forest, he made his way to Sweden, whence after the winter was over he went to Russia, where he was kiudly received by King Yaroslaf of Novgorod. He remained in Russia for several years, but, being refused the hand of a Russian prin- cess, he betook himself with several companions to Con- stintinople, and became chief commander of the famous Byzantine life-guards known as Varangians, and consisting alinost wholly of Norsemen, At the head of these warriors he giined many victories over the Saracens in Sicily and Ituly. It is even said that in a crusade against the infidels he penetrated as far as Jerusalem, but most probably if he entered that city it was in the peaceful character of a pilgrim. Returning after his exploits to Constantinople, he was refused the hand of a nicce of the empress Zoe, because, according to the legend, the empress herself was enamoure:l of him; an] offended at the refusal le one night made his escape with two galleys, carrying with him all his treasures, and also it is said the princess whose hand had been denied him, whom, however, he put on shore after he had passed the Bosphorus, with a message to the empress that, if he had so willed, her power would have been vain against his stratezy and skill. He now set sail for Russia, where he was warmly welcomed by King Yaroslaf; and as he was now a man of great fame and wealth Yaroslaf gave him in marriage his daughter Ellisof or Elizabeth, whose hand he had formerly asked in vain. Soon after his marriage he resolved to return home and if possible to win the crown of Norway from his nephew Magnus the Good. With that purpose he about the year1045 came to an agreement with his relative Swend of Denmark, who had been driven by Magnus into exile in Sweden; but Magnus, having obtained news of the intended joint expedition against him, entered into communication with Harold, and agreed to share with him the government of Norway, eacli ruling over a separate division. They now turned their united forces against Swend, drove him from Denmark, and com- pletely prostrated his power ; but just when he had resolved finally in despair to give up the contest, Magnus about the year1047 took suddenly ill and died, bequeathing en his death-bed the whole of Norway to Harold and Denmark to Swenl Such a bequest did not however coincide with the desires of Harold, and between him and Swend a constant wirfare raged for several years, until in 1064 they agreed to a peice by which each retained his dominions according to the oll established boundaries. The chief motive of Harold in consenting to this arrangement was probably that he might be free to embark on a purpose of wider ambition, namely, to revive in his own person the old Scandinavian sovereignty of England which had ended with the death of Hardicanute. The story gocs that he was instigated to the enterprise by a visit from Tostig, the exiled earl of Northumbria; but whether that be so or not, he in 1066 set sail for England with an immense fleet, which carried his wife Ellisof, his son Olaf, his treasures, and more than half of all his fighting men. After touching at Orkney, where he left his wife, he proceeded southwards to the Tyne, and was there joined by Tostig and by a contingent of troops from Maleolm of Scotland. From the Tyne they sailed southwards along the coast of Yorkshire, stopping at inter- vals to ravage the country for provisions, and after proceeding up the Humber cast anchor on the left bank of the Ouse near the village of Riccall. Leaving a detachment under his son Olaf to guard the fleet, Harold along with Tostig marched with a great force towards York, and, defeating the Northumbrians with heavy loss at Fulford on September 20th, received the surrender of the city on September 24th. Meanwhile Harold of England, having heard of the Norse Invasion, was marching northwards from London day and night with an immense army; and passing through York on the day after its surrender, he appeared suddenly on the afternoon before the Norsemen encamped at Stamfordbridge. Taken by surprise, the Norsemen fought nevertheless with stubborn courage and fierce energy, but though the battle was for some time doubt- ful it ended at nightfall in their total overthrow, with a slaughter so enormous that the great majority of them lay dead upon the field. Tostig was slain aud also Harold Hardrada himself, who, towering head and shoulders above all his warriors, was inflicting death on all who dared to meet him, till struck by an arrow in the windpipe he received the wound which laid him low. According to some writers his body ultimately found burial in Norway.
HAROLD IV., king of Norway, surnamed Gille,—said to be the short form of Gylle Nirst, that is, Servant of Christ,—came about the year1127 to Norway with his mother, an Irishwoman, aud claimed to be recognized as the son of King Magnus Barefoot and half-brother of the reigning Sigurd. Sigurd consented to acknowledge the relationship on condition that Harold did not claim any share in the government during his lifetime or that of his son Magnus. This agreement Harold honourably kep‘ during the lifetime of Sigurd, but after his death in 1130 he got himself chosen king of the half of the country, and after several battles took Magnus prisoner, put out his eyes, and confined him ina convent. Harold now reigned as sole king till 1136, when he was murdered in his sleep by Slembi-diakn, another bastard son of Magnus Barefoot.
For the Norwegian Harolds, see the Heimskringla of Snorro Sturleson, translated into English by Samuel Laing, London, 1844; Sturlunga Saga, 2 vols., Oxford, 1878; Carlyle’s Early Kings of Norway, London, 1875; and also, for Harold Hardrada, Freeman’s Norman Conquest, vols. ii, and iii.
HAROLD I., surnamed Harefoot, king of England, illegitimate son of Canute and Alfgiva of Northampton, was on the death of Canute in 1035 chosen by the witan overlord of England and king of the provinces north of the Thames; and in 1037 he became king of England, when the - people of Wessex offered him their crown on Hardicanute refusing to come to England to accept it. In the beginning of Harold’s reign Alfred, son of Ethelred, landed in Wessex, with the purpose it is said of asserting his claims to its sovereignty ; but, either without the knowledge of Earl Godwine, or with his connivance, he was seized by the agents of Harold and put to death with cruel tortures. Harold also banished Queen Emma from the kingdom. The only other events of importance in his reign are inroads of the Welsh and Scots, which were, however, without effectual results, and in the case of the Scots who laid siege to Durham ended in defeat with heavy loss. Harold died at Oxford, March 10, 1040. It is affirmed by some that Harold made no pretensions to a Chistian belief, but this seems an exaggeration, for, whatever may have been his own private opinions, he appears to have conformed generally to the recognized religious customs, and there is one instance at least in which he redressed a wrong dene by others to the church.
HAROLD II., king of the English, was the second son of Earl Godwine and his Danish wife Gytha, the sister of Earl Ulf. The year of his birth is not accurately fixed, but it must have been about 1022. The choice of his name, like that of some others of his brothers and sisters (see Godwine), witnesses to the influence of his Danish mother. Both he and his elder brother Swegen were appointed to earldoms while still very young, seemingly about 1045. Harold’s earldom was that of the East-Angles. In 1046 Swegen, having carried off Eadgifu, abbess of Leominster, and not being allowed to marry her, threw up his earldom in disgust, and his possessions were divided between his brother Harold and his cousin Earl Beorn, the nephew of Gytha. In 1049 Swegen came back and sought the recovery of his lands, which was refused by
