The Last Viking - The Campaigns of Harald Hardrada [FULL DOCUMENTARY]

the saga of harold hardrada is an incredible one he was a true vikings viking the son of a noble exiled after battle at just 15 who founded a mercenary company embarked on wild adventures served as a ranching guard to the byzantines kidnapped their princess blinded their emperor and escaped with enough gold and glory to forge an empire that stretched across the north sea gather around the mead hall and let a sing of his tale [Music] you can learn more about the lives of the vikings through our sponsor magellan tv i highly recommend their series warriors way which does an excellent job humanizing the soldiers of various civilizations including the mongols scots celts romans and more the episode sigurd bjornsson viking exile in particular gives you a great window into the daily life of medieval scandinavia with excellent historical reenactments to boot documentary videos like this are added weekly to magellan tv which already has a collection of over 3000 videos to choose from among categories of history science nature space and more you can watch sigurd bjornsson viking exile or any documentary that catches your interest by clicking the link in the description below or going to try.magellantv.com invicta to get a one month free trial enjoy a brief note on historiography and context will be needed before we begin for starters it must be pointed out that the 11th century life of harold hardraida is a patchwork of real and mythical tales cobbled together from various sources some hard facts tie aspects of the story to reality but modern scholarship cast doubt on the more fanciful aspects of his adventures for instance one of our most complete sources on his life comes from the hymn screengla written by the poet historian snorri struhlsen about 160 years after his death there is speculation that stories from this and other sagas borrow from or amalgamate the deeds of other figures while keeping on top of this layers of narrative flourish which while entertaining are of dubious authenticity even the name hadreta is just an anglicized epithet originally meaning something in norse like the ruthless or harsh ruler which was coined by his political opponents in the late 13th century sagas in reality he probably went by the name harold fairhair or harold sigurdsson all this to say is that you should take our tail today with a healthy grain of salt but that's what legends are made of and so with that being said let's get started at the time the lands of denmark norway and england had been united as a grand north sea empire by swain fortbeard however the death of this conqueror in 1014 once again splintered the realm casting his heirs against one another according to tradition harold was born around 1015 the following year to sigurd seer a norwegian petty king of the upland region of ringoreich the family was quite well-off politically as harold's older brother olof ii currently set atop the throne of norway following his victory at the battle of nesschar in 1016. thus a young harold was inspired by the great men of his youth reportedly displaying a fierce spirit of ambition this would serve him well in the days ahead across the seas knut the great had slowly been piecing back together the northly empire of his father in the summer of 1015 he had re-invaded england finally claiming victory in 1017. the following year he took the crown of denmark making further moves to fight the swedes and consolidate his rule in 1028 this involved sailing to norway and bullying olaf ii off the throne however in 1030 this half-brother of harold would return to claim what was his a move that culminated in the battle of stigelstad here olaf fueled a force of some 3 000 men made up of his remaining loyal troops and new allied contingents apparently a 15 year old harold had even gathered 600 men from his father's lands who now took their position on the right against them stood a host roughly twice their size made up of wealthy farmers rival nobles and the bondsmen loyal to or bought off by knute the great regardless of this fact olaf's army bravely charged downhill slamming into the host from there the battle devolved into a bloody and confused melee as the battle lines blurred and the ground ran slick with blood overhead the sun darkened with an eclipse casting the entire struggle into shimmering shadow according to the sagas olaf received a series of severe wounds culminating with a final spear thrust through his belly and a sword blow to the throat with this loss the battle quickly dissolved into a route howard ii was wounded in the action but was thankfully saved by the warrior rogenwald who had been tasked with protecting the prince's life and now dragged him through the forest to safety the following verse has been attributed by some to this harrowing escape quote through endless woods i crawl on my way now with little honor who knows but that my name may yet be far and wide renowned as a close relative to the fallen olaf and one who had taken up arms against knut harold had little hope of safety back home he therefore laid low on a remote farm recovering from his wounds before escaping east to sweden here he regrouped with the remnants of the defeated army and plotted their next moves they appear to have turned to olaf's old political connections for support which eventually brought them to the land of the ruse in 1031 the arrival of such a band of warriors was not uncommon in this period as the market for mercenary work had actually developed across the region thus harold and his warband and exile soon found themselves in the employ of prince yaroslav the wise such mercenary contracts were likely structured in 12-month rotations during this time the prince would have sustained the men with basic food and supplies with the handsome payout coming at the end of the gear in the trade hubs of kiev and novgorod these were probably payments in kind made with furs or other valuable goods this arrangement proved beneficial to both parties and would see harold and his men serve loyally for about three years the young noble was still under 18 years old and likely served as a lesser officer with command over just a small body of troops these may have assisted the grand prince's tax collectors it was a common but dangerous profession for mercenary soldiers collection could prove difficult and intimidation or a strong arm was sometimes needed to wrestle coins from the purses of the locals there was also the matter of transport the taxman's caravan of grain animals and coin was a tempting target for the bandits and step raiders who stalk these lands but even this did not seem to phase the ambitious young harold if anything it kept the men sharp and allowed them to show off their military prowess this seems to have earned them the grand prince's respect the next assignment involved joining him on campaign against the poles and various neighboring rivals following these campaigns harold and his now veteran company was tasked with assisting in the resettlement and colonization efforts meant to tame the step this drew the ire of the fierce pechenegs they were powerful numerous and hostile yet even when faced with raids from these foes harold was said to have led his men to victory these tours of duty cemented the relationship between harold and yaroslav and would prove critical in the future however by around 1033 the now 18 year old norwegian was ready for his next move the sagas claimed that harold now requested yaroslav's daughter elizivera's hand in marriage but the grand prince refused him saying that he first needed to prove himself as a great warrior by seeking out wealth and prestige of his own only then would yaroslav allow this exiled norwegian prince to marry his beautiful daughter and so harold turned south to the riches of distant mykligard where it was said anything was possible for a man with a strong arm and quick mind packing up their belongings he and his merry band navigated their way to the nipper and sailed down to the black sea the journey was long but it proved yet another opportunity for harold to win over the former house carls of king olaf finally they arrived at their destination the saga goes as follows quote oblique gale's lash prows hard along the shore iron shielded our ships rode proud