THE SAGA OF HARALD SIGURDSSON (Norway 1015 - Stamford Bridge, England, 1066), also known as Hardrada ( = hard or strong ruler). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is a story, told in Norwegian sagas, but true, which has always fascinated me - a Norwegian royal prince, losing a dynastic struggle, forced to flee to (Viking) Kievan Russ at 15, becoming a warrior leading his own band, moving to Micklegard (Constantinople) as a Varangian (Viking warrior of the Imperial bodyguard). After fighting with the Byzantine army all over the then Empire (Asia Minor, the Holy Lands, Sicily and Bulgaria) he returns to Norway with the fortune he had amassed as a mercenary, to claim his throne in Norway. Before leaving Constantinople he had been imprisoned, having been involved in a dynastic dispute. Escaping from prison with outside help, he boards his two drakkars ( =Viking ship) with his companions. Only Haralds vessel manages to surmount the chain over the entrance to the Bosporus when, coming against the chain with all aboard in the stern, the vessels prow rises up, then with everybody going to the prow, the vessel goes over the chain. Going back to Kievan Russ through the rivers, he the sets off to Norway to claim the crown, which he wins and reigns 20 years. When the English King Edward the Confessor died, both Harald and William Duke of Normandy considered themselves heirs to the English throne, which had gone to Harold Godwinson. Both invaded England, Harold Godwinson defeating Hardrada at the battle of Stamford Bridge in Northumbria. Harold then marched south to face the other invader, the Duke of Normandy, and the rest is history.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 22:30:53 +0000
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