I would put in Eric the Red, Leif Erikson, Ragnar Lothbrok, Bjorn Ironside, Gunnar Harmundarson, Ivar the Boneless, Eric Bloodaxe, Egil Skallagrimsson, Harald Hardrada, Freydís Eiríksdóttir, Halfdan Ragnarsson, Rollo of Normandy, Sigurd Snake-in-the Eye, Sweyn Forkbeard, Ubba Ragnarsson, Olaf Tryggvason, Knut the Great, Harold Bluetooth, Hastein (also known as Hasting), Harald Fairhair, Gorm the Old as 21 in contention, though Harold Bluetooth and Gorm the Old was more successful leaders, than badass Vikings. Erik the Red was pretty badass, so was Ivar the Boneless, Egil Skallagrimsson, Sweyn Forkbeard, Harald hardrada, Gunnar Harmundarson, Eric Bloodaxe, Bjorn Ironside, Ragnar Lodbrok and Freydis Eiriksdottir. But I guess it depends on your perspective and definition of badass. Rollo of Normandy, Sigurd Snake-in-the-eye and Knut the Great could be in contention too I think.
14:10 This! I've been saying for years if I could change one thing in history it would be the Norse winning at Stamford Bridge and conquering England. I thought I was the only one to wonder how different the world would be if this was the case. But maybe I'm biased cause I'm from York and just absolutely love the Viking influence here. Wish it remained in Viking hands.
@Berserking Bishop As far as I'm aware the Anglo-Saxons were more Christian. Wasn't it them who made the Norse get baptised and adopt the Christian God into the Norse pantheon They also got wrecked by Normans and later the French. There is a huge French influence in England, especially down south. Where-as Yorkshire still retains a lot of Norse influence. Even the Yorkshire dialect has similarities to Icelandic.
@Berserking Bishop Don't go changing the subject. I responded to the OP. There is nothing that doesn't have ripples. If I got my wish with this I wouldn't likely even be alive. Besides which: you can't even claim "Christian Values" for this. Christians owned them just like everyone else.
I lived in York for five years, close to Fulford. I heard of the Stamford bridge battle but I lacked sufficient context to understand its importance. Thank you for sharing ☺️
I found out about his improbable connection to the Byzantine empire only a short while ago. He is called Αράλδης (Araldes) in Greek texts. I'm fascinated by the possibility that he could actually speak some Greek. Think of that! A Norwegian noble being politically active in my part of the woods! History never ceases to amaze me.
11:44...fairly certain Tostig was pronounced Tosty as a 'G' following an 'I' often acted as a 'Y' or similar extra vowel in Old English and maybe in Old Norse too.
Ragnhild Maria Haraldsdottir was a daughter of Hardråde. My genealogy indicates that she was (one of) my 23rd GGM(s). I'm 35 percent Scandinavian. It is great to learn about their lives from the safety of an easy chair. 😉
I love the way you present these videos. You're very easy to listen to and I feel lucky to be learning this history from someone who believes in truth and fact (as much as one can) not popular bullshit history. Dunno if I have any Viking blood... maybe... plenty of Scottish, Irish and English. Apparently my grandfather was the runt of the litter. All my great uncles are 6'4" to 7' tall. I'm average about 5'10". Anyway, I'm hooked! You are a natural story teller, keep up the good work!
Norwegians (and the Scandinavian people) are amazing and have the best tall tales. BTW: I think most who became christian didn't see the differences in religion that we do now.
Most norse that converted to kvite krist did it for peace stay in power, convinient or an nesseseary evil, the north of norways "vikings" mingled with samipeople so they kept all faiths trough mixing them up, and the church mixed some pagan rituals in to make more people join, such as Christmas, its called Jul in Norway,, Denmark, Sweden and Iceland. It was winter Solstice during that time in the viking era, they did theyr bloot and feasted for many days eating and drinking and sleeping, same for summer solstice. The known battle at Stiklestad in Trondheim was between 2 Christian army's and not the end of any era, it was civil war and the northern "tribes" sided with the middle tribes made a peoples army abd went against King Olav the saint. It was about corn and the kings hard taxing of the ordinary people.
There are two things he forgot to mention. 1 the varangian guard helped Harald Hardrada escape imprisonment and he then blinded Michael the fifth (empress Zoe had Michael V castrated) - then Harald left to norway, he did not flee as this video portrays. 2 his brother Olaf suffered 3 wounds and one to the knee at battle of Stiklestad by Thorstein Knararstridr (clubfoot), then when harald became king of Norway he avenged his brother, identified his killers or those who orchestrated Battle and had them executed (Thorstein Clubfoot). Sweyn Estridson also provoked this battle of Stiklestad and him and Harald had a temporary alliance but when Hardrada became king he raided Denmark and causes many problems for the Danes. This needs to be said to reflect Harald Hardradas deeds and this video is great but it made it sound like he fleed, he was a badass warrior and got revenge against those who wronged him or his family.
I live in the village Riccall and there's a very old viking boat embedded in the mud on the river Ouse. They also named the road that leads to the river Landing lane and a road off that is called Viking drive and its where the viking camp was.
I have watch this again and research- there’s always been talk in our family about our DNA and King Harald, Olaf and battle of Hastings as our surname is Haraldsson- so long ago- so much ground to cover! The first of our lineage to US ( 1670) was Paul Haraldsson & He was ( confirmed) a Danish Sea Captain landing in Williamsburg Va. thank you for your excellent posts brother! John- Philadelphia 🛥☺️
great video and great story in general, no need to admire Game of Thrones if you have one for real, poor Tostig Godwinson though... at 9:20 he kinda morphed into king Philip II of France)) this crown he was longing for suits him so well
Of course the reason you got so many requests for Harald Hardrada and Stirling Bridge is because that's all we get from the history books! I had no idea that Harald was Christian, nor anything about his history before the battle with Harold Godwinson's army. Fascinating!