to harbor of myklegaard our famous prince first saw the golden gables manning a sea ship fine a raid swept toward the high walled city they arrived in the early summer of 1034 likely landing in the port of mamas they followed in the footsteps of previous mercenaries who had established a community in the area various goods were traded to finally turn their years of work into hard cash and upgrades were made to their gear within a short time they resembled the rest of the decked out varangians of the city now it was time to find their new employer currently this would be the freshly remarried empress zoe and her low-born husband michael iv here the stories diverge in one version harold attempted to keep his identity hidden as it might be dangerous for one with his sort of royal blood and powerful enemies in another version though harold presents himself to the empress and emperor as royalty and gains their formal recognition as well as zoe's barely concealed lust this last part though reads as a boastful tale shared in the mead halls and likely didn't happen this way either way he and his company of 500 men were hired into the hitiri as the lowest tier of the sailing varyings to newcomers though this was a huge step up which allowed them to amass even greater fortunes trolling the sea lanes looking for pirate ships to plunder in the crown's name according to the sagas they filled four vessels which fell under the command of a general by the name of gerger this may have been the norse name for the formidable byzantine strategos named george moniakis greek sources describe him as a man standing nearly 10 feet tall with a deep voice that dominated both the court and the battlefield under his command harold's varangians spent the year chasing down sleek arabic pirate vessels across the aegean and raiding their bases of support along anatolia this was a vikings dream job by 1035 they seemed to have had sufficiently impressed the byzantines to the point that they were promoted into the varangian mercenary group serving with the imperial army snorri stalson claims that the roughly 20-year-old harold was even made leader over all the varangians owing to his charisma and reputation now these foreigners joined the next byzantine counter-offensive which pushed the arabs out of anatolia and into northern mesopotamia here he's reputed to have sacked and raised twice 40 fortresses we should note though that 80 seems to be the generic norse term for a lot so while he probably didn't sack 80 arabic fortresses with just 500 men what he did manage was no doubt impressive the following verse was likely written by harold himself as a memoir to that campaign quote one other time there was when i read in blades from my homeland the sword singing in the arab town and yet that was long ago for the next seven years harold would find himself in the thick of every major imperial campaign across virtually every frontier from the great war fleet sent to recover the lands of italy and sicily in the west to the wars against the serbs bulgarians and pechenegs in the north he's also reported to have been commander of a mission to jerusalem escorting masons and architects who had been dispatched by the emperor to restore the church of the holy sepulchre and to fight various battles in the area all of this action would be the fodder of later skelets who would sing of the endless adventures of harold the ruthless the hammer the thunderbolt the bulgar burner diving further into our sources you also find all kinds of amazing stories about his adventures for instance while campaigning in sicily there was a series of four castles each of which harold endeavored to take by different ploys at the first castle he is said to have observed the coming and goings of small nesting birds from the fortifications these he ordered his men to catch they then tied burning material to their backs released them back to their homes and watched as hundreds of fires broke out across the thatched roofs of the castle precipitating its surrender at the second castle harold and his men fought a hidden place behind a stream and dug a long tunnel beneath the fortifications when the moment was right his men then removed the final bricks above them bursting into the midst of a feast and taking the place by storm from within at the third castle both attackers and defenders found themselves in a drawn out stalemate during this time harold had his men disarm and play games out in the open just out of bow shot this routine habituated the guards to their innocuous activity however one day the varangians went to their game with hidden weapons at a sudden command they dashed for the gatehouse gaining control after a confused bloody melee and allowing the rest of the army to flood in but to take the fourth and largest castle required the greatest ruse of all what happened is that when harold fell ill rumors on both sides abounded that he was on the verge of death one day the varangians announced his passing and parlayed with the priests of the castle to have him buried inside the local church these agreed believing that this would bring them great wealth of presence in exchange thus a small procession was allowed to carry the coffin of herald within however the commander was very much alive and once inside the group drew their weapons striking all those around them and using the coffin to prop open the gates for the rest of the varangians who swiftly followed to take the keep through these campaigns harold's fame and wealth grew to unprecedented heights with his vast hordes of plunder being sent back for safe keeping in the lands of his friend and ally yaroslav the wise yet his fortunes would take a sharp turn at the end of 1041. michael the fourth died in december leaving behind his nephew michael v to rule alongside empress zoe the new emperor however was quick to make enemies countermanding many of his late uncle's decisions and coming into conflict with most of the powerful figures of the realm among his targets was the 27 year old harold hardrada who was thrown in prison the charges vary among our sources ranging from that of defiling a noble woman to committing murder or yet the worst sin of all defrauding the emperor of his treasure around the same time just four months into his ascension michael also deposed his aunt the beloved empress zoe this proved too much for the people of constantinople who erupted into revolt church bells soon rang out as the patriarch of constantinople called the city to arms in the streets the citizens bathed for blood howling for the return of their empress this must have brought a smile to harold's face as he sat in his dark cell listening to the riots beyond and perhaps even singing a gleeful tune but the emperor would not go down without a fight his grand domestic the commander-in-chief of the army named constantine leapt into action troops were mobilized to contain the flames of revolt and defend the imperial palace armed with his own cohort of rangings as well as units of bowmen and ballistas the streets leading to the emperor's quarters were locked down meanwhile a dispatch was immediately sent to recall the exiled empress zoe in hopes that her reappearance would cool the situation the surrounded bodyguard of the emperor managed to hold the line for a few more hours until being reinforced in the evening by veteran units who cut their way through the crowds night set upon a city under siege a rising sun brought hope to the emperor however this would be dashed with the escape of harold from prison the sagas disagree with the manner of his escape but the end result was the same now freed harold took a stand with the riders his release acted as a lightning rod for the opposition rallying his followers and even turning loyalists for ancients of the city away from the emperor together these shock troops now smashed through the remaining imperial cordon in a three-pronged assault the streets to the palace were blown wide open and soon a flood of looters and riders crashed upon the inner gates in this frenzy chaos it was reported that three thousand people died at the four of this human wave were harald and his varangians according to legend these burst into the imperial bed chambers harold himself is said to have grabbed a panicked michael castrating the emperor before blinding