Customer Reviews

King Harald's Saga: Harald Hardradi of Norway: From Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla (Penguin Classics)

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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 wind-buffeted island kingdom of Denmark and he embarks on his final expedition to seize the English throne in the tradition of Swein Forkbeard and Cnut. This expedition is generally held by scholars to have been the final gasp of the viking world as it was the last full-scale viking expedition launched from the North that history records. But history had already moved on and Harald, supreme viking marauder that he was, is plainly relegated to the margins as Duke William Bastard of Normandy (another descendant of vikings, by the way), has his own dibs in.

To see how this all played out, it's worth reading King Harald's Saga or, if you've a mind to go a little farther, a marvelous historical novel based on this three-way tug of war by the Canadian author Hope Muntz. It's called THE GOLDEN WARRIOR and there are few historical novels which have been done better. I'd also recommend the HEIMSKRINGLA itself, if you've an interest in the Northern thing. It contains many great sagas like this one of King Harald.

By the way, there are a whole slew of good books out there for those into vikings and historical adventure, including a brand new one by Jeff Janoda called SAGA: A NOVEL OF MEDIEVAL ICELAND which details the events surrounding one of the most intriguing episodes in Eyrbyggja Saga (one of the most renowned of the original Norse sagas). It tells the story of a great feud between two chieftains over a little piece of forested land in an Iceland in which wood was as precious as gold. Other good ones include Cecelia Holland's very modern and psychological TWO RAVENS, a glimpse into the hot-house environment of an Icelandic farm, and Jane Smiley's THE GREENLANDERS which tells of the final days of the the Norse settlement in Greenland as the cold and Eskimos close in around the settlers. And if you still have any patience and want more, perhaps you'd want to try my own small effort, THE KING OF VINLAND'S SAGA, which I wrote to be the saga I'd always wished had been written and preserved about the Norse excursions to North America.

All, I believe, are available in some form or another on-line. Mine I know is.

Stuart W. Mirsky
author of The King of Vinland's Saga

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!

When his half-brother, King Olaf the Saint, was killed in battle, Harald Sigurdssen fled Norway at the age of 15. Harald traveled throughout Russia and Europe, became a mercenary soldier of the Varangian Guard in Byzantium, and eventually returned to Norway to claim the throne. Over the next twenty years he became known as Harald Hadradi (Harald the Ruthless). He ruled Norway with an iron hand, made constant war on Denmark, and won renown as the most feared warrior in Europe. At age 51 Harald undertook his most daring endeavor--the invasion of England. In 1066 he landed an army in Northern England, and did battle with the Saxons at Stamford Bridge. My highschool history books told much about 1066, the the Battle of Hastings, and the Norman Conquest, but nothing of Harald Hadradi. I had quite a surprise when I read this book as a college student. What might have been had the Battle of Stamford Bridge gone differently? Nineteen days later at Hastings William the Conqueror would have faced Vikings under Harald Hadradi, not Saxons under Harold Godwinson. What might have been had Harald not invaded? At Hastings the Saxon army would have been neither fatigued by forced marches nor battered from the desperate Battle of Stamford Bridge. Although we cannot be certain of the hypothetical outcome of the Norman invasion under such changed circumstances, we can be certain of this: The story of Harald is intriguing and action-packed. Harald may not cut a very sympathetic figure, but his prowess and his deeds command a begrudging admiration.

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.

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!

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?

Harald's Saga might prove to be a dissapointment to both casual readers and those who are already accustomed to the style of the sagas alike, which is why I have dubbed it a 'Collector's Piece,' because I see it as only necessary to acquire if you are very interested in the subject of Icelandic sagas and already have a collection of the essentials (Njal's saga, Laxdaela Saga, Egil's Saga, etc.). It is by no means a good choice for someone just beginning to delve into these types of books (the best choice would be either Eyrbyggja or Laxdaela Saga in my opinion). Although, as someone who already DOES have a collection of Sagas and IS a collector, I did find much enjoyment in Harald's Saga. But at the same time, I was also frustrated by it's length (a little over 100 pages, with pages sometimes being half obscured by footnotes), along with the fact that very much of the saga is conveyed through court poetry. This might not seem like such a bad thing, but it is. Court poetry is an extremely complicated form of poetry, which makes it almost literally impossible to translate into another language and at the same time retain both metre and meaning. So the translators have decided it only appropriate to translate all of the poetry in prose, with neither metre, refrain, rhyme, or any other aspects of poetry as they are bent on conveying the meaning of the verse rather than the form. Of course, I can not blame the translator's for this; this is nobody's fault, but it does mean that a whole lot of Harald's Saga was lost in the translation.

However, what is interesting about Harald's Saga is how it relates to our own (American, English) culture, as King Harald Sigurdsson was the Norwegian king that invaded England and may have been the reason why King Harold of England lost his battle with William the Conqueror and likewise lost the throne.

I also want to point out to buyers that this is not the King Harald often mentioned in the other sagas, but a King Harald born much later than the sagas of Egil Skalagrimsson, Njal, or Snorri the Priest.

REP

just wanted to write that there is no point in buying this when one can buy the HEIMSKRINGLA for not that much more. if you already own this book, i can tell you that the HEIMSKRINGLA contains tons more of the same (if you're curious, i bought this book used the same time i bought the HEIMSKRINGLA, not knowning that one was contained within the other). personally, i am not such a huge fan of the HEIMSKRINGLA as compared to the other famous sagas (egils', njal's, laexerdal, etc...), but it's still not a bad read; snorri's writing style is much more like a listing, an historical recording, than a telling of a tale (which i prefer).

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, the main reason that England was conquered by the Normans in 1066; 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.

This saga chronicles the life of King Harald Hardradi (The Ruthless), the last of the great Viking kings. From his early life and travels to Constantinople to his death at the battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066, the saga provides a good picture of his life.

King Harald was important for a number of reasons and his late life both shaped modern history and brought an era to a close. His failed invasion of England deeply contributed to the Norman victory at Hastings, and he was widely reviled by Churchmen of his day, who felt he returned to pagan ways. Also it is by no means accidental that Gwyn Jones ("A History of the Vikings") ends the Viking Era with his death. Hence this saga is of great historical value in that it provides more information on a historically important figure.

Serious students, however, should skip this work, as it is an excerpt from a much larger collection entitled "Heimskringla" which is also available in a number of translations. For those who wish to simply read a short, fun, and action-packed saga, this book is for you.