Its wisdom, after the Viking fashion, this Thors Day! It is an old custom for the wisest to give way. -Saga of Harald Hardrada Magnus and Harald are having a spat. Magnus was the son of St. Olaf, and the much-beloved king of Norway at the time. Harald was a rapidly rising jarl and warlord that Magnus had been smart enough to ally himself with. They were in the process of conquiering Denmark when they went to collect a levy in Norway. Harld had sailed into harbor first, and had taken the best berth. Magnus, arriving later, was feeling pushy and presented his ship in battle array to intimidate Harald into moving. This was a blatant dominance play, and was specifically designed to demosntarte to the community that Magnus was the greater jarl. Now, if you remember anything Ive ever said about Harald Hardrada, you already realize that this was spectacularly stupid. Harald, however, displayed both wisdom and wit with todays response. It was a subtle jibe about the silliness of Magnus behavioir, and presented Harald in the mold of Odin: the wiser of the two. As you know, Harald had designs on the throne, because Harald had designs on EVERY throne. That was sort of his thing. Harald was a bold and violent man, but, he was also patient and crafty. He knew two things tha twere important: Magnus was very old, and had a well-established regime in place. Confrontation would have meant a lengthy civil war and a disgrutnled populace. Instead of battle, Harald waited. After they conquered Denmark, Magnus died in his sleep the subsequent winter. This left most of Scandinavia (which had been united under Magnus) without a leader. Harald stepped up and said, I am king now. And at that point nobody siad nuthin about it. This was likely due to the enormous army at his back and a reputation as the nasteist fighter in the world (quite literally). Neither open warfare nor Holmganga was likely to keep Harald off the throne, and the jarls knew it. Sometimes giving way is the best route to victory. Courage without wisdom is a recipe for a glorious death and utter failure. If the goal is what is important, and if victory is the goal, we would be well-advised to look to Haralds example. The next time someone is getting pushy, think about the endgame, and ask yourself: What woudl Thor do?
Posted on: Thu, 09 Oct 2014 12:16:34 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015