him but rather than commit regicide he tossed the still breathing victim to the ground abandoning him to his fate another account tells of how the emperor actually fled the scene to a nearby monastery only later being discovered and blinded by a furious crowd who handed him over to the phrasians in the aftermath empress zoe was restored to the throne harold though sensed that the situation was too hot for him and requested permission to return home to norway when this was refused he again took matters into his own hands a saga tells of how one night he and the varangians scrambled to collect their goods even breaking into the imperial apartments to kidnap the sleeping empress's niece before running off down the halls they then hurried to the varangian docks commandeered a pair of galleys and rode off yet while the northmen had outrun the alarm they now came face to face with the great sea chains that blocked their exit undaunted harold would find a way he ordered half of his men to the back of the ship tipping its bow up while the rest rode as hard as they could thus the ships ran up onto the chain itself at this point he ordered them all to run to the front his own galley creaked and groaned but finally slid past the tipping point splashing into the water on the other side unfortunately their second vessel cracked in the attempt and became stuck what goods and men could be spared were transferred over while the rest was left behind meanwhile the kidnapped princess was dropped ashore and given a farewell message to relay to the empress zoe they were free the sagas conclude this chapter as follows past wide planes we flew a dauntless never wearied crew our viking steed rushed through the sea as viking like fast fast sailed we never i think along the shore did norsemen ever sail before yet to the russian queen i fear my gold adorned i am not dear harold had fled his homeland at 15 the destitute son of a petty nobleman but after a decade spent in exile fighting his way across the distant corners of the world he was finally ready to return home with treasure in hand he would get the girl get the crown and finally rise to heights of power and glory his forefathers could only dream of no matter the cost no matter the obstacle this was his destiny [Music] upon slipping past the great chains of constantinople harold and his men sailed north to claim their destiny their first stop would be in the land of the ruse here they would find refuge in the embrace of their ally yaroslav and be able to collect the years of accumulated treasure he had banked for them harald would also be able to make good on the deal he had struck with the great prince nearly 10 years ago that he could marry the princess elisaveta if he could make a name and a fortune of his own in this regard the now 27 year old harold had exceeded all expectations by any measure he was worthy yet the sagas claimed that he was nonetheless nervous writing 16 songs on his journey north all of which ended with the following lines yet to the russian queen i fear my gold adorned i am not dear luckily for the young norwegian these concerns proved ill-founded yaroslav greeted his arrival with open arms and a wedding was soon in order few details remain but it must have been a grand affair featuring a fascinating blend of ruse norse and christian traditions there was much to celebrate and it's sure that tales and treasures flowed like wine that night shortly after all parties had sobered up they began to plan for their next moves for harold this meant making a play for the throne back home well for yaroslav this meant expanding his empire in these matters the two would help each other out the grand prince had already done much but was prepared to offer the additional political and military support necessary to achieve the exiled norwegian's aims but this was not merely out of the goodness of his heart such assistance was an investment in the short term this likely meant getting from harold valuable insight into the inner workings of the byzantine military its strength weaknesses and overall disposition while the sagas say that the former varangian guard still held the empire dear to his heart it seems that his loyalties ended with his last contract the fact that yaroslav would launch a campaign against constantinople itself shortly after harold's arrival is a likely indication of how much actionable intel was shared with wealth and wife in hand harold quickly departed kiev and made his way back to scandinavia he arrived in the winter of 1045. it had been 15 years since his departure and much had changed knute the great the man whose conquest had precipitated harald's exile had died in 1035 leaving behind a fresh scramble for control of the north sea empire his son newt iii took denmark while harold harefoot took england and magnus olafsson the nephew of harold hardrada took norway for years these would be locked in a struggle for ultimate control eventually though both knuten iii and harold harefoot would die early leaving magnus to now snap up the throne of denmark while edward the confessor lay claim to england news of such turnings of the throne were likely what had given harald hardrada such urgency in his homework journey the returning prince's ship was said to have first docked in sweden its overflowing cargo of gold unbalancing it at the moorings here harold would plot to overthrow magnus this would be done by negotiating the backing of the swedish king while joining forces with the exiled danish noble swain estridson the terms of their alliance seemed to have been 50 50. harold would take norway while spain would take denmark thus agreed the two leveraged their wealth and political connections to raise a great force in the spring it would be unleashed upon the lands of the north starting in denmark these raided the coast in a blatant challenge to the authority of magnus here is how the skelets describe the scene quote harold thou has the isle laid waste the seal and men away has chased and the wild wolf by daylight roams through their deserted silent homes fiona too could not withstand the fury of thy wasting hand helms bursts shields broke fiona's balance were filled with death's terrific sounds red flashing in the southern sky the clear flame sweeping broad and high from pharaoh's guild's lofty towers on lowly huts its firing pores and shows the housemates silent train in terror scouring over the plain seeking the forest deepest glen to house with wolves and escape with men few were they of escape to tell for sorrow warned the people fell the only captives from the fray were lovely maidens led away and in wild terror to the strand down to the ships the link ban of fair-haired girls is roughly driven their soft skins and irons riven such was the way kingship was contested and lands were conquered in the north svane and harold never had to invade denmark proper or plant their flag in every town they merely had to convince the locals that a new stronger boss was in town and that it was in their best interest to pay taxes to him when his ships rolled into harbor denmark thus beginning to bend the knee for spain it was now time for harold to reclaim his homeland of norway at the time of harold's return magnus had been abroad on campaign however upon hearing word of the threat to his realm the king quickly returned with the full force of his fleet and army uncle and nephew now prepared for a bloody civil war many feared the fallout of such a confrontation with the author theodol writing the following quote my hopes are fled no peace is near people fly here and there in fear on either side of selin's coast a fleet appears a white-winged host magnus from norway takes his course harold from sweden leads his force thankfully advisors managed to bring the two of them to the peace table before further blood could be shed ultimately this meant devising a power sharing agreement in which both men would serve jointly as king and split their treasuries in theory it was a good deal magnus traded power for money while harold traded money for power each got what they wanted without shattering the delicate nature of the northern empire the arrangement began amicably at first with the two regions sharing many feasts together and touring the countryside in a show of unity however for men of such ambition it was not