The Last Viking King of England
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- 10 min read
By Gary Oswald.
In 1013 Sweyn Forkbeard, King of Denmark and Norway, invaded England after having raided the country regularly for the last decade. England was considerably richer than Denmark or Norway and it contained a Norse settler minority as a result of the success of the great heathen army, and so was a tempting target. Sweyn would prove successful, subjugating the entire country, driving Æthelred the Unready into exile in Normandy and holding his new lands for five weeks before he died in mysterious circumstances. He was the first Scandinavian King of all of England.
As was the tradition of the Norse families, his lands were split upon his death between his sons, with the eldest being given Denmark and the younger, Cnut, inheriting England. Cnut would be driven off by a returning Æthelred before he could claim the throne but he would return two years later to find Æthelred had started a civil war by punishing collaborators with the Danish regime. Taking advantage of that chaos, Cnut would spend 1016 conquering England, becoming the second Scandinavian King of all of England. In 1018, Cnut's eldest brother died and Cnut took over Denmark, reuniting the two realms.
With both the English and Danish Armies at his command, and with the ability to tax the rich lands of England to raise great fleets, Cnut set about proving his strength, defeating the joint forces of the Swedes and Norwegians and making shows of strength in Pomerania, Scotland and Ireland. By 1030, he could call himself "King of all England and Denmark and the Norwegians and of some of the Swedes" and was generally considered the second most powerful ruler in Europe after the Holy Roman Emperor.
In that year of 1030, there was an unsuccessful Norwegian rebellion against Cnut's rule in which a 15-year-old royal named Harald, the younger brother of the previous King of Norway, was injured. He went into hiding after the battle and escaped Norway entirely to go into exile in the east, alongside his nephew, where he would work for the Kievan Rus and the Byzantine Empire.
In 1035, Cnut died and, as his father Sweyn had done, he split his realms between his sons. Harthacnut inherited Denmark, with his brothers Svein and Harold holding Norway and England. Svein however was driven out of Norway before Cnut had even actually died, being replaced by Norwegian exile Magnus (Harald's infant nephew) who was carried into Norway with a Swedish Army. Harthacnut would spend the years following his coronation fighting Magnus to retake Norway before a peace treaty was agreed in 1039 (after Svein's death), which saw both monarchs agree to make the other their heir, with the thrones being reunited as a result. Harold in England was meant to be purely a regent for his brother but grew ambitious; with his brother busy in Scandinavia, he declared himself King of England in 1037 after defeating an attempt by the English nobility to overthrow him because he maintained the loyalty of his council.
Harold died in 1040 and Harthacnut took his fleet to England to assume direct control, where his autocratic tendencies and high taxes proved unpopular. He invited his English half-brother, Edward the Confessor, back from exile in 1041 to serve as the King's heir in England, so that throne would not go to Magnus of Norway like the Danish one would. Harthacnut would die in 1042, the last Scandinavian King of England. After him would come Edward the Confessor, Harold Godwinson and then William the Conqueror.
But he did not have to be the last one. Scandinavian kings continued to see England as an innate part of their lands, and particularly the richest part. Magnus of Norway regularly talked about invading England, making plans in 1045 to do so. He didn't because he was distracted by events in Scandinavia. Harthacnut had left his cousin Sweyn II, the son of Cnut's half-sister, as regent of Denmark, and Sweyn had became a thorn in Magnus' side when the latter took the throne of Denmark, leading many unsuccessful rebellions against him. But in 1046, Sweyn met up with other enemies of Magnus.
One was Anund Jacob, the Swedish king who had helped Magnus take control of Norway in the first place. Jacob's security depended on Norway and Denmark being at each other's throat and his entire foreign policy was preventing that union by supporting rebels. He was as happy to aid a Danish rebel against Norway as vice versa. Another was Harald, Magnus' uncle, who had returned from his exile in the east to challenge for the Norwegian throne he'd fought Cnut for. And a third was Edward the Confessor, who sent his fleet to fight Magnus for the Danes and prevent him being able to focus on England.
