King Harald's Saga: Harald Hardradi of Norway

Apparently, a big part of the reason that William of Normandy was able to successfully defeat King Harold of England in 1066 is that he attacked just three weeks after Harold beat the pants of King Harald of Norway, who'd tried to invade the opposite end of the country. I had no idea! Well, this cool bit of Norse history told me all about it, and about the life of the guy who tried, from his teens in exile through the decades that followed as he became a powerful king by virtue of being a right bastard who didn't hesitate to fight dirty, and used whatever means were at hand to ruin his enemies.

I haven't read any other translations of the work, so I have nothing to compare it to, but it read well to my ears, including the prose show more translations of various bits of poetry that the author quotes throughout. My only complaint about this edition might be that it is just full of footnotes, and I found them difficult to ignore, which detracted a bit from the flow of the tale itself. Few, if any, of them seemed necessary to understanding the text, so pushing them into end notes would have been less distracting. Readers who have the discipline to avoid them should be fine. show less

Magnus Magnusson and Hermann Pálsson structure their prose translation of Snorri Sturluson's King Harald's Saga into three parts: an introduction with historic background on Harald and the larger Heimskringla, the saga itself, and additional materials such as genealogical tables, a glossary of names, and maps. The story focuses on the life of Harald, most well-known as one of the kings who tried to conquer England in 1066 and who likely weakened Harold's forces enough that William the Conqueror was able to achieve his victory nineteen days later.
Modern translators would try to retain Sturluson's original verse structure, but this is a serviceable translation with excellent footnotes to clear up historic inaccuracies or explain the show more relationships between the people Sturluson discusses. The story will appeal to those who have read other Scandinavian sagas like Egil's Saga (based on Egill Skallagrímsson and possibly written by Sturluson as well) or English histories like Robert Glover's Kings of England Ever Since it was So Called. show less

This is a solid, serviceable translation of part of the Heimskringla. I'll admit that medieval Scandinavian history is not my strong point, so I can't speak to how accurately it captures the sense of the original, but it read clearly and easily (even though I didn't like how the footnotes were arranged). I would have appreciated more and better integrated/connected genealogical tables, though; the kinship relationships were clearly extremely important to medieval Icelandic/Norse society, but it was hard to keep track of all the various interrelationships.

This is a portion of Sturluson's much longer work, the Heimskringla, dealing with one monarch of Norway . Harald was the king of Norway who died at Stamford Bridge in battle with Harold Godwinsson in 1066. Harald's earlier life had already included an attempt to seize the throne of Norway, and a stint as a mercenary commander in the Byzantine Empire.This saga is a discrete biography as ably translated by Magnus Magnusson and Herman Palsson, a justly celebrated team. Harald's life is very interesting, and a good entry point for more specialised study of this great body of literature.

This is the saga of Harald Hardradi (the ruthless), the last viking king of Norway. He led a fascinating life, including a stint as the chief of the Varangian guards in Constantinople where he became a lover of the empress Zoe. He died in the battle of Stamford Bridge (9/25/1066), when he invaded England as an ally of Harold Godwinsson's ill-fated brother Tostig. This battle so depleted Harold Godwinsson's forces that he was defeated and killed by William of Normandy at Hastings 19 days later.

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