Harald Hardrada

Rare card · No. 15545

Harald Sigurdsson (Old Norse: Haraldr Sigurðarson; c. 1015 – 25 September 1066), also known as Harald Hardrada or Harald III, was King of Norway from 1046 to 1066. He unsuccessfully claimed the Danish throne until 1064 and the English throne in 1066 but was unsuccessful and got shot in the throat by an arrow at the battle of Stamford Bridge. Before becoming king, Harald spent 15 years in exile as a mercenary and military commander in Kievan Rus' and chief of the Varangian Guard in the Byzantine Empire. In his chronicle, Adam of Bremen called him the "Thunderbolt of the North". In 1030, the fifteen-year-old Harald fought in the Battle of Stiklestad alongside his half-brother Olaf Haraldsson. Olaf sought to reclaim the Norwegian throne, which he had lost to Danish king Cnut two years previously. Olaf and Harald were defeated by forces loyal to Cnut, and Harald was forced into exile to Kievan Rus'. Thereafter, he was in the army of Grand Prince Yaroslav the Wise, becoming captain, until he...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Zeichner: C. I. Schive, Lithograf Bucher in Bergen, Public domain