Dr. Wayne Bartlett

And he himself mentions how striking they were as physical specimens.

Tall, often the stereotypical blonde, blue-eyed kind of thing.

Very, very standout figures.

Made even more standout by things like their tattoos and their sharpened teeth and things like this.

So there is some sort of indirect evidence to say that the Scandinavians generally made a striking impression because of their physical appearance on others who came across them.

But there are certainly also accounts which say Harold was just like this stunningly handsome, tall, blonde, striking figure.

So very much, as I say, a Hollywood idol of the 11th century.

Well, the accounts of the fighting in Sicily are particularly interesting.

So he was there along with another prominent leader, a guy called Georgios Moniakos, who was a Greek or a Byzantine, we just say.

The Byzantines being generally called Greeks at the time.

And they had a very much of a love-hate relationship.

They were always trying to get one up on each other and show who the top dog was.

So the saga accounts describe Harold as being there and being heavily involved in the capture of four major towns on Sicily.

Unfortunately, we don't have a detailed description of where those towns were, but if you look at the descriptions of one of the sieges he was involved in, it was probably Syracuse, which is down on the southern part of Sicily.

So he's heavily involved in the fighting there as a leader, heavily involved in this ongoing game of one-upmanship with Georgios, which would continue for a number of years.

But where Harold really comes to the fore here is not just for his martial prowess, though that's undoubtedly there,

but also if you like his native cunning and his eye for a trick to try and capture places which are being stubborn to capture by assault.

So the saga writers really bring out this thing about Harold as being a really clever, crafty kind of figure.

And I think that's an important thing to emphasize because, yes, a Viking leader was certainly expected to be a great warrior, and Harold was absolutely that.

But he was also expected to be something more than that, too.