Good video as always 💪😎 I want to hear from you if you know anything about who the lone viking was who kept an entire army back on The Battle of Stamford Bridge? I even looked for a name or just a hint of who he was? Do you have an idea? All the best from here 🔗💪
Great summary of the history 👍🏻 England would possibly be more English had Harald and Tostig won had they been able to defeat William and the Harrying of the North may not have taken place. Maybe a Northern Scando-Confederacy of powers would have emerged. All very interesting
@@TheWitchInTheWoods Correct. Plus he killed off almost a third of the northern population by starvation and razing of farms and settlements. Seriously rough times
@@TheWitchInTheWoods If Hadrada had beaten Godwinson then he would be king of a disunited land which one would assume would be shortly invaded by William. Hadrada and Tostig could have been in the North when William invaded. Perhaps Hadrada could have brought Norse over to resist William, or maybe Saxon lord's would have sided with William. It's a hard one to work out but perhaps if Saxon resistance hadnt been crushed at Battle and William forced to live off the land and brought to battle elsewhere then things would have been different - again maybe a split Kingdom for some time. I do love a "what if" situation!
I'm really into ancestry, and just found out I am a direct descendant of Harald. I know there's probably barely any of his DNA left at this point, but I thought it was really cool.
Most people of Scandinavian descent have descendency from a viking king. Almost everyone of European ancestry has multiple lines that go into nobility or royalty if you go far back enough, because someone alive now would have literally tens of thousands of ancestors alive in 1000 CE.
Yeah. I think it’s calculated that pretty much all indigenous English people are descended from William the Conqueror, and as he himself was descended from Rollo, then all English people are descended from Viking kings too.
@@willmosse3684 Yup, and almost all people of any European ethnicity are descended from Charlemagne too.. I'm English and Danish ethnically, and my Mormon relatives (Mormons are obsessed with genealogy) have traced our lineage to multiple English, Norman, and Scandinavian royal and noble families. Of course, for every royal person at any given time, there were hundreds peasants elsewhere in the family tree.
i would like to see some stuff from finland if you are down for that. i iknow they arent exactly viking ppl but there was some who was merrcenaries i believe?? anyway keep up the good work!
Brilliant Documentary. Im hoping im related to a Saxon not a Viking. In junior school my dad made me a blue fur cloak, axe in hand I charged the Vikings, (Summer Sportsday) over the tanoy played 'Mars' by Gustav Holst.
Harold was quite a warrior-king too, he force-marched his army from the south of England all the way to Stamford, takes the Norsemen by surprise and defeats them in a massive battle. Then shortly afterwards he force-marches his army to the south of England again to face William. But by then many of his warriors had left for home again and he even almost defeated William too at Hastings. The only reason Harold lost the battle at Hastings is because his men broke formation to chase down routing Normans, William took advantage of that and encircled the men who broke formation, that happened a second and I think even a third time and then eventually Harold himself was killed and the battle was over.
Someone I know thinks Harald was a covert warfare genius, like Odysseus, Otto Skorzeny and Subotai of the Golden Horde. I think you might have hit the reason why he believes that.
@@brandonmedina4471 Harold and his men were massacring the Normans until the right flank broke formation to chase down enemies, they did that multiple times. If they had stayed in formation William would have lost the battle decisively.
@@danjacob6635 thats true, the stupid part is that after the first time rhey broke formation they actually regained control, but fucked up agan afterwards.
Harald Hårdråde should have been a household name. He's very famous but had he couqered england he would've taken william the bastards place in our memory
just so you know, harold godwinson was half viking, and was a formidable warrior, that same army turned around and sped marched back and fought another battle at hastings against the normans.
I am a proud Godwin and yes I am related to Harold Godwinson my face looks very similar including my entire male lineage nobody cares but I think it's fascinating
What about Fulford? There were three major battles in England in 1066, and Fulford is kind of "skippet over" when history is told. Fulford would "paint" Stamford Bridge even more detailed and spectacular, if it was taken into the story. I think. The battle of Fulford really leads up to the battle of Stamford Bridge (even the word "battle" was not "invented" at the time..) Could you maybe look into the battle of Fulford too? Also; one day I would like to go to Stamford Bridge, of today, and have a look at the street names. :-) - which might just happen since I love Yorkshire, the Dales, the cheese and the beer. Oh, the beer!
While Edward may have promised the Throne of England to Duke William he never promised it to Harald Hardrada. That deal was, I believe, done by one of the Viking Kings of York (possibly Erik Bloodaxe) years earlier with one of Hardrada's relatives (not sure which, maybe St Olaf).
Harold Godwinson's Mother was Danish. And a good many of his nobles and some of his warriors held similar half or partial "Viking" bloodlines. That must have been a crazy and wonderful time. Lol.
I'm no expert but it still mattered in the times of Hamlet for one example, loved one usually matters. Honor matters too to most I imagine, if you kinda hated a next of kin it may be trickier. Weregild is also a factor, sometimes the 'ransom' was paid but at least in Irish legends this could vary. If it was a hero people might peer pressure someone into living and not throwing their lives away. Other times the blood feuds went on forever even if there was compensation. Some can be greedy and not honorable, some will grind the ax instead. Very interesting question, often the stuff of legends.