This alliance threatened Magnus' position and as a result he agreed a peace, recognising Harald as his co-ruler and Sweyn as his heir in Denmark. Magnus died in 1047 and Harald would become King of Norway at the age of 31, where he earned the epithet Hardrada or Hard Ruler. Between 1048 and 1064, Harald would be at war with his old ally Sweyn but despite winning numerous battles he would fail to reunite the two realms and eventually, with Harald facing both rebellions back home and conflict with Sweden, a white peace was agreed.
In 1066, Edward the Confessor died and both Harald and Sweyn viewed this as a chance to regain the richest province in the North Sea Empire, which would help break the impasse between the two of them in Scandinavia. And Harald, having put down the Farmer's rebellions and raided into Sweden, would be the first to try it. Both men were encouraged in this aim by the pleas of Tostig Godwinson, the deposed Earl of Northumbria and brother of the new King Harold. Tostig had rebelled against his brother after being removed from his position and raided southern England before fleeing to Scotland, where Malcolm III of Scotland, who had been married to Harald Hardrada's niece, encouraged him to ask for Norwegian assistance. Tostig would add many men to Harald's army, his own small band of exiles, but also Flemish mercenaries and a few thousand from his Scottish Ally. Harald was also able to recruit many norse-gaels from the Orkneys and the Western Isles who were unwilling to fight in Denmark but happy to invade England.
Thus Harald's force in 1066 was stronger than any he pitted against Sweyn in Denmark, but not ultimately strong enough. At the Battle of Stamford Bridge his army was caught unaware and split into two by the English, who massacred them with Harald and Tostig both dying. The English themselves, weakened by this attack, would soon lose to the Normans.
Sweyn of Denmark would try his luck at England a few years later but would accept danegeld to depart before trying the Normans in battle. Sweyn's son, Canute IV, would plan an invasion in 1085 but was killed by rebels before he could depart and after that Danish focus turned mostly to the Baltic.
Harald's sons, Olaf and Magnus, would take over in Norway and their reigns would be largely peaceful but Norway collapsed into civil war in 1130 which would remove it as a power for the next hundred years ago. The country would have a brief resurgence after that war but the combination of the Black Death, the Little Ice Age and being held under either the Danish or Swedish crowns largely prevented it from ever being a peer with England again.
But what if Harald won?
To do so, he'd probably have to get luckier with his timing than OTL. Even if he was prepared for the English at Stamford Bridge and won, that just leaves him having to deal with William. It's possible the two would come up with a deal and England would be split into two, but frankly neither had a great record of keeping those deals, so we can assume a fight would happen and the Normans would probably win.
But if the Normans had already invaded and been defeated by the English, Harald has a much better chance against a divided and weakened English force.
This would obviously have consequences in France, where the Duchy of Normandy would be hugely weakened, which would be a boost to the French crown. And it would have ramifications to the balance of power in Scandinavia, where Magnus would be regent of Norway for his father and both Denmark and Sweden would be wary of English power being used against them, the way Cnut had. Scotland would also have reasons to be wary as between the Orkneys and England, they would be surrounded by Norwegian possessions.
It is possible a large anti-Norwegian alliance is assembled though it is equally possible that they were all bloodied enough to relish peace if Harald is willing to accept it himself. After all, Harald was fifty when he died, and his sons were less warlike. If he spends a decade solidifying his grip on England, then he's probably not fit for campaigning beyond that, though given his history it's hard not to imagine him immediately turning on Denmark as soon as he can.
It's also possible that there is simply a large and successful anti-Norwegian uprising by the English before that can happen. Harald was known as the Hard Ruler for a reason, his uncompromising attitude to the nobility and the church is likely to make him unpopular in a country used to a powerful advisory council just as Harthacnut was. This is especially true if high taxes are raised to fund more invasions of Denmark and Sweden, countries which England had no real interest in, with it largely trading in the lowlands and Germany. And the Norwegian army is less formidable than the Norman army and does not have the same inclination for castle building to protect their nobility from peasant revolts. A revolt could be more successful than any in OTL.
