King Harald's Saga: Harald Hardradi of Norway, (Penguin classics)

by Snorri Sturluson

Book Overview

This compelling Icelandic history describes the life of King Harald Hardradi, from his battles across Europe and Russia to his final assault on England in 1066, less than three weeks before the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0007IYF92
• ISBN13: 9789993096634
• Release Date: December 1965
• Publisher: Penguin
• Weight: 1.01 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Politics is a dirty business

This saga is a series of wars, mercenaries, plundering, raiding, razing, destructions (`islanders lost their lives there, flames devoured their houses'), murders, revenges, jealousies, cruelties, maiming, confiscations, taxations by an autocratic and vindictive king (`I kill without compunction'). But in the end, `birds of carrions follow to feast on valiant seamen.' All in all, this tale is not a very beautiful picture of one of the masters of mankind. Snorri Sturluson wrote a unique and original (a mixture of poetry and prose) historical document. He builds fluently the historical events into a saga. But at the end he is very hard for his hero: `He was brutal to his enemies ... he was exceptionally greedy for power and valuable possessions ...he went to war for fame and power and he forced everyone he could into submission.' His ultimate fate was well deserved: `and so he was killed in another king's land.' Not to be missed by all lovers of world literature.

Once we had Kings that died on the battlefield

Highly recomended! The only disapointment this saga brings is that because Harald Hardradi lived after the conversion to Christianity in Norway (at least by the upper classes) so you don't get the glimpses into how the Norse Heathen religion was practiced like you do in nearly all the other sagas. Other than that this is one of the better sagas. You get entertaining recounts of Haralds wild adventerous life and his political manuverings and skullduggery. Also this is a source for info on my favorite year/event in history to read about, the year 1066 in English history where you had the Kings of three major European nations fighting, with two of them dying on the battlefield, for the Kingship of England. Can you imagine any of our cowardly so called leaders ever putting themselves in the line of fire like these guys did?

The Last Great Viking Ruler

1066, a year of destiny! King Harald Hardrada invaded northern England, to engage Harald Godwinson in battle. However, overconfidence led to a series of avoidable tactical errors on behalf of the Vikings. The Anglo-Saxons repelled the Viking invasion, but many Norsemen earned their place in Valhalla that day. King Harald was one of them. Harald Hardrada was killed by a fatal arrow-wound to the neck. Harald Godwinson rushed his army south to Hastings, in southern England to meet another threat from across the sea: the Normans under Duke William. That was where Harald Godwinson fell to his own fatal arrow, and his brave Englishmen were finally overcome. One considers, what if Harald of Norway had won the first engagement? What would the cultural signifigance be? Imagine much more Scandinavian influence on the English language, rather than the influence of French! Harald Hardrada lived an epic life! This was a time when great deeds of arms were determining the fate of nations! Forced to flee Norway after his older half-brother Olaf (Saint Olaf) fell at the battle of Stiklestad, Harald sought asylum in Russia. Where other fugitive nobles would have diminished into obscurity, Harald strove to regain his status. He served for a time in the elite Varangian Guard of the Byzantine Empire, gaining experience and wealth fighting in the Mediterrenean and Middle-east. He eventually returned to Norway, and fought for his throne. As king, his rule was harsh, because enemies had to be kept in check...or destroyed outright. His last great venture was to attempt to conquer England, and forge a northern empire. However, this was not to be. With King Harald's death, the Viking Age came to an end, but what an age it was!

Perfect introduction to the Sagas

On a long car trip, my very cool 16-year-old son finally gave in to my urgings and started grudgingly to read this book (the only one in the car). After grumbling his way through the first page or so, he became completely caught up in it and started to exclaim aloud: "Whoa! Listen to this! Harald has just put out the Byzantine emperor's eyes!" "He just threw all the prisoners overboard so that the pursuing fleet would have to stop and rescue them!" "He just told the enemy earl to 'kiss my thin-lipped axe'!"The saga starts with the fifteen-year-old Harald fleeing for his life through the Norwegian forest after the battle that killed his older brother, King Olaf (Saint Olaf). Harald is a historical figure, and if one-tenth of the stories about him are true, he was a towering leader and villain. The translation is wonderful, the language is vivid, and the emotions and intelligence of these eleventh-century figures are as modern as those of any story of our own times. I can't think of a better introduction to the world of the sagas.After this, read Njals Saga and Egils Saga!

An Exciting, if Spare, Tale of a Ruthless King

With all the adventure and action it presents, it's hard to fully grasp that this is no made-up tale (though it may contain some made-up elements), but rather a fairly down-to-earth recounting of the adventures of one of the last (some say THE last) true viking kings. Harald Hardrada (translated variously as "hard counsel" or "the ruthless") was certainly a pirate king par excellence. This saga is actually lifted out of the larger HEIMSKRINGLA (the Norse book of kings by Snorri Sturlasson). It records the flight and adventures of Harald Sigurdsson, brother of the deposed and slain King Olaf Haraldsson (known in Norwegian history as Olaf the Saint for his Christianizing ways but to his contemporaries as Olaf the Stout). Harald, a youth of 15 stands by his elder brother at Stiklstad, with a sword tied into his hands so he will not lose it in battle, but Olaf is finally brought down and Harald must flee with other survivors. Off they go across the Baltic to the country of the Slavs in what will some day be Russia and Harald makes his way down the sinuous river route from the viking stronghold of Holmgarth (which the Russians called Novgorod) to Kiev and then on to Constantinople where he wins a place in the Byzantine Emperor's Varangian Guard. (For unknown eytemological reasons, the Byzantines and nascent Russians called the people, whom we know as vikings in the west, Varangians.) In the land of the Byzantines Harald rises to prominence, being a man of great size (said to stand seven feet tall or thereabouts) and military accomplishments. He soon achieves captaincy of the Guard and the trust of the Byzantines, leading expedition after expedition against the Byzantines' enemies in the Mediterannean. He never loses a battle we are told and he spends a great deal of time besting the jealous Byzantine generals and officials. In the end he learns that his brother's son, Magnus, has been returned to his father's throne and Harald, after gaining much wealth for himself, quits Byzantium and passes again through the Russian lands to go home to Norway. There Harald persuades the young Magnus to share the throne with him and they become co-kings. But Magnus doesn't live long and dies from sickness (?) only a couple of years after Harald's return, leaving Harald the lone king of the restored Norway. Harald thereupon enters into a lengthy feud with the viking king of Denmark, Swein Ulfsson, who also believes he has a claim on Norway through his ancestor Cnut the Great, the son of the Danish King Swein Forkbeard. Cnut had forged a North Sea empire uniting the Danes, the Norse and the Saxon English but his empire did not outlast him. Now both Harald and Swein Ulfsson have fantasies of restoring it with themselves at its head. But while Harald invariably wins every sea battle with the hapless Swein, he is unable to take Denmark because the population remains loyal to Swein. In the end, the call (and wealth) of England proves greater for Harald than Swein's wi