8:48... Edward the Confessor was not the King of Wessex, he was a member of the Cerdicingas dynasty who had been Kings of that region from the 6th century onwards but from the reign of Athelstan the Cerdicingas were most definitely considered Kings of the English/Kings of England. Waes Hael! 😊
Harald also brought his son Olav (Haraldsson obviously) with him, but he didn't participate in the battle. He became king in Norway and was called Olav Kyrre, meaning Olav the Peaceful. He probably didn't enjoy battle as much as his father.... Olav Kyrre is the fonder of the city of Bergen.
For those interested in the details on Harold Godwinson there is a very good doc by Tony Robinson 1066 /Timeline: ruclips.net/video/J2DKtmNoiKg/видео.html
Hei. Jeg følger kanalen din daglig. Veldig bra!!👏But, why do you have the "new"´-ish , Norwegian flag up in the background? Not sure what to replace it with, BUT; it IS the new "christian" symbol, that became official in about 1821(-ish)... Sorry, but it IS lørdag kveld! :-) Ps, håper du står på; kanalen din er lærerik og viktig! :-D
This friend you mention of Jaroslav IS St. Olav. And the family bond is clear. Olaf and Jaroslav are both married to daughters of Olaf Skotkonung. How do you not know this!? Olafs son Magnus the good might also have grown up in Novgorod with Jaroslav, however this is uncertain.
i'm surprised you didn't mention that the Vikings were largely sunbathing, basking in their victory at Fulford and awaiting Hostages from York. Great stuff though.
I would not dispute anyone's claim that they are a direct descendant of Harald Hardrada. He was alive about 32 or 33 generations ago. At 32 generations, let us say that at least 2 of the descendants had two children each. That would be over 4 million direct descendants today. And that is only accounting for 2 children each. Most families had many more than two children. I would find it more unusual if you were European and not a direct descendant.
Has anyone seen that movie where the Vikings abandoned that boy among the natives and they took him in and they returned and he along with them picked them off starring the late actor /activist Russell means?
Pathfinder, it's a reference to Vinland; much like Vikings touched on the fact Greenlanders knew of some natives who seem to have been assimilated in the north, seal hunters perhaps. Scaellings? Pardon my lack of spelling on certain words. More of a cruel take on slaver-raider type vikings but more accurate on the armor and role of horsemen, perhaps. 13th warrior depicts Balts or Slavs as more primal, whatever that group was, based on some research I've done the early Balts were fairly savage in practices before the Teutons converted/conquered them and Prussians by the sword.
@@jairoukagiri2488 ok thanks for this, so this is interesting, on what you've said. oh by the way what about that meteor last night over Oslo I'm writing this 26 July2021
@@OrIoN1989 Crossbows, the Rus made interesting boat and siege inventions that begot Ivan the Terrible's mobile fortress. Harald did go to Sicily with their Normans so the various knightly technologies evolved contemporary. Very specific topic, don't forget the Muslims clued others into the concept of Zero and other things, between older resources they maintained that sacked Rome lost and just the ingenuity war and war effort developments bring. Kinda like gunpowder and the Chinese.
From what I have heard, Harald was overly confident and cocky by that point(because of all the battles won previously with his army) and proceeded towards the bridge without waiting for basically second half of his men and without good armour. And, that is why they lost so badly.
Every time I learn more about the true history of Vikings I can’t help but wonder how Shakespeare gets all the credits for embellishing Viking history lol
Tostig was exiled from the king of england Harold Godwinson his brother for being a tyrannical brat as the earl of Northumbria Tostig went to norway and promised Harold Hadrada the English throne I believe Hadrada had a flimsy claim going back to Cnut Great video man 👍🏼
Wait to you get a menchern in one of Shakespeare's plays......such as like the story about King Macbeth, and members of his Royal Court's.....then give me a call !
so please tell us why did Harold Hadrata leave the shield and armor at the boats seems pretty irresponsible. I mean I’m sure it’s taught in every military school. I would think it’s better to have it not need it heavy or what
I recently did my ancestry and I always knew I was English but my family came from Normandy. De heris- harries- Harris I also have 4% Norwegian DNA obviously I have more than 20 generations of wash out haha. But I am very tall and muscular, not very thick beard though. Also I don’t think you’re giving the Normans enough credit as they conquered Many other places, not sure If the English would’ve had their empire had the crown been Harald’s
Ok so Olav the Saint attempts to take the throne of Noway and fails. And then just like 12-15 years later his son is somehow the king of Norway? Lol would love to see a video on how the hell that happened.
Also I'm sorry but King Harold Godwinson was the legitimate King of England after Edward's death as his claim was supported by the Witan and the senior Ealdormen and Thegns of the Kingdom.
Thank you I was wondering how that was spelt. Usually use the term moot but now I see Witan is from Witenagemot. Tried spelling it Whittan and got nowhere before.
Are you sure he was 2m tall? I'm pretty sure I've read we wasn't as tall as we are today back in 1000. I think 1.75cm was tall and 1.85-1.90 was very tall. Humans are growing taller and taller so im not sure he was that tall..
There is some evidence to dispute the notion that humans are taller than they were in the middle ages ( I apologize for not having an available source, it's been awhile since I read it). Essentially, during the middle ages most Europeans were very active and working on farms. Usually they ate better food than we do today ( unless under the yoke of a tyrannical leader who starved them), Scandinavians consumed much more dairy, getting the necessary calcium to grow to their intended height. Most of the studies regarding size originated at the start of intense industrialization during the 19th century where poor diets while overworked in urban factors was detrimental to the growth and size of people. Nowadays there are larger food supplies globally, so we might be more comparable in height to earlier times.
