harold hardrada

[nokhor]

anyone know where i can get some solid info on this guy? i have only been able to find the barest minimum on him so far. this is what i know.

was a pretender to the throne of norway, his faction lost and he ended up adventuring and fighting for the byzantine empress zoe against the seljuk turks. he somehow eventually became king of norway and invaded england in 1066 where he had some dynastic claims. fought a battle against the saxon english king godwin at stamford bridge, where reputedly, one of hardrada's beserkers asked for and recieved permission to defend the bridge alone against the saxons. hadrada was decisively defeated and killed at stamford bridge along with 90% of his invasion force.
godwin didn't have time to celebrate his great victory, since he had to march south to fight a more famous battle, a couple of days later at hastings vs another pretender william of normandy.

i'm just amazed that hardrada managed to travel as extensively as he did, and dip his toe in all these regional conflicts.

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indeed

[Tachikaze]

When did he visit Japan?

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Knowing the Tao saves you thousands of dollars in psychiatric bills and credit card debt.

[nokhor]

lol

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indeed

[Orda Khan]

Well the Vikings had sailed as far as Constantinople, sometimes having to carry their boats overland establishing trade with Byzantium and other Mediterranean countries.
......Orda

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" Send us your ambassadors and thus we shall judge whether you wish to be at peace with us or at war..if you make war on us the Everlasting God, who makes easy what was difficult and makes near what was far, knows that we know what our power is."

[NinjaKilla]

Anglo-Saxon history is kinda my thing, so I can only conment on those apsects of what you have said.

Hardrada's claim on the English throne may have been ligitimate. He claimed that a treaty between Magnus and Harthacnut had intended that he become king: as a powerful Danish king (Denmark had always had a strong relationship with England) and a descendant of Cnut this claim was probably taken seriously, indeed Harold son of Godwine's brother saw it as an opportunity to rival his sibling. Nevertheless, it is doubtful that Edward desired further Danish involvment in the rule of (southern) England, indeed he probably saw Harold as something of a babarian. What is much more likely is that Edward had intended that William take over after his death. William of Normandy was by no means a pretender: two separate accounts refer to Edward's intention to install William as his successor. Nevertheless, these accounts do not agree on a date and it is likely that as the Godwine's power in Edward's court grew these aspirations were muffled.

I'm not to clear on Byzantine poltics of the time (is anyone? ), but I believe that a number of Vikings travelled to the Eastern Empire and were so respected as warriors that they became the Enperor's bodyguard... hmmm might have to check my facts on that. Indeed it is amazing that the Vikings managed to travel as far as they did, managing to establish such a fearsome reputation. The reasons behind this behaviour are something that I'd love to have studied although it seems that this is a subject that needs further analysis.

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Clan Kenchikuka

[Wavesword]

Try chapter 48 of Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire for a succinct account of byzantine history. The varangian guard did serve the Byzantine emperors, the Byzantines excess of gold led them to employ armies of a distinctly mercenary caste.