long before they began to quarrel but for now at least this could be put aside in favor of tackling their common arrivals in light of this news spain to the south had grown restless it was said that he and harold had a falling out and that the latter only narrowly avoided an assassination attempt by placing a dummy in his usual place of rest now that harold was apparently co-ruler with magnus spain figured it was only a matter of time before the two turned on him these suspicions proved well-founded as the northern pair would sail against denmark in 1047 yet the campaign would come to a screeching halt with the sudden death of magnus he had been without an heir and in his last days supposedly decided that the lands of norway would pass to harold while the lands of denmark would remain in the hands of spain a cruel way to twist the knife even after death but the wishes of the dead matter little to the bold [Music] harold spared little time in exploiting the situation he immediately assembled the lords of the realm and proclaimed himself king of both norway and denmark with access to the full treasury once more and many warriors at his back few opposed the move openly among those that did though was the nobleman einarth thomas kellefer he had long been involved in the northern game of thrones and now sought to elevate his position as the face of the resistance thus when harold now agitated to make renewed war against spain and denmark einar made a powerful speech in essence saying that his priorities lay instead with seeing to the proper burial of the beloved king magnus this move won him the support of the people and many of the former monarch's loyal troops undone it harold continued with his plans to consolidate power this meant raising the nordic levy in 1048 and launching renewed raids upon denmark these attacks would be a near constant feature of his reign with harold lashing out each spring for nearly 15 years the assault savaged the southern coasts plundering their wealth and destroying many important trade centers such as hedeby the following lines are recorded by the scouts foster lay waste as people tell the raven and other isles fared well the danes were everywhere in fear for the dread foray every year but harold's fury was not just directed outwards at home he ruled with an iron fist that would earn him the title hardrada or harsh ruler it was said that quote now to the king who feeds the ravens the people banned like heartless cravens nothing has left them but consent to what the king calls his intent unfortunately many of the details regarding his domestic policies are lost to us instead the main focus of the sagas would be his ongoing feuds with various rivals this had only escalated with time for instance on one occasion the noble einar had gone to visit harold in his court in nidaras but brought with him nearly 500 armed men this was a clear flex meant to show he was ready to fight harold had but to name the time and place yet the king proved himself more than a simple brute with cool nerves he refused to flinch or take the bait but in his mind a scheme was hatched that would make loki proud [Music] the sagas offer different versions of what happened next we have chosen to proceed with perhaps one of the more dramatic tales in this account ainar was drawn to the capital by the arrest of one of his men who had been accused of theft naturally the noble was weary of a trap and brought with him a strong retinue of huskarls under the command of his own son andridi they escorted einar all the way to the king's hall however when the final summons came to enter the guard took up positions by the doors outside they trusted the bonds of honor and hospitality to protect their liege beyond the threshold this would be a fatal mistake as einar stepped into the room silver blades flashed in the dark in an instant these were upon him gutting the old boar where he stood ein treaty hearing the commotion rushed after his father was sword in hand however he too was struck down with ruthless efficiency quick merciless meanwhile the remaining huskarls outside were surrounded now leaderless and without hope of escape they surrendered of course such bloody tyranny could not go unanswered einar was well loved and a well-connected man whose death served as a match to ignite the north against the harsh ruled of harold such an outcome was to be expected and the king moved quickly to deal with the consequences where violence had solved one problem now money would solve the other his counter move would be orchestrated by the nobleman finn arneson a well-respected man of the north whom harold now entrusted to convince the various rebellious factions to sheath their blades he first rode to the lands of einar's people paying them a generous wear guild from the treasury and convincing them to allow cooler heads to prevail from there he rode to the other powerful figures of the realm making political and economic concessions as needed to keep the peace for this great service harold allowed finn's exiled brother calve to return to his homeland and recover his property this was quite the concession as it had been this kolf who supposedly dealt the killing blow to the king's half-brother olaf so many years ago but harold was a patient man he would have his vengeance one way or another it seems that the harsh ruler had learned his lesson from the inar affair the realm was in a fragile state of peace at the moment and if harald so flagrantly crossed the line again civil war would be inevitable there was no amount of politicking or bribery capable of putting out the fires of revolt this time something more subtle would be required to snuff out the candle thus harold took his inspiration from the stories of ancient king david on the next annual raid against feign in denmark he would bring calve along with him here a great force had arisen to meet them on the shores nonetheless harold was prepared to fight and graced calve with the honor of leading the first division into the fray to secure the beachhead they did so and began to engage the foe knowing that behind them were ranks upon ranks of reinforcements however as the fighting escalated and men began to fall they glanced nervously at the seas where was the fleet unfortunately there had been a most regrettable mix-up reinforcements were delayed by the winds the tides or some other matter that would later be forgotten no one was coming seeing this the danes were further emboldened and quickly hacked the outnumbered landing force to pieces calve and his men died there on the beach alone and betrayed this was the king's justice this was the way harald ruled i'd like to quote directly from his own verses on this matter i have in all the deathstroke given to foes of mine at least eleven two more perhaps if i remember may yet be added to this number i prize myself upon these deeds my people such examples need bright gold itself they would despise or healing leaker underprice if not still brought before their eyes these events seem plucked right out of some overwrought tv drama and yet they appear to have been a simple reflection of the dynamics in the north at the time a period in which familial alliances and honor packs were held aloft as great virtues but barbed words and knives in the dark were what won men their crowns in such matters harold was a master of his craft now let us follow his deeds as he set his sights on the greatest prize of all the throne of the entire great north sea empire after 15 years of exile harold hardrada had finally returned home to cash in on his hard-earned gold and glory within a year of campaigning he had wrestled partial control of norway from his nephew and within just another year rose to become sole king of the realm he would rule with an iron grip brutally snuffing out rivals and waging constant war on his neighbors the title harold the harsh ruler was well earned but after 20 years upon the throne his boundless ambitions would turn to one of the greatest gambles of his life a play for denmark a play for england a play for the crown of the entire north sea empire [Music] harold hardrada had finally taken full control of norway in 1047. much of his reign was spent consolidating his position at home whilst making continued war against denmark yet besides the seemingly all-consuming