Yes average height in scandinavia at the time from skeletons we have found is 1.75m. Alot of the sagas say that kings were a head taller than that. Then there is the english king like i mentioned in the video saying he needs more than 6ft of soil to burry kind harald. So he would have probably been somewhere between 190-200cm
A person's height even in the early middle ages would have depended on how good his diet was (and of course that of his ancestors). Another example of a very large man during this period is Byrhtnoth who led the Englishmen of Essex against a Viking raiding party at the Battle of Maldon in 991. When his body was rediscovered and reburried at Ely Cathedral in 1769 he was estimated to be approximately 6ft 9ins tall.
Thanks for the interesting video. I like Harald Hardrada (my nick name was chosen after him 😊), but I have to make one correction: Kievan Rus is basically Ukraine, not Russia. The capital of Kievan Rus was Kiev, main territory of it was the territory of today's Ukraine. The slavic core of the empire came from today's Ukraine. Present Russia was outskirts of the Kievean Rus (except of Novgorod, but Novgorod was an important region, however never a heartland of the empire)
Well, the first Rus city was Novgorod and not kiev. Kievan Rus was at the territory of modern day Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, but most ukranians do not even have scandinavian dna...
Elizabeth is Bavarian, Diana's line may be more Norman unless there's sufficient marriage links but Elizabeth touts descent from Mohammad through Catherine of Spain. Kinda forget where the lineages got axed around the Tudors. Though the one Queen had a son supposedly with a French archer while her King was off crusading for the entire year. Similarly I have heard Jack the Ripper was essentially out to abort an out of wedlock bastard on behalf on the crown. Hard to say what they get up to.
The consensus, based on remains, seems to be that the average height of Norse males during the Viking Age was between 5'7" and 5'9", a couple inches taller than the European average for the time. While Harald was described as very tall, what evidence do we have that he was in the range of 2 meters? That would have been insanely huge for the time. We know Henry VIII was that tall, we know from his armour and that was a few hundred years later when, I think, the average height may have been a bit taller.
Based on a bit of googling, it seems to be best estimated that Henry VIII was between 1.88 and 1.91m tall, which is still quite some way off 2m. But yeah, the idea that Norse Kings were in general a head taller than other men, and therefore about 2m tall, should not really be taken seriously. Kings from all over the world liked to have themselves portrayed as more than ordinary men, immensely powerful warriors, etc. But this is clearly propaganda. Official North Korean media claims that Kim Jong Un gets a hole in one every time he plays golf.
Id love to see your top 10 most badass vikings list
I would put in Eric the Red, Leif Erikson, Ragnar Lothbrok, Bjorn Ironside, Gunnar Harmundarson, Ivar the Boneless, Eric Bloodaxe, Egil Skallagrimsson, Harald Hardrada, Freydís Eiríksdóttir, Halfdan Ragnarsson, Rollo of Normandy, Sigurd Snake-in-the Eye, Sweyn Forkbeard, Ubba Ragnarsson, Olaf Tryggvason, Knut the Great, Harold Bluetooth, Hastein (also known as Hasting), Harald Fairhair, Gorm the Old as 21 in contention, though Harold Bluetooth and Gorm the Old was more successful leaders, than badass Vikings.
Erik the Red was pretty badass, so was Ivar the Boneless, Egil Skallagrimsson, Sweyn Forkbeard, Harald hardrada, Gunnar Harmundarson, Eric Bloodaxe, Bjorn Ironside, Ragnar Lodbrok and Freydis Eiriksdottir. But I guess it depends on your perspective and definition of badass. Rollo of Normandy, Sigurd Snake-in-the-eye and Knut the Great could be in contention too I think.
Yesss!!
I’m down to see that
14:10 This!
I've been saying for years if I could change one thing in history it would be the Norse winning at Stamford Bridge and conquering England. I thought I was the only one to wonder how different the world would be if this was the case.
But maybe I'm biased cause I'm from York and just absolutely love the Viking influence here. Wish it remained in Viking hands.
@Berserking Bishop As far as I'm aware the Anglo-Saxons were more Christian. Wasn't it them who made the Norse get baptised and adopt the Christian God into the Norse pantheon
They also got wrecked by Normans and later the French. There is a huge French influence in England, especially down south. Where-as Yorkshire still retains a lot of Norse influence. Even the Yorkshire dialect has similarities to Icelandic.
I'd prefer that Caesar had lost at Elysium. No Roman Empire in Europe means no Christianity and no repression of tradition.
@Berserking Bishop Don't go changing the subject. I responded to the OP. There is nothing that doesn't have ripples.
If I got my wish with this I wouldn't likely even be alive.
Besides which: you can't even claim "Christian Values" for this. Christians owned them just like everyone else.
@Berserking Bishop BUT WHO CARES
You're changing the subject. Knock it off.
@Berserking Bishop Slavery was your addition.
Long time ago named myself after Hardrada in an online game and oddly enough ended up being my most successful playthrough
There's something about that axeman on the bridge that just gets me like stupidly emotional.
Reincarnated? Get off of Valhalla kid.
He pulled a real life cinema scene
I think it’s interesting how the role of Viking nobility throughout Europe is underplayed in the classrooms
I lived in York for five years, close to Fulford. I heard of the Stamford bridge battle but I lacked sufficient context to understand its importance. Thank you for sharing ☺️
I'm so glad I found this channel! I've been glued to it for weeks now. I love it. Respect bro👍
Enjoy your zest and spirit in these videos.
