Viking Magazine - May 2022 - 16

Harald is said to have
died in his bed at the age
of 80 at his royal estate
in Avaldsnes around
the year 933 and was
buried in a mound in
Karmøy or Haugesund.
It's another instance
in which no one really
knows for sure where the
boundary between fact
and fiction lies, but in
the 19th century popular
belief held that Harald
was buried in Haugesund.
To commemorate the
millennial anniversary of
the Battle of Hafrsfjord
and the unification of
Norway, an extravagant
monument was thus
raised to Harald's honor at
the site of what was then
believed to be his grave.
Haraldshaugen is now
a national monument
in Haugesund, about 5
miles north of Avaldsnes.
The monument itself was
Located just north
of Haugesund city
center, Haraldshaugen
is Norway's national
monument.
the site's local history, as well as western
Norway's largest Viking market festival that
is held for four days each June at Avaldsnes'
own reconstructed Viking Farm. The site is
also home to the ruins of a royal manor built
by King Håkon IV Håkonsson in the 13th
century and St. Olaf's Church, also built by
Håkon Håkonsson.
AN ENDURING LEGACY
Harald's life remained far from quiet
according to the legendary stories. Among his
other exploits, he conquered Shetland and
Orkney in the British Isles, and set in motion
the strife that would embroil Norway after his
death by initially dividing the kingdom among
his sons and then attempting to transfer the
sole inheritance to his favored son, Erik.
Erik would earn his nickname " Bloodaxe " by
killing many of his own brothers before being
ousted by Harald's youngest son, Håkon the
Good, upon his return from England where
he had been fostered by King Æthelstan.
But all of that occurred after Harald's death.
16
May
2022
erected in 1872 and designed by architect
Christian Christie. It consists of a massive
grave mound surrounded by a granite wall
that features 29 stones, one from each of
Norway's historic counties. A 17-meter-tall
obelisk rests upon the mound and at its
base four bronze panels depict some of the
legendary highlights of Harald's life.
All of which paints a very different picture
than that depicted by many of the medieval
Icelandic sources, which instead often
tend to portray Harald as a tyrant whose
policies provided the primary impetus for
the Norwegian exile to Iceland. Historians
generally believe these Icelandic sources
to be overwrought attempts to glorify and
legitimize the island nation's founding.
But such contrasts and contradictions
are par for the course for a figure with such
a larger-than-life status as Harald. The
achievements attributed to him have been
used to fit the purposes of those who have
propagated the stories about him over the
centuries. And that continues even in our
sonsofnorway.com
BY SCANDPHOTO / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
PHOTO

http://www.sonsofnorway.com

Viking Magazine - May 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Viking Magazine - May 2022

Viking Magazine - May 2022 - 1
Viking Magazine - May 2022 - 2
Viking Magazine - May 2022 - 3
Viking Magazine - May 2022 - 4
Viking Magazine - May 2022 - 5
Viking Magazine - May 2022 - 6
Viking Magazine - May 2022 - 7
Viking Magazine - May 2022 - 8
Viking Magazine - May 2022 - 9
Viking Magazine - May 2022 - 10
Viking Magazine - May 2022 - 11
Viking Magazine - May 2022 - 12
Viking Magazine - May 2022 - 13
Viking Magazine - May 2022 - 14
Viking Magazine - May 2022 - 15
Viking Magazine - May 2022 - 16
Viking Magazine - May 2022 - 17
Viking Magazine - May 2022 - 18
Viking Magazine - May 2022 - 19
Viking Magazine - May 2022 - 20
Viking Magazine - May 2022 - 21
Viking Magazine - May 2022 - 22
Viking Magazine - May 2022 - 23
Viking Magazine - May 2022 - 24
Viking Magazine - May 2022 - 25
Viking Magazine - May 2022 - 26
Viking Magazine - May 2022 - 27
Viking Magazine - May 2022 - 28
Viking Magazine - May 2022 - 29
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Viking Magazine - May 2022 - 44
Viking Magazine - May 2022 - 45
Viking Magazine - May 2022 - 46
Viking Magazine - May 2022 - 47
Viking Magazine - May 2022 - 48
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