matters the sagas report that he still had time for other ventures for instance sources claimed that he was a master of sailing rowing horse riding swimming skiing shooting brewing poetry and playing the harp in addition he's even said to have had the time to launch his own expeditions into the unknown reaches of the north traveling to the quote dark failing boundaries of the savage world and only barely managing to escape from this dark abyss after peering over its ledge some scholars have even posited that harold knew of and even sought out the recently discovered lands of finland which lay to the far west of iceland but while he was not off on some adventure the king was building a dynasty at home this had begun with his kievan rus wife elisavera who bore him two daughters ingegurd and maria in 1048 however he would take on a second wife by the name of torah torberg's daughter she was a member of the powerful gizkatan family and their union seems to have been a strategic move to shore up the king's base of support but it also proved fruitful as torah would soon bear him two sons magnus and olaf such progeny were of sturdy stock and would eventually grow to be monarchs of their own right but that was far into the future for now their father would be busy carving out a corner of the world for them this would primarily take the form of his ongoing campaigns against denmark these had been raging for nearly 15 years at this point for the most part it seems that the norwegians were the ones taking the offensive to this end they established a strong base of operations out of oslo which the sagas claim harold had founded from here supplies could be stockpiled and expeditions organized for each season's raids and anti-piracy patrols yet the danes proved resilient and elusive in their defense after all spain was a shrewd commander himself who managed to turn the tables on the invaders on multiple occasions one year he even nearly ended the war outright at the time harold and a small warband were making their way through the danish isles menacing and raiding the locals as usual however these invaders were encountering stiffer resistance than usual town garrisons turned out to meet them at a return and the people were not cowed by his saber-rattling this war had gone on for so many years that by now raids were just another seasonal threat that the common people had learned to cope with having thus been rebuffed harold and his men put to shore on a small island in the lymphoid area in search of water unfortunately there was none to be found thus so the sagas say harold ordered his men to find a snake when one was found he told them to hold it near the fire so that it would become overheated and dehydrated once the snake was sufficiently parched a string was tied to it and the creature was released harold and his men then followed the uncoiling ball of twine until it disappeared down a hole in the ground here he ordered the men to dig the trick worked and there they found more than enough water for all of them yet as the invaders hunted snakes and resupplied spain arrived at the mouth of the fjord with a massive force the king of norway was trapped like a cornered animal he retreated instinctively deeper into the fjord here the enemy would be slowed and unable to bring its full force to bear howl considered his options the first was to ditch the boats and flee onto land however this would leave them as fugitives in hostile territory which would surely see them hunted down the other option was to make a stand at sea while certainly a glorious way to go this was unlikely to end in victory and would cut short any dreams of yet greater glories in the future neither option was looking good luckily however harold would discover a place along the fjord where the bounds of their cage thinned his crew managed to escape spain's grasp until nightfall and then under cover of darkness carried their ships over this isthmus in this way they cut through the trap slipping away into the north sea and reportedly calling back to mock the bewildered danes they had left behind such was the interminable game of cat and mouse which defined this war ultimately these raids and counter-raids were draining to both sides but both leaders were too prideful to simply let the matter go there had to be a winner thus there emerged a desire by both kings for ending the war with a single decisive action this officially came about in 1061 when harold issued a formal challenge the norwegians and danes were to assemble their war hosts and settle this matter once and for all in anticipation for this climactic fight harold commissioned a new flagship meant to demonstrate his wealth and power this pride of the north would take its place at the head of a formidable army if this was to be the final battle harold would take no chances the great king therefore bent his considerable might to levy the whole of norway it took them the entire winter to gather but finally one spring day the might of norway sailed down the river nid and went to meet the danes in battle the sagas recall these events as follows it was upon a saturday ship tilts were struck and stowed away and past the town are dragon glides that girls might see are glancing sides out from the nid brave harold steers westward at first the dragon veers our lads together down with ores the splash is echoed around the shores they're oars our king's men handle well when stroke is all the eye can tell a level or the water rise the girls look in sweet surprise such things they think can there give way the little know the battle day the danish girls who dread our shout might wish our ship gear not so stout tis in the fight not on the wave that oars may break and fail the brave at sea beneath the ice cold sky safely our oars or ocean ply and when at throndheim's holy stream are 70 cars in distance gleam we see him while rowing from the sea an urn with iron wings to be making up this grand fleet were a variety of ships though they ran the full spectrum in size and complement scholars have roughly grouped such norse vessels into classes the smallest were the carvey longships roughly 20 meters long and boasting around a dozen crew they were used as a general purpose vessel for ferrying supplies or handfuls of troops while these ships occasionally saw combat they were usually reserved as a support role the snake yeah long ships meanwhile were about 25 meters long with a crew of around 40 which served as the standard warship for most of this period the skate long ships were larger warships which ran about 30 meters long and might have had crews as high as 80. they were the true heavy hitters of combat meant to overwhelm the enemy through brute force the final tier of worship were the dracar or dragon longships though none have survived our records indicate that they were ornately decorated and may have extended as far as 45 meters with crews easily over 100 we are told that when harold sailed to the appointed battlefield he did so with the force of around 150 professionally manned warships with another roughly equal sized complement of non-professionals and yet more support troops however when the appointed time of the showdown came spain was nowhere to be seen harold took this as a sign that the danes were scared of a fight and were instead busy mounting a defense having thus won the battle out of forfeit he dismissed the non-professional troops to return to their farms for the season no need to incur economic losses at home or slow the veterans down from the rating they would soon unleash upon the danish lands however just as harold's forces slipped over the horizon a new set of sails appeared spain had arrived he brought with him 300 ships twice that of the remaining norwegians it's a number far too convenient to take at face value but nonetheless we can assume that the danes held some measure of numerical superiority many of harold's captains urged him to fall back no honor compelled them to entertain such foul play they should regroup with the fleet at home and try once more later but harold shut them all down this was his chance to finally meet spain face to face delaying would only let the danish king slip away once more the sagas state the following quote with falcon i encourage bright our king saw glory in the fight to fly he saw would ruin bring