Even the historical figures that don't rank high on one's favourites list are interesting to learn about! Thank you for yet another fun video😉
Women, keep your mouth shut
@Harald Hardrada Just not my own list😉
Congratulations for the channel. Very interesting info
I found out about his improbable connection to the Byzantine empire only a short while ago. He is called Αράλδης (Araldes) in Greek texts. I'm fascinated by the possibility that he could actually speak some Greek. Think of that! A Norwegian noble being politically active in my part of the woods! History never ceases to amaze me.
I'm very glad I discovered this page. I am officially hooked! 🤘🤘
Very simplified, but a good overview. Enjoying your videos. Thanks. Proudly Saxon in Africa
Always wondered what was the true story of Harald Hardrada. Cant really trust much of whats out there. Thank you for this excellent breakdown brother.
I loved the Vikings series but the inaccurate portrayals killed it for me especially at the end. Good to hear a solid historical view.
It was realy good at the beginning then turned to crap. I prefer Last kingdom
Nicely told thanks👍
New to the channel and loving the content
11:44...fairly certain Tostig was pronounced Tosty as a 'G' following an 'I' often acted as a 'Y' or similar extra vowel in Old English and maybe in Old Norse too.
Awesome! PLEASE put up more content of YOUR favorite Vikingr next!
Ragnhild Maria Haraldsdottir was a daughter of Hardråde. My genealogy indicates that she was (one of) my 23rd GGM(s). I'm 35 percent Scandinavian. It is great to learn about their lives from the safety of an easy chair. 😉
I love the way you present these videos. You're very easy to listen to and I feel lucky to be learning this history from someone who believes in truth and fact (as much as one can) not popular bullshit history.
Dunno if I have any Viking blood... maybe... plenty of Scottish, Irish and English. Apparently my grandfather was the runt of the litter. All my great uncles are 6'4" to 7' tall. I'm average about 5'10".
Anyway, I'm hooked!
You are a natural story teller, keep up the good work!
Quite a large chunk of english dna is made up of scandi descent as they travelled alot and set up new tribes for a very long time.
Norwegians (and the Scandinavian people) are amazing and have the best tall tales. BTW: I think most who became christian didn't see the differences in religion that we do now.
Well yeah, the differences were not as visible is because it is nearly 500 years before the Protestant refrormation in 1517.
Most norse that converted to kvite krist did it for peace stay in power, convinient or an nesseseary evil, the north of norways "vikings" mingled with samipeople so they kept all faiths trough mixing them up, and the church mixed some pagan rituals in to make more people join, such as Christmas, its called Jul in Norway,, Denmark, Sweden and Iceland. It was winter Solstice during that time in the viking era, they did theyr bloot and feasted for many days eating and drinking and sleeping, same for summer solstice. The known battle at Stiklestad in Trondheim was between 2 Christian army's and not the end of any era, it was civil war and the northern "tribes" sided with the middle tribes made a peoples army abd went against King Olav the saint. It was about corn and the kings hard taxing of the ordinary people.
Glad I found you. Proud supporter of my Norwegian brother
There are two things he forgot to mention. 1 the varangian guard helped Harald Hardrada escape imprisonment and he then blinded Michael the fifth (empress Zoe had Michael V castrated) - then Harald left to norway, he did not flee as this video portrays. 2 his brother Olaf suffered 3 wounds and one to the knee at battle of Stiklestad by Thorstein Knararstridr (clubfoot), then when harald became king of Norway he avenged his brother, identified his killers or those who orchestrated Battle and had them executed (Thorstein Clubfoot). Sweyn Estridson also provoked this battle of Stiklestad and him and Harald had a temporary alliance but when Hardrada became king he raided Denmark and causes many problems for the Danes. This needs to be said to reflect Harald Hardradas deeds and this video is great but it made it sound like he fleed, he was a badass warrior and got revenge against those who wronged him or his family.
I live in the village Riccall and there's a very old viking boat embedded in the mud on the river Ouse. They also named the road that leads to the river Landing lane and a road off that is called Viking drive and its where the viking camp was.
Keep your knowledge coming.
Always enjoy your videos man. I’m playing catch-up since I moved further north.🖤
I found a first edition of the samuel liangs translated heimskringla from 1844 basically untouched in a little shop in cambridge for £8 hehe
I love your videos. Great channel. American with 53 percent Norwegian ancestry. Love learning about my heritage. Thank you.
I have watch this again and research- there’s always been talk in our family about our DNA and King
Harald, Olaf and battle of Hastings as our surname is
Haraldsson- so long ago- so much ground to cover!
The first of our lineage to US ( 1670) was Paul Haraldsson & He was
( confirmed) a Danish Sea Captain landing in Williamsburg Va. thank you
for your excellent posts brother! John- Philadelphia 🛥☺️
Yes Harald is one of my favorites. Thank you.
I love your channel man
Great video, thank you!
Great video!! Never heard of this man before or this story.
i learnt a couple things. thank yew.
one battle fought a thousand times. we only know what we are told. an arrow to the neck.
great video and great story in general, no need to admire Game of Thrones if you have one for real, poor Tostig Godwinson though... at 9:20 he kinda morphed into king Philip II of France)) this crown he was longing for suits him so well
love your videos and your true knowledge!!! keep them coming!! Kudos!!!
Wow what an awesome video, Hårdrade was a true badass good job. He is from Southern Norway where my family is from
Of course the reason you got so many requests for Harald Hardrada and Stirling Bridge is because that's all we get from the history books! I had no idea that Harald was Christian, nor anything about his history before the battle with Harold Godwinson's army. Fascinating!
Good video👍🏻
THANK YOU!!!!
Good video as always 💪😎
I want to hear from you if you know anything about who the lone viking was who kept an entire army back on
The Battle of Stamford Bridge?
