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This is the second biography of Harald Hardrada that I’ve read in the last couple of years, and the contrast between the two books is quite remarkable. The first, God’s Viking, focused largely on what can be proved from contemporary or near contemporary sources, which greatly reduced the amount of information on Harald’s life, as the most detailed sources on his life weren’t written until much later. However the gap was filled with a great deal of fascinating background material on Harald’s world, looking at the role of the Vikings in early Russia, the Varangian Guard in Byzantium etc.
In contrast Hollway has decided to treat the later sources, and in particular the Heimskringla of Snorri Sturluson, written on Iceland in the 13th century, two centuries after Harald’s time, as a fairly reliable source. This approach means we get far more detail on Harald’s life, but somewhat reduces its reliability – many of the details recorded in Snorri’s work don’t match the more limited contemporary sources.
Harald had a fascinating life. He first emerged into history when his half-brother Olaf was defeated and killed at the battle of Stiklestad (1030) when he attempted to regain the throne of Norway (this is an example of the problems of relying on the sagas – more contemporary sources have Olaf killed in an ambush or by his own people, with no mention of a battle). In the aftermath of the battle (or of Olaf’s death at least), Harald fled to Kievan ‘Rus, and from there to Byzantium, where he served with the Varangian Guard and probably became its commander. Eventually he had to leave Byzantium, and returned to Norway, where he managed to convince King Magnus the Good to share the throne with him. Magnus died after a year of duel rule, and Harald ruled for the next twenty years, before dying at the battle of Stamford Bridge while attempting to invade England.
This is certainly the more entertaining of the two books, and tells the story of Harald as it was seen until the early twentieth century, when the saga accounts were subjected to stricter historical analysis. Hollway does compare his sources, and comments when something isn’t recorded in them all, and when there is disagreement between the sources. The ideal book would probably be somewhere between these two in its approach! However the two books work well together, with God’s Viking covering the time period and the most reliably documented part of Harald’s life, and this book filling out the story of Harald himself.
Chapters
1 – Seven Feet of English Ground
2 – Eye of God
3 – Exile
4 – Kievan Rus
5 – Miklagaard
6 – Varangia
7 – Command
8 – Holy Land
9 – Sicily
10 – Uprising
11 – The Burner of Bulgars
12 – Reign of Terror
13 – Revolution
14 – Blinding
15 – Power
16 – Lover
17 – Downfall
18 – War
19 – Escape from Byzantium
20 – Prince of the Rus
21 – Denmark
22 – Treachery
23 – Kings of the North
24 – Thunderbolt of the North
25 – Dragon Ships
26 – Hard Ruler
27 – The Battle of the Nisa
28 – Sweden
29 – England
30 – Stamford Bridge
Author: Don Hollway
Edition: Paperback
Pages: 368
Publisher: Osprey
Year: 2023