on them and him the falcon king hands up the arms to one and all cries out the king will win or fall sooner than fly heaped on each other each man shall fall across his brother and so he signaled the fleet to deploy for battle harold ordered his force into a line of battle with command being split under three banners in the center was the king himself with his retinue of professional troops yarl hakan iverson and his personal levy commanded the right while the trondelog men held the left all were grizzled veterans of many years and harold knew that his best shot at victory was to force a fight in close quarters thus he had the entire center of the formation lash their ships together this would prevent them from being picked apart by a more numerous foe it also had the effect of forming an enormous platform upon which to fight a land battle at sea however harold also knew the dangers of immobility and left his wings in particular that of hakkon free to skirmish and form a protective screen along the flanks seeing this swain also began to lash his own center together where he his earls and the bulk of the early forces would be concentrated owing to the great numbers of the danish forces they had many more ships left over which either added depth to the front line or were used to form a vast screening force on the flanks it took hours for both sides to finish their preparations we're told that while the fleets had come into visual contact in the early morning it was not until mid-afternoon that battle commenced this must have been a dramatic affair initially the free rowing vessels would have darted forward and begun to trade blows at a distance giving cover for the great lines of last ships to slowly paddle towards one another eventually however these two came within bow shot at this point the skies darkened with a hail of arrows slingstones and javelins but the momentum of the mass battle lines could not be slowed they drifted through the killing fields and came crashing into one another so say the sagas quote our king his broadshield disregarding more keen for striking than for warding now tells his lads their spears to throw now shows them where to strike a blow from fleet to fleet so short the way that stones and arrows have full play and from the king sword dropped the blood of short-lived semen in the flood this carnage in the center must have been unimaginable as men on ships were trapped with nowhere to go but meet their fate affairs on the flanks were more fluid but equally deadly here the elite forces of hakkon proved unstoppable running down and butchering any crew that came within their grasps thus the ranks of the danes quickly turned to flight and evaporated before them yet he received reports that the affairs on the opposite flank were much reversed hakkon therefore diverted his troops to this faltering side and gave such an assault that the enemy was repulsed in this way did the battle continue with harold's men slowly grinding through the center while hakon's division circled around the melee picking off stragglers and reinforcements even still it was an incredibly hard-fought battle that dragged on until the night but finally as the last rays of sun fell upon the blood-soaked decks of the heaving warships the danes began to break under the light of the stars spain's fleet quite literally unraveled as each longship freed itself from the fighting platform and rode frantically for home it is now that harold and his men cut their way through to the danish king's flagship it was said that the entire crew was slaughtered until the deck was cleared however among the dead and dying there was no sign of spain thus even after such a stunning and unexpected victory harald would be denied his true prize for now he would have to be sated by pursuing the shattered remnants of the danish fleet and plundering a battlefield which was clogged with the lifeless carcasses of over 70 ships in the aftermath of battle harold made an attempt to press his campaign but received word that spain had made it back to the mainland and was marshaling a great force of survivors and reinforcements the norwegians had just won against great odds but asking them to repeat such a miracle was courting disaster harold therefore chose to retire with his head still held high though the people praised him for the victory it was said by many that hakkon was the true hero of the battle this began to chip away at the king's nerves however he would truly lose his temper when a secret was revealed legend tells that several months later it was among a group of men drinking that one of hakkon's soldiers let it slip that it was his liege who had shown spain clemency and brought him safely to land this admission quickly made its way through a series of informants to the king's ear immediately he summoned 900 men and rode night and day to kill the traitor luckily hakon had his own informants who tipped him off and allowed him to escape into the night a fuming harold wished to make an example of the disloyal subordinate and is said to have attempted to collect taxes in the upland region making it his these responded by renouncing their allegiance to the king and a revolt broke out it is perhaps due to this unrest that harold was forced to abandon his quarrel with spain and sign an unconditional peace thus after nearly two decades of fighting they agreed that everything would remain as it had been before the war ever started this allowed harold to return to his troubles at home the iron fisted tyrant burned farms raided villages and pursued hakkon ultimately crushing the former vassal in a pitch battle in southern sweden this latest wave of suppression coupled with a danish treaty finally led to a moment of some peace the kingdom was once again firmly under harald's control and he could now steer it as he saw fit naturally this would mean renewed war but it was not to be to the south that he now turned rather it would be to the west to england that his ambitions drove thus in 1066 harold launched one of the greatest invasion fleets the north had ever seen as norse boots hit english soil they would embark on the last great campaign of this legendary ruler that would see him forever etched into the history books in the year 1066 the king of england died with no apparent air like a drop of blood in the water this now drew in the sharks among the fiercest of these would be king harold hardrada of norway a veteran of countless campaigns with the full might of the north at his back none could be counted his equal the throne of england would be his [Music] for centuries england had seen its lands claimed by various powers from across the isles and beyond theoretically the crown was up for grabs by whoever had the largest army yet any meaningful level of control was typically backed up by some claim to legitimacy for the purposes of our story this would have to do with the events of the early 11th century when knut the great had brought the crowns of denmark norway and england together forming the north sea empire his right to rule was acknowledged far and wide and even got him invited to rome where he engaged with the pope the holy roman emperor and numerous other important figures of the era this was how conquerors transformed into rulers thus when knute died unexpectedly at the age of 45 many attempted to find power through association with this established credibility the most obvious inheritor was his son harth knute yet while he had first dibs on the crown others quickly moved in to grab a hold of it using their military might kartha knute ended up jogging for power with magnus in norway with a two formerly agreeing that if either of them died the other would inherit his counterparts lands when hearth knuts succumbed first this iou passed to magnus but could never be claimed given the swirling geopolitics of the period thus this claim was eventually picked up by his uncle harold hardrata who had returned to strongarm his own way onto the norwegian throne for years he too would be preoccupied by clashes with his scandinavian neighbors however when the king of england edward the confessor died on january 5th in 1066 harold hardrada would finally decide to cash in on his golden ticket but this was no free ride and the claim would have to be redeemed by force of arms across the waves