I even looked for a name or just a hint of who he was?
Do you have an idea?
All the best from here 🔗💪
Great summary of the history 👍🏻 England would possibly be more English had Harald and Tostig won had they been able to defeat William and the Harrying of the North may not have taken place. Maybe a Northern Scando-Confederacy of powers would have emerged. All very interesting
Yeah it went a bit shit when William got here.. he declared he owned all the land in England, and to this day, so does the queen.
@@TheWitchInTheWoods Correct. Plus he killed off almost a third of the northern population by starvation and razing of farms and settlements. Seriously rough times
@@NoName-lo9ym Yeah, wonder what the world would have been like if he had lost?
@@TheWitchInTheWoods If Hadrada had beaten Godwinson then he would be king of a disunited land which one would assume would be shortly invaded by William. Hadrada and Tostig could have been in the North when William invaded. Perhaps Hadrada could have brought Norse over to resist William, or maybe Saxon lord's would have sided with William. It's a hard one to work out but perhaps if Saxon resistance hadnt been crushed at Battle and William forced to live off the land and brought to battle elsewhere then things would have been different - again maybe a split Kingdom for some time. I do love a "what if" situation!
@@NoName-lo9ym I was voting for Harold myself. Didn't ;like Hardrada and that two faced Tostig
Sagst du mir den Namen des Songs (intro)!
Danke 🙏🏻
I'm really into ancestry, and just found out I am a direct descendant of Harald. I know there's probably barely any of his DNA left at this point, but I thought it was really cool.
1066, the battle for middle earth. Good show if you can find it
The end hits like a ton of bricks
King Tostig looks like the king on playing cards.
Tostig was an avid gambler
Tostig Godwinson was an exiled Northumberian Earl.
It’s Phillip II
Most people of Scandinavian descent have descendency from a viking king. Almost everyone of European ancestry has multiple lines that go into nobility or royalty if you go far back enough, because someone alive now would have literally tens of thousands of ancestors alive in 1000 CE.
Yeah. I think it’s calculated that pretty much all indigenous English people are descended from William the Conqueror, and as he himself was descended from Rollo, then all English people are descended from Viking kings too.
@@willmosse3684 Yup, and almost all people of any European ethnicity are descended from Charlemagne too.. I'm English and Danish ethnically, and my Mormon relatives (Mormons are obsessed with genealogy) have traced our lineage to multiple English, Norman, and Scandinavian royal and noble families. Of course, for every royal person at any given time, there were hundreds peasants elsewhere in the family tree.
@@willmosse3684 It's about 25% actually, but still a sizeable chunk.
@@twinvader I think that’s a pretty low ball figure. I’ve definitely seen estimates a lot higher. But either way it’s a lot!
Your absolutely right
i would like to see some stuff from finland if you are down for that. i iknow they arent exactly viking ppl but there was some who was merrcenaries i believe?? anyway keep up the good work!
Brilliant Documentary.
Im hoping im related to a Saxon not a Viking.
In junior school my dad made me a blue fur cloak, axe in hand I charged the Vikings, (Summer Sportsday) over the tanoy played 'Mars' by Gustav Holst.
I have often wondered what the English language would be like today if Hardrada had won the bridge - and then gone on to defeat the Bastard.
Do a top ten Vikings video!
Harold was quite a warrior-king too, he force-marched his army from the south of England all the way to Stamford, takes the Norsemen by surprise and defeats them in a massive battle. Then shortly afterwards he force-marches his army to the south of England again to face William. But by then many of his warriors had left for home again and he even almost defeated William too at Hastings. The only reason Harold lost the battle at Hastings is because his men broke formation to chase down routing Normans, William took advantage of that and encircled the men who broke formation, that happened a second and I think even a third time and then eventually Harold himself was killed and the battle was over.
Someone I know thinks Harald was a covert warfare genius, like Odysseus, Otto Skorzeny and Subotai of the Golden Horde. I think you might have hit the reason why he believes that.
@@brandonmedina4471 Harold and his men were massacring the Normans until the right flank broke formation to chase down enemies, they did that multiple times. If they had stayed in formation William would have lost the battle decisively.
@@wulfheort8021 yeah that is mostly the peasants who fought with them who did that
@@danjacob6635 thats true, the stupid part is that after the first time rhey broke formation they actually regained control, but fucked up agan afterwards.
@@wulfheort8021 yeah the perfect example of not to use the Poor fucking infantry
Harald Hårdråde should have been a household name. He's very famous but had he couqered england he would've taken william the bastards place in our memory
just so you know, harold godwinson was half viking, and was a formidable warrior,
that same army turned around and sped marched back and fought another battle at hastings against the normans.
I would very much like to read the hypothesis of Haraldr Harðráða winning the throne of England. That could be very interesting.
I am a proud Godwin and yes I am related to Harold Godwinson my face looks very similar including my entire male lineage nobody cares but I think it's fascinating
What about Fulford? There were three major battles in England in 1066, and Fulford is kind of "skippet over" when history is told. Fulford would "paint" Stamford Bridge even more detailed and spectacular, if it was taken into the story. I think. The battle of Fulford really leads up to the battle of Stamford Bridge (even the word "battle" was not "invented" at the time..) Could you maybe look into the battle of Fulford too? Also; one day I would like to go to Stamford Bridge, of today, and have a look at the street names. :-) - which might just happen since I love Yorkshire, the Dales, the cheese and the beer. Oh, the beer!
I'm blood related to Rollo and king Alfred the great
While Edward may have promised the Throne of England to Duke William he never promised it to Harald Hardrada. That deal was, I believe, done by one of the Viking Kings of York (possibly Erik Bloodaxe) years earlier with one of Hardrada's relatives (not sure which, maybe St Olaf).
