Nic Fields
God’s Viking: Harald Hardrada. The Life and Times of the Last Great Viking
(Pen & Sword, 2019) 366 pp. £20.00
Nic Fields attempts to go where others have been before in trying to write a history of the enigma that is Haraldr Sigurðarson better known to English speakers as Harald Hardrada, ‘hard rule’ king of Norway as Harald II and wannabe king of both Denmark and England.
He is perhaps best known in England for being the other combatant king at the Battle of Stamford Bridge (1066) and for coming to a sticky end at the said battle giving rise to the comment usually fathered on Harold I Godwinson that all he gained for his pretensions to the English throne was ‘six feet of English earth, or as he was a tall gentleman, seven feet’.
What strikes one in first picking up the book is the slip cover. It gives the feeling that Mr Fields was persuaded by his publishers to give the book a title that they thought might sell. ‘God’s Viking’. Hardrada was not, it seems, particularly godly, although he was a nominal Christian and we also have the usual problem in more modern times with the meaning of the word ‘viking’ which is now considered to be something people did rather than who they were.
‘The life and times of the last great Viking’ is also debatable as Knutr IV (Cnut IV) of Denmark would certainly be in line for that title a generation later as a royal raider and that delightful villain, Sweyn Asleifson, while not royal, was certainly going a viking from his Orkney base on Gairsay a hundred and more years later, before meeting his end in a Dublin tavern brawl. The image of Harald from Lerwick town hall in Shetland shows that not all Victorians thought the Norse had horns on their hats but the image of the stained glass window in Kirkwall Cathedral in Orkney might have been a better choice showing Harald among the Orkney saints Magnus and Rognvald and the founder of the Orkney earldom, Torf Einar. He is shown accurately with his bossed helmet, Dane axe and short spear although he appears to have had no connection whatsoever with either Orkney or Shetland. Godless among the godly maybe, but both Magnus and Rognvald, like Harald’s cousin Olafr (Saint Olaf) number among those rather strange Norse saints whose sanctity seems to stem from meeting a sticky end in battle or in family feuding.
The book divides Harald’s life into five chapters from the Battle of Sticklarstðir (stiklestad) in 1030 at which a teenage Harald saw the death of his cousin Olaf and was forced to flee to Kiev to be given sanctuary by prince Yarloslav I. The chapter contains a wealth of information about weaponry and battle tactics and the historical background to the period (the book contains a number of colour illustrations) but as is so often the case, Harald remains an elusive figure. We are forced to rely on King Harald’s Saga and as so often, saga material is not always fully reliable.
The second chapter finds us in the Kievan Rus’ and again, the author gives a detailed history but we lose sight of Harald in the detail. The volume is certainly a good introduction to the history for a non academic audience but for anyone wanting to know more about Harald, it could be seen as rather frustrating. To be fair, it is hard to go into detail with a man about whom so comparatively little is known. It is likely that Harald served Yaroslav militarily, but there are just so many ‘it is possible’s and ‘it may be’s. We simply can’t know for sure.
Chapter three takes us to another better known element of Harald’s life. We head for Mikligarðir- Byzantium and his service in the Varangian Guard. We are provided with a helpful history of the Varangian Guard, a combination of mercenary arm, elite corps and royal bodyguard. An intriguing aspect of these axe-bearing soldiers is the suggestion that the dane axe was shouldered left handed and may have been wielded that way. This reviewer knows that there are certain advantages to being left handed as a left hander herself! It is known that the Varangians of Harald’s period saw service in Italy and appears to have seen some naval service but again, other than the saga material, there is no certainty. While seeing service in a state noted for its Christian religion, it is uncertain just how godly the Varangians might have been. Did they have the equivalent of military chaplains? Were they expected to attend religious service? It’s clear that some Byzantine writers saw them as pagans and barbarians. Snorri calls them ‘wineskins’ (p 134) which may be rich coming from a fellow northerner! Harald must certainly be one of the better known Varangians.
Chapter four deals with Harald’s return to Norway. He would have come home a comparatively wealthy man as he seems to have had a reputation for attracting wealth by fair means or foul. It seems likely that his return was prompted by the news that his nephew, Magnus, had been made king and having grabbed the throne, Harald’s reputation as tyrant and troublemaker began. He was clearly more of a violent soldier, warmaker and raider than a caring monarch- a man who saw something he liked in Knutr I (Cnut the Great) but perhaps didn’t fully understand what it was that made him great. He took the view that if Cnut could be king of Denmark, Norway and England,then so could he and that leads us to 1066 and Stamford Bridge.
The final chapter reminds us that Harald’s claim to the English throne was dubious at best although the same could be said for that of the reigning monarch, Harold I Godwinson. Harald clearly got his tactics wrong on the day and taking sides with Harold’s brother was a further mistake. They both paid with their lives on the day. Nic fields does well to remind us that without the Battle of Hasting a few weeks later, Stamford Bridge would have changed English history.
In his epilogue, the author reminds us of the youthful experiences that may have coloured Harald. A huge and violent man who it is very hard to like although he was not the last royal norseman to fall in battle overseas- that honour belongs to Magnus III.
The volume contains three appendices, one on the Skalds, sagas and aspects of Norse life like the raven banner, one on an archaeological project attempting to use the sages as a source for research (one would be a little wary when one thinks of ‘biblical’ archaeology) and one on the position of women and as to whether all norse raiders were ‘large, aggressive, hirsute men’ (p 270)
In all a book well worth reading if one wishes to know more about the world of Harald’s time but a frustrating one if one is looking for more knowledge about Sigurð’s son other than the fact that he is not a man you’d wish to meet in a dark alley!
Jasmin Ditcham