there were many others who had similar ambitions the situation was made worse by the fact that the late king edward had handled succession plans with great indecision and even appears to have made promises to different parties over the years these all came calling in 1066 currently it was harold godwinson who held the crown of england having been chosen by the country's leaders this was due to his blood ties to both knute the great and the late king but more importantly due to house godwin's regional prominence and proximity to power for similar reasons his brother tostig also aspired to the throne but had been exiled and was now residing in scotland after several failed attempts to grab control he is actually reported to have been the one who convinced harold hardrada to invade undoubtedly hoping that he might ride back into power on his coattails but tostig was quite the schemer and also attempted to place bets on another claim to the throne william of normandy his claim was not as clear as the others and hinged on vague reports that at one point the late king edward had promised him rulership and that the current king harold had years before promised to uphold william's supposed right to ascend yet ultimately so long as a token reason could be offered it really came down to his military might to that end he excelled william assembled around 10 000 men and several hundred ships for an invasion harold godwinson recognized this as the main threat and mobilized primarily to counteract this claimant luckily for the other contenders a prolonged period of ill weather kept the two staring across the channel at one another for months this allowed harold hardrata to make his move first starting in march and lasting around six months the norwegian king mustered a grand invasion force numbering some 10 000 men aboard almost 300 longships it was an impressive host roughly twice the size of the great heathen army which had first carved out the dane law in england two centuries earlier finally after all preparations had been made they set off in september behind would be left his son magnus who acted as temporary king along with his norwegian wife torah with him though came as kevin roos wife elisaveta along with his remaining son olaf and two daughters the fleet first stopped in the islands of shetland and orkney these were held by norwegian forces who now resupplied the fleet and committed additional men to the invasion next they sailed down the coast of scotland picking up two thousand scottish troops offered by king malcolm the third after this they rendezvoused with toast egg and his twelve ships at the mouth of the river tine finally this combined invasion force sailed to the english lands of northumbria to begin their invasion proper sailing up the rivertisse the army made landfall the men splashed eagerly ashore shaking off their sea legs and dreaming eagerly of the plunder that awaited them after harold was sure no opposition lurked nearby the troops were unleashed upon the land raiding many coastal settlements most surrendered at first sight however when the town of scarborough refused to back down harold had it burned as an example to others the rest quickly bent the knee but the army had little time to spare in this region and after just two weeks of predation set off to find new prey they next sailed up the humber estuary on the 20th of september they landed at the town of rickall just 15 miles from york knowing that this was to be a significant staging point for the campaign they set up camp and began to prepare for real combat this proved a wise decision as news of their early raiding to the north had spread quickly in response the earls of northumbria and mercia had rallied their forces and were ready to fight the two would meet near the village of fulford just outside of york the english earls had a force of around 5000 men which was far smaller than that of the invaders they therefore chose to secure a strip of land anchored between the river oose and a region of marshland with a ditch laid before it seeing this harold moved his men up to engage them however the vastness of his force and the nature of the region's topology meant that they had to filter in by various routes and would take hours to fully deploy for now the king's banner was planted on the left and around it were marshaled the best of their troops the greener warbands meanwhile were deployed along the right slowly more men continued to trickle in sensing that the balance of power was slowly shifting away from them the english earls decided to launch their attack our sources claim that they did so when the invaders numbered just 6 000 giving both sides a rough parody and troop count the assault came heaviest along the ditch here it seems that the prepared english ranks were able to easily force back the scandinavian forces who were not yet fully deployed earl morkar pressed the advantage hoping to completely collapse this wing however they soon encountered stiffer resistance as seasoned lieutenants shored up the shield wall meanwhile on the left harold continued to pull his men until he had a clear superiority in both numbers and skill now he called for his banner land ravager to be brought forth and sent out to lead the assault the charge was devastating earl edwin put up a brave defense but his men were crumbling under the inexorable pressure as the fighting dragged on the english army found itself slowly being ground down isolated and surrounded eventually the anglo-saxons by the river began to withdraw hoping to make a better stand within the walls of york itself their brethren caught in the center and by the marshes found it far more difficult to extricate themselves this was made worse by the arrival of fresh waves of norwegian troops who slipped through the gaps in the battle line to envelop the position i'll now quote the sagas the gallant harold drove along flying but fighting the whole throng at last confused they could not fight and the whole body took to flight up from the river's silent stream at once rose desperate splash and scream but they who stood like men this fray round morkar's body lay the casualties were heavy for both sides ultimately however it was the outnumbered and defeated english who suffered the worst of the massacre towards the end of the day so thick were the anglo-saxon dead that it was said a norseman could walk dry-footed across the whole marsh in the aftermath the people of the surrounding countryside either fled or flocked to supplicate themselves before a victorious harald york itself stood resolute for the time being the invaders therefore advanced on the target and demanded its surrender harold's ally tostig had connections in the city and used these to call a meeting of the people here the yorkman apparently agreed to bend the knee and would send hostages to secure the deal arrangements were then made for a follow-up assembly where harold would name officers to rule the town set out new laws and bestow thiefs to his men satisfied he pulled the north's army back to the nearby fleet at anchor to celebrate and recover however unbeknownst to the invaders time was not on their side harold godwinson had been kept well appraised of these events to the north and made the critical decision to confront the norwegians before the normans it was an incredibly bold move that saw him force march his troops the 190 miles from london to york at a breakneck speed of roughly 40 miles a day in just four days they had arrived exhausted but intact they entered york by night and re-secured the city the next morning just a day after york had agreed to terms of new management harold hardrata set off to claim what was his at the agreed upon meeting point of stamford bridge completely unaware of the sudden reversal and fortunes he ordered one third of the army to remain with the ships among them were his family and various important lords likely they were already making a thorough accounting of the battle spoils and projecting what their profits would be like in the days ahead meanwhile the troops on land were also in good spirits it was an uncommonly fine day with a hot sun gracing the lands because of this most of the norsemen were said to have left their armor behind shields helms sword spears and bows would be more than enough to deal with any resistance