Fun times!
Do one of gunnar hamandarson no viking ancestors but 6"4" and played hockey and football lmfao I had to.
Harold Godwinson's Mother was Danish. And a good many of his nobles and some of his warriors held similar half or partial "Viking" bloodlines. That must have been a crazy and wonderful time. Lol.
Hi
I wanted to add that Edward the Confessor was the King of England not Wessex. And he named Harold as his heir even according to Norman sources.
9:35 "It's free real estate"
How important was it to a Viking to get revenge or avenge the death of a loved one?
I'm no expert but it still mattered in the times of Hamlet for one example, loved one usually matters. Honor matters too to most I imagine, if you kinda hated a next of kin it may be trickier.
Weregild is also a factor, sometimes the 'ransom' was paid but at least in Irish legends this could vary. If it was a hero people might peer pressure someone into living and not throwing their lives away. Other times the blood feuds went on forever even if there was compensation. Some can be greedy and not honorable, some will grind the ax instead. Very interesting question, often the stuff of legends.
What about William the conqueror
8:48... Edward the Confessor was not the King of Wessex, he was a member of the Cerdicingas dynasty who had been Kings of that region from the 6th century onwards but from the reign of Athelstan the Cerdicingas were most definitely considered Kings of the English/Kings of England. Waes Hael! 😊
Definitely one of the most badass Vikings ever
Harald also brought his son Olav (Haraldsson obviously) with him, but he didn't participate in the battle. He became king in Norway and was called Olav Kyrre, meaning Olav the Peaceful. He probably didn't enjoy battle as much as his father.... Olav Kyrre is the fonder of the city of Bergen.
For those interested in the details on Harold Godwinson there is a very good doc by Tony Robinson 1066 /Timeline: ruclips.net/video/J2DKtmNoiKg/видео.html
Remember Stamford bridge
I find it interesting that he went to rus and constantinople then returned and became a king.
Hei. Jeg følger kanalen din daglig. Veldig bra!!👏But, why do you have the "new"´-ish , Norwegian flag up in the background? Not sure what to replace it with, BUT; it IS the new "christian" symbol, that became official in about 1821(-ish)... Sorry, but it IS lørdag kveld! :-) Ps, håper du står på; kanalen din er lærerik og viktig! :-D
This friend you mention of Jaroslav IS St. Olav. And the family bond is clear. Olaf and Jaroslav are both married to daughters of Olaf Skotkonung. How do you not know this!?
Olafs son Magnus the good might also have grown up in Novgorod with Jaroslav, however this is uncertain.
crazy to think the average height was 5.6 ft for vikings and in scottish highlands it between 6ft and 7ft
i'm surprised you didn't mention that the Vikings were largely sunbathing, basking in their victory at Fulford and awaiting Hostages from York. Great stuff though.
Hvor I Norge er du fra?
My dog is named Magnus bruun
I would not dispute anyone's claim that they are a direct descendant of Harald Hardrada. He was alive about 32 or 33 generations ago. At 32 generations, let us say that at least 2 of the descendants had two children each. That would be over 4 million direct descendants today. And that is only accounting for 2 children each. Most families had many more than two children. I would find it more unusual if you were European and not a direct descendant.
Would they have won if they had their armour and were prepared?
I think so. And then the world would have been a very different place. The normans may have still came in and beat the norwegians though
Has anyone seen that movie where the Vikings abandoned that boy among the natives and they took him in and they returned and he along with them picked them off starring the late actor /activist Russell means?
Pathfinder, it's a reference to Vinland; much like Vikings touched on the fact Greenlanders knew of some natives who seem to have been assimilated in the north, seal hunters perhaps. Scaellings? Pardon my lack of spelling on certain words.
More of a cruel take on slaver-raider type vikings but more accurate on the armor and role of horsemen, perhaps.
13th warrior depicts Balts or Slavs as more primal, whatever that group was, based on some research I've done the early Balts were fairly savage in practices before the Teutons converted/conquered them and Prussians by the sword.
@@jairoukagiri2488 ok thanks for this, so this is interesting, on what you've said. oh by the way what about that meteor last night over Oslo I'm writing this 26 July2021
Surprised there wasn't some near east tactics or tech from Constantinople reported to have been used.
What tech?
@@OrIoN1989 Crossbows, the Rus made interesting boat and siege inventions that begot Ivan the Terrible's mobile fortress. Harald did go to Sicily with their Normans so the various knightly technologies evolved contemporary. Very specific topic, don't forget the Muslims clued others into the concept of Zero and other things, between older resources they maintained that sacked Rome lost and just the ingenuity war and war effort developments bring.
Kinda like gunpowder and the Chinese.
Okay, who are your top ten?!
From what I have heard, Harald was overly confident and cocky by that point(because of all the battles won previously with his army) and proceeded towards the bridge without waiting for basically second half of his men and without good armour. And, that is why they lost so badly.
Every time I learn more about the true history of Vikings I can’t help but wonder how Shakespeare gets all the credits for embellishing Viking history lol
Tostig was exiled from the king of england Harold Godwinson his brother for being a tyrannical brat as the earl of Northumbria
Tostig went to norway and promised Harold Hadrada the English throne
I believe Hadrada had a flimsy claim going back to Cnut
Great video man 👍🏼
And now the battle is a derby between Chelsea and Tottenham!
Wait to you get a menchern in one of Shakespeare's plays......such as like the story about King Macbeth, and members of his Royal Court's.....then give me a call !
