WARRIORS

 Hello ladies and gents this is the Viking telling you that today we are talking about

HARALD HARDRADA

His name meant 'Hard Ruler' and from a young age Harald Hardrada gained a taste for blood. As a teenager, he fought in a bloody power struggle alongside his half-brother Olaf against king Cnut the Great. They lost and Harald went into exile.

Stumbling into Constantinople, he joined the Varangian Guard – an elite force of mostly Norse fighters who served to protect Byzantine. Harald distinguished himself in the guard, garnering a reputation as a mighty warrior with a ‘talent for war’ and a penchant for brutality.

Described as cold, ruthless and aggressively ambitious, Harald soon amassed himself a large wealth. He then turned his sights to Norway, where Olaf’s son Magnus had recently been crowned king. The pair came to a compromise to co-rule, an agreement that lasted just one year as Magnus passed away, leaving Harald the new King of Norway in 1046.

After swiftly crushing any resistance to his reign, the formidable warlord turned his sights on the English throne, mounting an audacious invasion in September 1066. Initial success couldn’t be sustained and Harald was defeated at the Battle of Stamford Bridge by the forces of Harold II, who would go on to lose to William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings a few weeks later.

Although Harald was said to have fought during the Battle of Stamford Bridge with the fury of a beserker, with no body armour on, an arrow to the throat felled him. His death marks the end of the Viking Age, making Harald the last great Viking ruler.

And as always have a chilled day from the Viking