Further Reading
Literature
Bagge, Sverre. “Kirkens jurisdiksjon i kristenrettssaker før 1277.”
Historisk tidsskrift (Norway) 60 (1981), 133–59.
Bagge, Sverre. “The Formation of the State and Concepts of
Society in 13th Century Norway.” In Continuity and Change:
Political Institutions and Literary Monuments in the Middle
Ages. A Symposium. Ed. Elisabeth Vestergard. Odense: Odense
University Press, 1986, pp. 43–61.
Bagge, Sverre. “Borgerkrig og statsutvikling i Norge i middelal-
deren.” Historisk tidsskrift (Norway) 65 (1986), 145–97.
Bagge, Sverre. The Political Thought of the King’s Mirror.
Mediaeval Scandinavia Supplements, 3. Odense: Odense
University Press, 1987.
Bjørgo, Narve. “Om skriftlege kjelder for Hákonar saga.” Histo-
risk tidsskrift (Norway) 46 (1967), 185–229.
Crawford, Barbara E “The Earls of Orkney-Caithness and
Their Relations with the Kings of Norway and Scotland:
1150–1470.” Diss. Si. Andrews University, 1971.
Crawford, Barbara E. “Weland of Stiklaw: A Scottish Royal
Servant at the Norwegian Court.” Historiskodsskrift (Norway)
52 (1973), 329–39.
Gunnes, Erik. “Kirkelig jurisdiksjon i Norge 1153–1277.” His-
torisk tidsskrift (Norway) 49 (1970), 109–60.
Helle, Knut. “Tendenser i nyere norsk høymiddelalderforskning.”
Historisk tidsskrift (Norway) 40 (1960–61), 337–70.
Helle, Knut. “Trade and Shipping Between Norway and England
in the Reign of Håkon Håkonsson (1217–1263).” Sjøfartshis-
torisk årbok (Bergen) (1967), 7–33.
Helle, Knut. “Anglo-Norwegian Relations in the Reign of Håkon
Håkonsson (1217–63).” Mediaeval Scandinavia 1 (1968),
101–14.
Helle, Knut. Konge og gode menn i norsk riksstyring ca. 1150–
- Bergen: Universitetsforlaget, 1972.
Helle, Knut. Norge blir en stat, 1130–1319. Handbok i Norges
historie, 3. 2nd ed. Bergen: Universitetsforlaget, 1974.
Helle, Knut. “Norway in the High Middle Ages: Recent Views
on the Structure of Society.” Scandinavian Journal of History
6 (1981), 161–89.
Koht, Halvdan. “The Scandinavian Kingdoms Until the End of
the Thirteenth Century.” In The Cambridge Medieval History - Ed. J. R. Tanner et al. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1929, pp. 362–92.
Lunden, Karå. Norge under Sverreætten 1177–1319. Norges
Historie, 3. Oslo: Cappelen, 1976.
Jón Viðar Sigurðsson
HARALDR HARÐRÁÐI
(“HARD-RULER”) SIGURÐARSON
(1046–1066)
Haraldr harðraði (“hard-ruler”) was the half-brother of
St. Óláfr, the son of Óláfr’s mother, Ásta, and her hus-
band, Sigurðr sýr (“sow”) Hálfdanarson. His hereditary
claim to the Norwegian throne was thus dubious, but he
lived in an age when hereditary rights were not para-
mount. According to Heimskringla, Haraldr “excelled
other men in shrewdness and resourcefulness.... He was
exceedingly skilled in arms, and victorious in his under-
takings... a handsome man of stately, appearance. He
was light blond, with a blond beard and long mustaches,
with one eyebrow higher than the other... ruthless with
his enemies, and given to harsh punishment of all who
opposed him... inordinately covetous of power and of
valuable possessions of all kinds” (ch. 99). He succeeded
to sole possession of the Norwegian throne in 1047.
Haraldr’s career is recounted mainly in his saga in
Snorri Sturluson’s Heimskringla. At the age of fi fteen,
he fought alongside his half-brother in the battle of
Stiklastaðir (Stiklestad), where Óláfr was killed. He
then spent fi fteen years away from Norway in the service
of the Kievan prince Jaroslav, whose daughter he later
married, and in the imperial service in Byzantium. The
saga describes his years as leader of the Varangian Guard
there in exaggerated terms: the empress Zóe falls in love
with him; he captures cities using stratagems that are
common folktale motifs. A Greek work written in the
1070s, Logos nuthetikos, also refers to his campaigns.
Haraldr was also imprisoned in Byzantium for a time.
In 1045, Haraldr returned to Norway and made a
treaty to share the rule with Óláfr’s son Magnús inn góði
(“the good”) until the tetter’s death without male issue,
when Haraldr became sole ruler. The years of Haraldr’s
rule in Norway are characterized by his repeated cam-
paigns against Sven Estridsen in Denmark, including the
burning of Hedeby in 1049. The two fi nally reached a
treaty in 1064. Haraldr’s mobilization against Denmark
was made possible by his consolidation of control over
Norway itself, in what Icelandic authors, at least, per-
ceived as a harsh and overbearing manner. He was also
known for his infl uence over the Norwegian Church,
building churches and handpicking bishops and other
offi cials. According to the sources, he founded Oslo
and introduced coins as a common means of payment,
although other rulers had struck coins previously. His
reputation, which has come down to us mainly through
Icelandic literature, is generally favorable, since he is
credited with saving Iceland from famine. But some of
the þættir included in the Morkinskinna version of his
saga depict his personality rather unsympathetically.
His nickname refl ects the harshness many authors at-
tributed to him.
Haraldr had a claim to the English throne by virtue of
a treaty between his nephew Magnús and Hardacnut, son
of Knud (Cnut) the Great. Upon the death of Edward the
Confessor in January 1066, Haraldr saw an opportunity
to make that claim. He landed in Yorkshire, and was
eventually defeated by Harold Godwinsson at the battle
of Stamford Bridge. But the English army’s desperate
ride north, losses sustained at Stamford Bridge, and
rapid return south weakened it greatly just before Harold
Godwinsson had to meet William the Conquerer at the
battle of Hastings. Haraldr harðráði’s invasion was thus
the determining factor in Harald Godwinsson’s loss to
William, which changed the political face of Europe.
Haraldr’s death at Stamford Bridge is often taken asHÁKON HÁKONARSON