My Norwegian great-grandfather and his five brothers were all over 1.9m tall. I guess over the centuries people became shorter and shorter. lol.
so please tell us why did Harold Hadrata
leave the shield and armor at the boats seems pretty irresponsible. I mean I’m sure it’s taught in every military school. I would think it’s better to have it not need it heavy or what
What's ur most favorite hero?
I recently did my ancestry and I always knew I was English but my family came from Normandy.
De heris- harries- Harris
I also have 4% Norwegian DNA obviously I have more than 20 generations of wash out haha. But I am very tall and muscular, not very thick beard though.
Also I don’t think you’re giving the Normans enough credit as they conquered Many other places, not sure If the English would’ve had their empire had the crown been Harald’s
Ok so Olav the Saint attempts to take the throne of Noway and fails. And then just like 12-15 years later his son is somehow the king of Norway? Lol would love to see a video on how the hell that happened.
Also I'm sorry but King Harold Godwinson was the legitimate King of England after Edward's death as his claim was supported by the Witan and the senior Ealdormen and Thegns of the Kingdom.
Thank you I was wondering how that was spelt. Usually use the term moot but now I see Witan is from Witenagemot. Tried spelling it Whittan and got nowhere before.
@@jairoukagiri2488 my pleasure sir. Waes Hael!
Are you sure he was 2m tall? I'm pretty sure I've read we wasn't as tall as we are today back in 1000. I think 1.75cm was tall and 1.85-1.90 was very tall. Humans are growing taller and taller so im not sure he was that tall..
There is some evidence to dispute the notion that humans are taller than they were in the middle ages ( I apologize for not having an available source, it's been awhile since I read it). Essentially, during the middle ages most Europeans were very active and working on farms. Usually they ate better food than we do today ( unless under the yoke of a tyrannical leader who starved them), Scandinavians consumed much more dairy, getting the necessary calcium to grow to their intended height. Most of the studies regarding size originated at the start of intense industrialization during the 19th century where poor diets while overworked in urban factors was detrimental to the growth and size of people. Nowadays there are larger food supplies globally, so we might be more comparable in height to earlier times.
Yes average height in scandinavia at the time from skeletons we have found is 1.75m. Alot of the sagas say that kings were a head taller than that. Then there is the english king like i mentioned in the video saying he needs more than 6ft of soil to burry kind harald. So he would have probably been somewhere between 190-200cm
A person's height even in the early middle ages would have depended on how good his diet was (and of course that of his ancestors). Another example of a very large man during this period is Byrhtnoth who led the Englishmen of Essex against a Viking raiding party at the Battle of Maldon in 991. When his body was rediscovered and reburried at Ely Cathedral in 1769 he was estimated to be approximately 6ft 9ins tall.
Thanks for the interesting video. I like Harald Hardrada (my nick name was chosen after him 😊), but I have to make one correction: Kievan Rus is basically Ukraine, not Russia. The capital of Kievan Rus was Kiev, main territory of it was the territory of today's Ukraine. The slavic core of the empire came from today's Ukraine. Present Russia was outskirts of the Kievean Rus (except of Novgorod, but Novgorod was an important region, however never a heartland of the empire)
Well, the first Rus city was Novgorod and not kiev.
Kievan Rus was at the territory of modern day Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, but most ukranians do not even have scandinavian dna...
@@csabafamin2277 Who says this? All chronicles until 14th century use the name "Rus" for Kiev, Chernihov and Pereyaslav regions only
@@ingvarharaldsson677 all this because of today's western russophobia :)
@@ingvarharaldsson677 So ukraine is the true heritage of Rus, ukranians are vikings :D
@@ingvarharaldsson677 and Russia, Belarus don't matter and they are just muscovites and mongols as the ukrainians say :)
Rollo was William the conquerors grandfather. The lineage runs up to today with Queen Elizabeth and her family.
Of course im speaking of historic Rollo and not TV Rollo.
Elizabeth is Bavarian, Diana's line may be more Norman unless there's sufficient marriage links but Elizabeth touts descent from Mohammad through Catherine of Spain. Kinda forget where the lineages got axed around the Tudors.
Though the one Queen had a son supposedly with a French archer while her King was off crusading for the entire year.
Similarly I have heard Jack the Ripper was essentially out to abort an out of wedlock bastard on behalf on the crown. Hard to say what they get up to.
His real name was Hrolfr the ganger!
The consensus, based on remains, seems to be that the average height of Norse males during the Viking Age was between 5'7" and 5'9", a couple inches taller than the European average for the time. While Harald was described as very tall, what evidence do we have that he was in the range of 2 meters? That would have been insanely huge for the time. We know Henry VIII was that tall, we know from his armour and that was a few hundred years later when, I think, the average height may have been a bit taller.
Based on a bit of googling, it seems to be best estimated that Henry VIII was between 1.88 and 1.91m tall, which is still quite some way off 2m. But yeah, the idea that Norse Kings were in general a head taller than other men, and therefore about 2m tall, should not really be taken seriously. Kings from all over the world liked to have themselves portrayed as more than ordinary men, immensely powerful warriors, etc. But this is clearly propaganda. Official North Korean media claims that Kim Jong Un gets a hole in one every time he plays golf.
Then there was Rollo or Rolf The Walker as he was known, too big to ride a horse, does that sound like your average specimen?
Yea those are crappy modern sources they were on average 6 or more feet
@@thoorwulfn9z383 Crappy modern sources based on what, things like measuring actual skeletons?
Just think the second last Plantagenet king Edward IV King of England was taller than Henry VIII. Edward IV -1.94m
Henry VIII - 1.88m
Wasn't the stamford bridge won by both sides??