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Chapter 1: What significant events led to Harald Hardrada's rise to power?
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Carrion birds picked at the corpses, competing with local people for the riches of the dead. Armbands were prized off, rings pocketed, metal and textiles recycled. Among the fallen, a king felled by an arrow. The fate of a kingdom decided by a single decisive battle. The year was 1066. But this battlefield was not Hastings. And the king who met his end was not a Godwinson.
We are in fact in Yorkshire in the aftermath of the Battle of Stamford Bridge. This was very much the end for King Harold Hardrada. Hardrada is so much more than just a bit player in one of the most dramatic years of British history, folks. He's sometimes called the last great Viking king. He was a legendary figure whose life reads like an epic drama.
He is, without a doubt, one of the greatest and most dramatic characters of European medieval history. known as the Hard Ruler, the Thunderbolt of the North. Giant in stature, Hardrada had fought his way from exile to empire, from the frozen north to the throne rooms of Byzantium and the arid battlefields of the Middle East. His prowess as a warrior made him both rich and powerful.
He claimed the hand of the daughter of the mighty Grand Prince of Kiev. He was a poet, he was a musician. He ruled Norway for two decades before he embarked on his fateful invasion of England in 1066. This is the story of a king who refused to disappear and a warrior whose almost peerless ambition and martial skill shook the medieval world. Joining the podcast is Dr. Wayne Bartlett.
He's the author of many history books on subjects as varied as the Titanic, Agincourt, Canute, and the Dam Busters. But he's also author of Thunderbolt of the North, Harold Hardrada, Viking King, which makes him the ideal person to talk us through the life of one of the most famous Viking warlords. Enjoy. Wayne, thanks for coming on the podcast. Pleasure.
Wayne, is Harold Edrada one of the greatest figures in European medieval history? I think we undersell him here in the UK.
I think he is very much underestimated in the UK in particular because our knowledge of Harold is mainly from 1066 from our perspective.
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Chapter 2: How did Harald Hardrada's early life shape his future ambitions?
The thing about Harold is he was a colossus of his time, and he traveled pretty much all over his known world, his known world being perhaps mainly Europe, Scandinavia, obviously, Britain, but also much further east as well, heavily involved in what we now call Russia, right down to Constantinople, as it was then, and Byzantium, even into the Middle East and Sicily. So he was involved in so much.
Yeah, truly a sort of global figure, really. Just remarkable. Tell me where this story begins. He's born in Norway.
He's born in Norway in around 1015 or 1016. Dates tend to be a little bit vague back then. But he was born in Rignarik, which is a kind of mountainous part of Norway. At that time, Norway and indeed all the Scandinavian countries, which we now know Denmark and Sweden as well,
had not quite reached the form they eventually took, but they were fairly well developed into nation states, something which had happened over the past 150 years or so. So yeah, born into a royal family effectively, and connected very much to some of the great names of Norwegian history, particularly Harald Finehair, the first Norwegian king. who lived about 100 years or so before him.
So very much connected to important people from day one, but really no one could have predicted quite how extraordinary his life would be.
Yeah, he's got sort of royal blood in his veins, but it was definitely not certain that he'd end up ruling over anything, was it? I mean, are there defined kingdoms here? Do they sort of come and go with each strongman's arrival and death, or is there something a bit more settled?
No, it's certainly still quite volatile. Although there were the outlines of what we think of as nation states there, because of the culture, the martial culture of the Viking epoch, it was really very unpredictable how long a king would be king, who would take his place when he died, all of this kind of thing. So it's very much a survivor of the fittest kind of environment.
So I think we should think of the basic outlines of a nation state being there, but very, very unpredictable. Every time a king died or every time a king was killed even, which was far from unknown, everything tended to go into the melting pot again. So there was absolutely no guarantee of anything when Harold was born, certainly not he'd be king of anything.
And in fact, the life story which we explore shows that he wasn't actually a king of anything until much later on in his life. And he had some fairly extraordinary adventures in getting there, but really, really no certainty about any kind of succession on his part whatsoever.
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Chapter 3: What role did Harald Hardrada play in the Byzantine Empire?
Their territories to gain wealth and fame are very much to the east, aren't they? And is that whole sort of world sucks in Harold now, does it?
Very much so. I think it's fair to say that Sweden is particularly associated with these voyages to the east. There are some exceptions. I mean, we know Swedish mercenaries were fighting with Canute in England, for example. But there being this long established tradition, if you like, of the Vikings from Sweden making their way across the Baltic
down some of the great river systems, the Volga, the Don, the Dnieper, places like this, right down eventually to the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. And they're basically establishing bases along some of these great rivers, trading centers, places where they could take some kind of refuge as well.
They're kind of heavily involved in the formation of very well-known places, particularly, for example, Kiev, in modern Ukraine, and they are helping to set up links between Scandinavia and the Middle East, as we would now call it, particularly even Muslim territories as far away as Baghdad.