the town folk might give them however as harold approached the heights around stamford bridge there was spotted a cloud of dust in the distance and the gleaming of armor at first it was thought that this might be nearby lords come to bend the knee alas it was soon understood that their numbers were great and their disposition hostile somehow someway the king of england was here this caused a panic among the lesser captains who advised harold to retire however the harsh ruler had faced this sort of situation before and was not so easily scared off recall that at the naval battle of nisa he had chosen to stand and fight despite being outnumbered 2-1 in that case his trust in the men was rewarded with a great victory so it would be again harold hardrada now ordered that land ravager be planted they would hold the english here while riders were sent back to call upon the rest of the army with all haste their arrival would act as a convenient flanking force that could sandwich the foe if he remained tied down long enough against harold's position thus the norwegian king prepared to hunker down for this eventuality according to later sources the english were prevented from attacking immediately by a brave norseman who stood upon the bridge the anglo-saxon chronicle claims that he was a huge berserker clutching a massive double-bladed grade axe swinging it madly at all who approached he single-handedly held the entire army at the narrow crossing slaying up to 40 englishmen in his furious last stand however the brave berserker was finally defeated when an anglo-saxon soldier floated under the bridge in a half-barrel and thrust his long spear through the lathes in the bridge mortally wounding him while this story is most likely a fabrication it seems that harold was nonetheless able to buy himself enough time to adequately deploy his forces knowing the enemy's command of horses he had the army form a wide ring warband stood shield to shield across the front with the king's retinue and many elite troops being positioned in the center to react to the flow of battle throughout their midst were bowman ready to shower the enemy with arrows with the eye of a seasoned commander harold hartrada rode around the formation to survey the line and call out proper battle orders shields locked spears planted pikes at breast level he was dressed regally in a blue tunic with a shining helm and his famed male shirt emma which was said to be impenetrable by mortal weapons apparently he made such a sight that the enemy remarked at his formidable disposition yet they remained committed to the attack finally the great english host made its advance estimates vary but tend to place their number at around ten thousand foot and two thousand horse compared to harold's six thousand warriors on the field first came the skirmishers and cavalry arrows began to rain upon the norse lines while riders sallied out to probe the shield wall neither made a dent such was harold hardrada's confidence that he even began to sing verses in battle storm we seek no lee with skulking head and bending knee behind the hollow shield with eyes at hand we fend the head courage and skill stand in the stead of panzer helm and shield and hild's bloody field eventually though his men grew overconfident in some sections of the shield wall impetuous norsemen broke ranks to over pursue the cavalry that had been harassing them for the better part of an hour this was the moment that the english had been waiting for harold godwinson now had his troops swarm in to cut off these men and exploit the gap which had formed but harold hardrada had also anticipated such a moment and now committed himself and the elite reserves to the breach all of a sudden a fierce melee broke out the norwegian king placed himself in the thick of the fighting felling all in his path the sagas describe his fuhrer as follows quote where battle storm was ringing where arrow cloud was singing harold stood there of armored bear his deadly sword still swinging the foam and feel its bite his norseman rushed to fight danger to share with harold there where steel on steel was ringing this was the confidence of a grizzled veteran who had fought more battles across more lands against more foes than any other man that day to all he seemed invincible yet fate makes fools of us all at some point an english bowman notched and loosed an arrow at the precise moment at the precise speed and angle to be carried upon the wind straight for the king as if guided by the same gods who saw a shaft pierce the heel of achilles it found its bite directly in harold's throat and like that with the convulsive spurt of blood he collapsed the viking legend was dead some rushed to recover his body but were cut down as well the remainder of his retinue pulled back to the defensive shield wall with the king's banner the death of such a man now brought a moment of stunned silence to the battlefield both sides separated and reformed ranks harold godwinson sent riders out seeking to parlay with his brother toasting should the norsemen agree to take the body of their king and leave this land all would be given fair quarter and allowed to retire peacefully yet when this was rejected war cries were raised and battle renewed now the fighting was at its fiercest both sides committed their all sensing that this last action would decide the fate of battle luckily for the outnumbered norwegians it is at this moment that eistein orr arrived with the roughly two to three thousand reinforcements though they were exhausted from the run from the ships their numbers still counted for much as harold had predicted their late arrival allowed them to catch the english in the flank with ice deen wielding land ravager they plunged deep into the enemy ranks many englishmen fell and they were nearly driven to flight however fatigue finally put an end to the assault and the tides slowly turned back in favor of harold godwinson norseman barely able to lift their shields fell in droves only nightfall made safe their desperate flight as the survivors made it back to the fleet these hurriedly clambered aboard and took off it was said that of the 300 ships that had sailed to england only 30 would return tradition holds that the battle of stamford bridge would be the last great battle of the viking age for england it was certainly a changing of the tides though the norsemen were expelled the effort proved so costly that they would be bested soon after by williams forces at the battle of hastings thus did the rule of england now fatefully pass to the normans norway meanwhile would be ruled jointly by harold's sons olaf and magnus they are reported to have made fine kings who held their own against spain of denmark and presided over a rare time of extended peace one year after the fall of their father they recovered his body and had it buried with great honors in nidaras many came to honor his grave though most had felt his wrath at one point or another it was acknowledged by all that he was harsh but fair in justice of distinguished mind and body and above all other men bold brave and lucky his legend would echo down the halls of scandinavia for generations unto this very day it's been an honestly incredible experience for me to join in this long and hallowed tradition i hope you've enjoyed the roller coaster of a tale and i can't thank you all enough for making such efforts possible through your support what great saga should we sing of next a huge shout out to the patrons for funding the channel and to the researchers writers and artists for making this episode possible be sure to like and subscribe for more content and check out these other related videos see you in the next one you

Channel: Invicta

Views: 566,480

Keywords: viking berserker, battle of stamford bridge, battle of fulford, battle of fulford 1066, harald hardrada, battle of nisa 1062 ad, invicta, invicta history, history documentary, stamford bridge, harald hardrada documentary, last viking, viking, vikings, battle of stamford bridge berserker, varangian guard, byzantine empire, kievan rus documentary, viking history, viking army, hardrada history, byzantine vs vikings, william the conqueror, viking documentary, 1066 documentary

Id: uYsmHdgD5V4

Length: 69min 40sec (4180 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 26 2022