Norway does have advantages that Normandy didn't, however. Firstly, Normandy was constantly rebelling against its Dukes and the Norman army created over powerful semi-independent feudal lords. One of the quirks of Norman England is the Normans were far more rebellious than the English. Norway, under the good governance of Magnus, is likely to be much quieter, allowing Harald to focus on England. Secondly there are Danish and Norwegian settlers in England who routinely welcomed Norse kings. Thirdly, Norway was a huge fleet which gives it a military advantage that the Normans didn't have, for all their cavalry and castles.
And lastly, Harald was an existing part of British politics in a way William wasn't. Tostig is an Anglo-Saxon noble who is at Harald's side while Malcolm II, who was a thorn in the side of William I and extended de-facto Scottish control down to the Tyne, was an ally of Harald who had lent him support in his invasion. The powerful Earls of Orkney had fought alongside Harald at Stamford Bridge as had Norse-Gael exiles driven out of Dublin and the Isle of Man by Diarmait mac Máel na mBó. Diarmait, King of Leinster would in our timeline aid and abet Anglo-Saxon and Welsh rebels against William. In this timeline if he tried that Harald would sweep in with his fleet and reinstate the Norse-Gaels in charge, something that would happen after Diarmait's death in OTL anyway when Harald's grandson, Magnus Barefoot, made Norway the main power in the Irish Sea. Harald's son Magnus had fought in Wales and Ireland prior to 1066 and had pre-existing alliances, not just with the Norse-Gaels but also with the family of Gruffudd ap Llywelyn who had united all of Wales, before being defeated by the English. Gruffudd's sons would be active until 1070 hoping to reunite their father's Kingdom and with pre-existing relations with Norway would probably come to Harald for help.
This gave Harald levers and relationships to use on the other rulers of the British Isles, which means he is less likely to face such hostility from them as William did, especially if Sweyn is more wary to cross Harald than William. The existence of the Norwegian fleet also prevents the other powers from doing so unchallenged, the Normans had to invade Wales and Scotland by land whereas they are more vulnerable by sea. This possibly means more of the English exiles have to flee to the Holy Roman Empire or the Byzantine Empire (where many went in OTL, supposedly forming colonies in modern day Ukraine) due to hostility from Scotland and Ireland. Harald's own history, as an exile who returned from exile to take the throne, is interesting in this, in that judging by other examples such as Henry VII, it probably makes him more wary of that threat than is actually reasonable. One can imagine him vigorously pursuing diplomacy with the aim of removing any exiles from their patrons, perhaps offering Scottish and Welsh kings land to hold in England as a way of breaking those bonds while also tying those rulers to himself.
There are a number of ways this could end up. One is quite simply anarchy. Harald is unwilling to stop his war making and launches attack after attack on Denmark, Sweden and Scotland with his new riches. He is quickly disliked for his ruthlessness, feared for his aggressiveness and not trusted for his habit of making and breaking deals. He is faced with both revolts and war with his neighbours and his empire collapses, either while he is still alive or after his death. An Anglo-Saxon England emerges from the ashes of this.
Two, Harald is an old man and England is his last great campaign. His fearsome reputation and active naval diplomacy prevents the likes of Sweyn from challenging him, and upon his death his two more peaceful sons divide the lands between them but remain a close alliance and so aren't overthrown. Denmark contests the Baltic with Sweden while probably aligning with Scotland to check the Norwegian-English alliance. Eventually that alliance breaks thanks to English disinterest in the weaker northern realm. England, with a Norse King and possibly a decent amount of Norwegian immigrants as the climate gets cooler, become the inheritor of the Norse lands in both the Irish Sea and the North Atlantic (Harald is noted for making voyages into the arctic ocean) after this stronger Norwegian realm takes earlier control of Iceland and Greenland. This England is therefore more dominant navally and forms a strong trade relationship with France without the reasons for bad blood in OTL.
Three, Harald gives one son England and one son Norway, and England and Norway are caught in a constant cycle of unification, division and warfare as each king splits his land upon death and each son than tries to conquer the other to prove himself stronger. This weakens both lingdoms to the extent that they are either partitioned or conquered by their neighbours.
Or any number of other results. But in all of them it extends the Scandinavian age of English history at least for several more decades after 1066 and makes someone else the last Viking King of England.
Gary Oswald is the editor of the Grapeshot and Guillotines, Emerald Isles, and If We'd Just Got That Penalty anthologies.
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