And there's this trading exchange network going on with things like furs and amber and even slaves flowing from the Scandinavian north down into the Middle East. Vast quantities of silver in particular and spices and things like this making their way back the other way.
So I think you could almost think of these territories, which we call the land of the Rus, or Garthruiki to give it its precise name. You can almost think of this as being like the medieval equivalent of the Wild West in 19th century America. You know, not a lot in terms of centralized control, a lot of opportunism going on, a lot of violence, but also a lot of trading as well.
So a place where a young man like Harold could really start to establish his reputation and make his way in the world. So a place for adventurers. And Harold was certainly that.
And so if you look at Kiev, for example, you've got these ports, these fortresses on the river. They're sort of Scandinavian, people of Scandinavian origin. They're speaking languages that Harold can understand. And they're just surrounded on all sides by other sorts of people, by poles and people of the steppe. And everyone's just sort of fighting and trading and establishing settlements.
And Harold will pass from one sort of friendly hearth to another, will he?
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Chapter 4: What were the key battles that defined Harald Hardrada's military career?
In fact, famously at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, the other end of his life, Harold, the King of England, offered him seven feet of ground, of English ground as his kind of grave. So there's a very sort of direct reference to how big and striking he was there. At all the accounts we have with him, they do major on his physical strikingness.
But again, we have to be a little bit cautious here because Sagas tended to make, to give a modern equivalent, Hollywood idols of their leading figures. It's quite normal to say that Harold or whoever the subject matter at the time is, is the most handsome man ever. And, you know, he's a giant, all of these kind of things.
But very interestingly, there is a 10th century account by a guy called Ibn Fadlan, who was an Islamic ambassador from Baghdad, who saw the Rus firsthand. 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.
But he wasn't just acting. He was actually doing the business, wasn't he? I mean, you mentioned that he's serving as far as Sicily. There's some accounts here in Mesopotamia. Do we have any kind of reliable information about where he was fighting?
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,
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Chapter 5: How did Harald Hardrada's relationship with Yaroslav the Wise influence his journey?
And then in 1042, there's been a bit of a kind of power struggle going on for a year or so as a new emperor in place, Michael V. who is the adopted son of Zoe, the empress. But as soon as he becomes emperor, he turns on her, imprisons her, that kind of thing. So Michael proves to be a very unpopular and short-lived emperor. And in 1042 at Easter, there was this coup.
Harold, at the time, was supposedly locked up for various misdemeanors, possibly associated with his non-consummation of the relationship with Zoe, all kinds of other shenanigans. He's locked up in prison. And then during the riots that break out at Easter 1042, he escapes in the chaos, perhaps deliberately freed.
But what then happens really is part of the Harold story, which is really striking because the emperor, Michael V, is deposed along with his main lieutenant, Constantine. Michael and Constantine are captured and they're hauled out into the streets where they're both ritually blinded. And in the sagas at least, the suggestion is that it's actually Harold who does the blinding.
So, you know, he's right in the middle of these events. But the chaos is still ongoing. There's like power struggles then to see who should be the next emperor. And during this particular chaos, Harold manages to escape from Constantinople on a ship and make his way back to Kiev. So very dramatic set of events where Harold is really right at the middle of things.
And is the hold of his ship full of the booty that he'd acquired over years and years of serving the emperor?
Well, apparently from what we can make out, Harold had been very, very good at sending back wealth that he'd acquired already during his nearly 10 years of service with the emperor. So he's, if you like, been taking out an insurance policy here. He's been sending as much wealth as he can get out back to Kiev. With the result, the time he does get back there, he's already a very rich man.
In all probability, because of the chaotic events in which he left Constantinople, I don't think he would have taken a lot with him because the primary consideration was to get people, his supporters and obviously himself away. I'm sure there might have been some portable wealth going with them. But the main focus was, hey, let's just get out of here as quickly as we can.
And in fact, there were two ships that left Constantinople at the same time. And Constantinople at the time was protected by this huge chain which stretched across the waters of the Golden Horn, stopping people from coming in and out. And Harold comes up with this trick, very much in keeping with his overall persona, but he gets all his people on one of the ships and
And when they reach the chain, he gets them all to run to the front of the ship when the ship is resting on the chain with the extent, if you like, it almost topples over onto the other side of the chain. So they're able to make good their escape that way. The other ship with him, unfortunately, tried the same thing, but it didn't work. And the ship capsized.
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Chapter 6: What were the consequences of the Battle of Stamford Bridge for Harald Hardrada?
Without getting off that boat, pretty much, you can make your way all the way up to Kiev, right? Through the Black Sea, up the rivers of what is now Ukraine and back to Kiev.
