Harald Wartooth

Harald Wartooth at the Battle of Bråvalla. Illustration by the Danish Lorenz Frølich in a 19th century book.

Harald Wartooth (Old Norse: Haraldr Hilditönn, modern Swedish and Danish: Harald Hildetand) was a legendary king of Sweden, Denmark, Norway and the historical northern German province of Wendland, in the 7th and 8th century. According to the Danish Chronicon Lethrense, his empire reached as far as the Mediterranean.

Name

Saxo Grammaticus, in Gesta Danorum, gives two different accounts about why Harald had the name wartooth. According to one tradition, it was due to Harald having lost two of his teeth in battle against Veseti, the lord of Scania, and instead two new teeth grew out. Saxo further tells that according to another opinion, the name was derived from Harald having protruding teeth. A scholarly view, however, holds the name to be derived from a name for "war hero".^[1]

Family

All sources describe him as the son of Ivar Vidfamne's daughter Auðr the Deep-Minded (but Hervarar saga calls her Alfhild). According to Sögubrot, Njal's Saga and the Lay of Hyndla, Harald was the son of Hrœrekr Ringslinger (slöngvanbaugi), the king of Zealand. Sögubrot relates that his mother later married Raðbarðr, the king of Garðaríki and they had the son Randver. However, according to Hervarar saga, both Harald and Randver were the sons of Valdar and Alfhild. Njal's Saga adds that Harald had the son Þrándr the Old (hinn gamli) who was the ancestor of one of the characters in the saga^[2]. Sögubrot also mentions that he had a son named Þrándr the Old (gamli), but also adds a second son, Hrœrekr Ringslinger (slöngvandbaugi), who apparently was named exactly like his grandfather. Landnámabók informs that this Hrœrekr Ringslinger the younger had a son named Thorolfr "Vaganef", who in turn had the son Vermund Wordplane. Vermund was the father of Valgard, the father of Hrafn the Foolish. Hrafn was one of the first settlers in Iceland and settled on the southern coast^[3].

Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum does not mention any Ivar Vidfamne, and gives two different versions of Harald's ancestry. First Saxo writes that Harald was the son of the Scanian chieftain Borkar and a woman named Gro. Later Saxo has forgotten about this and writes that Harald was the son of Halfdan, Borkar's son, and a woman named Gyrid, the last member of the Skjöldungs.

Claiming his inheritance

According to Sögubrot, he left Garðaríki at his father Ivar Vidfamne's death, and went to Zealand, where he was accepted as king. Then he went to Scania, which his mother's family had ruled, and was well received and given much help in men and arms. Then he took his fleet to Sweden in order to claim his inheritance. However, many petty kings arrived to reclaim their kingdoms, which Ivar had taken from them. These petty kings thought it would be easy to fight Harald who was only 15 years old. Harald successfully reclaimed his father's domains, so that in the end he owned more than his father had, and there was no king in either Denmark or Sweden who did not pay him tribute or was his vassal. He subjugated all the parts of England that had belonged to Halfdan the Valiant and later Ivar. In England he appointed kings and jarls and had them pay him tribute. He also appointed Hjörmund, the son of Hjörvard Ylfing, the king of Östergötland. Hervarar saga also mentions that Harald retook his father's domains, but it says that the conquests started out from Götaland (or Gotland depending on the manuscript). Gesta Danorum agrees with Sögubrot, by saying that the conquests began from Zealand.

The Battle of Bråvalla

When Harald realised that he was about to die of old age (he was 150 years old), he suggested to Sigurd Ring that a great battle should be fought between them. The place was chosen to be at the moor of Bråvalla, and so the legendary Battle of Bråvalla came to be. Harald hoped to die in this battle and go to Valhalla instead of dying in his bed and end up in Niflheim.

He was succeeded by Sigurd Ring, the father of Ragnar Lodbrok.

Notes

^ Andersson, Ingvar. (1947). Skånes historia: till Saxo och Skånelagen. Norstedts, Stockholm. p. 212.
^ Njal's saga, on Valgard (see the note)
^ Landnámabók, p. 28, on the settlement of Hrafn the Foolish

Primary sources

Secondary source

Nerman, B. Det svenska rikets uppkomst. Stockholm, 1925. Andersson, Ingvar. (1947). Skånes historia: till Saxo och Skånelagen. Norstedts, Stockholm.

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[skånes_historia-1] Andersson, Ingvar. (1947). Skånes historia: till Saxo och Skånelagen. Norstedts, Stockholm. p. 212.

[2] Njal's saga, on Valgard (see the note)

[3] Landnámabók, p. 28, on the settlement of Hrafn the Foolish

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