince Yaroslav the Wise. He rose to the rank of Captain before leaving for Constantinople where he served under three different emperors of the Byzantine empire, all married to the same woman, Empress Zoe mind you, in the Varangian Guard. His exploits took him across Europe, fighting on “nearly every frontier of the Empire” including fighting pirates in the Mediterranean Sea and Asia Minor, Sicily, Jerusalem, and Bulgaria. By 1035 he was considered the leader of the Varangian Guard and served in campaigns to push the Arab armies from Anatolia, during which he took part in the capture of EIGHTY Arab strongholds.

One account of Hardrada’s conquests tells of how he captured an enemy fort by faking his own death, and having his men ask to bury him with a “proper Christian” rights within the keep, and after being taken inside he burst from his coffin, setting about slaughtering the defenders with his men.

In Sicily Hardrada fought against the Saracens where he captured four towns alongside other notable badasses including William Iron Arm and Michael Dokeianos the Catepan of Italy. And despite initial success, the betrayal of William Iron Arm eventual drove him from Sicily and back to Byzantine where civil unrest was brewing. Despite the uncertainty in Constantinople, Hardrada was assigned another campaign, this time to Bulgaria, led the Varangian guard to quell the Bulgarian uprising led by the illegitimate Emperor Peter Delyan, at the Battle of Ostrovo, fighting in war earned Hardrada the nick name Bulgar-Burner.

By the time Hardrada had his fill of pillaging the Mediterranean he had acquired a personal fortune,  a fortune that he decided to put to use retaking his family throne and becoming the King of Norway, the Byzantine Empire wasn’t done with him yet, his exploits had caught the eye of Michael V, the current Emperor, Zoe’s third husband, who, while embroiled in a civil war with his wife,  over the throne of Byzantine, imprisoned him after he proposed to marry the Empresses niece, though the reports vary. It was that, defiling a noble woman, defrauding the Emperor of his treasure, or murder, who knows with Vikings? But it wouldn’t be for long, the Varangian guard who remained loyal to Empress Zoe freed Hardrada, and he joined the Empress, and in the end dragged Michael V from his sanctuary and blinded him, before exiling the would be Emperor to a monastery. The Heroic actions of Hardrada did not go un noticed by Empress Zoe, who is said to have fallen in love with him, forbidding him to leave, but not even the lust of one of the most powerful woman in the world could sway the Viking, and he fled into the north, little heartbreaker you.

After fleeing the Byzantine Empire Hardrada returned to Kievan Rus’ where he married the daughter of Grand Prince Yaroslav the Wise, and granddaughter of the Swedish King Olaf Skötkonung, Ellisif in what is assumed to be marriage arranged when Hardrada was last in Kievan Rus’. Yaroslav then went on to invade the Byzantine Empire, with some valuable intel from his new son in law. Hardrada was not interested in the Byzantine anymore though, and the Viking set his eyes on the Throne of Norway, His throne by rights.

When Hardrada returned to Norway, he found his throne occupied by the King of Denmark and Norway Magnus the Good, the illegitimate son of his late brother Olaf, after Cnut the Great’s sons had abandoned the conquest to fight for England. But despite the relationship he had to the would be King, Hardrada saw the throne as his and set about his campaign. He joined his forces with the Swedish King Anund and his nephew Sweyn and set about raiding the Danish coast, hoping to show weakness in King Magnus and sway them to his side. The raids drew the attention of Magnus, who gathered his armies, however in a curious move Magnus did not fight his Uncle, instead proposing a joint rule of Norway, an offer that Hardrada accepted.

The joint rule of Magnus and Hardrada was not meant to be, and to the delight of Hardrada his young nephew Magnus passed just a year later, childless, and though he named Hardrada’s former ally Sweyn as the next King of Denmark, it wasn’t long before the Viking King announced himself as the one true King of Denmark and Norway, gathering his army to take what he saw as rightfully his.

This has been part one of our look at Harald Hardrada, the last true Viking King, keep an eye out for part two to see just how far Hardrada’s reach was.