Yeah.
yeah i mean interestingly along these river systems there were various narrows which they had to negotiate and quite often they would have to literally take their boats out of the water and carry them around because the water was not deep enough or it was too rocky to actually sail them across so
This is one of the more extraordinary things, I think, of the Viking story, though actually you do see it in, for example, in Celtic stories in Scotland as well. But from time to time where there's a piece of land which is blocking the passage for whatever reason.
The Vikings would literally lift their boats out of the water, carry them for a mile or so, and then plonk them back in on a piece of water on the other side. So they're kind of like these narrows that they have to negotiate. And that's part of the extraordinary story of the Rus. They did have these ships, which were amazing, fairly shallow seaboard.
So that made them fairly useful in river systems. As you say, they had steering awls, which they could actually take off when they needed to. But from time to time, they would literally carry the ships around obstacles before depositing them back in the water again.
And he gets back to Kiev and there, well, tell me about his romantic entanglements there that you alluded to earlier.
Yeah.
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Chapter 7: What strategies did Harald Hardrada use to claim the English throne?
So part of the story is that when he first reached Kiev, all those years before he went to Constantinople, he became attracted to the daughter of Yaroslav the Wise, a young lady called Elisif or Elizabeth, as we might anglicize it. And it's a bit like an ancient Greek legend, really.
When he asked for the hand of Eliseth, Yaroslav says, well, young man, you don't really have a lot to offer me at the moment. Go out and prove yourself, undertake all these adventures, make me rich, that kind of thing. And if you achieve all of that and you come back, then yes, you can marry my daughter.
so this is kind of what happens now Harold comes back he's been very good as I said in sending back wealth to Kiev of which he would have I'm sure generously contributed directly to Yaroslav some of it he certainly proved himself he's shown himself now to be a really outstanding military leader somebody that Yaroslav would very much want as a prominent general in his armies and
So having a bit like the ancient Greek hero proved himself, Harold is now worthy to marry Eliseth, which he duly does. Having kept his side of the bargain, Yaroslav now responds in kind.
Interesting. So he gets his girl after years of planning. That's amazing. But he doesn't want to spend any more time in Kiev, does he? He's keen to get home.
The thing is that there is this underlying plot line, if you like, in the sagas about Harold, that he always wants to be king. It's his destiny to be king. And he wants to go home. He wants to become king in his own country. So by now he's probably about 30-ish, 30 years old. That's pretty much in the prime of life back then when life expectancy was generally a bit shorter than it is now.
So he now feels that it's his moment of destiny and it's now time to go back home and become King of Norway.
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Chapter 8: How did Harald Hardrada's life mark the end of the Viking Age?
The only problem with that is there's already a king of Norway in the shape of his nephew, Magnus, the illegitimate son of Harold's half-brother, Olaf. So there is no kingdom to inherit. But there are other Scandinavian territories which are also attractive outside of Norway, in particular Denmark.
Denmark and Norway have always had a fairly complicated history, and at various times Denmark's owned large parts of Norway and vice versa. So he kind of thinking as a good opportunist, well, ideally, I'd like to be king of Norway. But hey, that may not be immediately possible. But there might be something else for me here. So he then makes his way back north, originally to Sweden.
Again, you know, a nice bolt hole sort of on the sidelines a bit where he could make his plans closer to home before he then introduces himself to affairs in Denmark. He now finds himself caught up in a three-way fight, basically, involving himself, his nephew Magnus, and the current claimant to the King of Denmark, a guy called Sven.
For a few years now, there's this ongoing kind of menage a trois in a military sense, where Harold is quite cleverly or deviously, depending on which way you want to put it, taking sides in this dispute and changing sides from side to side at any given moment, depending on what's to his immediate best advantage. So this is what he does. He goes back. He's on the lookout for an opportunity.
And it's really Denmark initially, which is the battleground by which he starts to stake his claims to be a Scandinavian king.
So he's got lots of cash, he's got followers, so he can be a military presence straight away. I'm sure because of success, you attract more followers.
Yeah, that's very much the case. And I think he's also seeing himself as the guy who holds the balance of power in Scandinavia. Because Sven, for example, the guy who wants to be king, who is king by some measures in Denmark, he's an amazingly persistent character. He keeps getting beaten in battle. Down but not out, I think, is the best way of putting it.
He's never quite eliminated from the struggle completely. He goes away to lick his wounds, again, quite often in Sweden, which has this nice kind of neutral position, recovers his strength, goes back, attacks Denmark again. Magnus, in the meantime, is quite often being successful in Denmark. But again, he's not knocking Sven out of the fight.
So Harold sees his role, I think, as being someone who holds the balance of power, but he also sees that as a means to an end. By deploying that balance of power in a particular way, he can strengthen his own position and gain his own personal advantage from that. And he does that really quite astutely by, as I say, occasionally changing sides when he thinks the moment is right.
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