Supported his brother (St. Ólaf) well.
The king did part against his will
Fifteen winters old
From the dead Olaf
And hid his helmet-seat (head).
“Harald got severely wounded in the battle, and Rögnvald Brúsason took him to a bondi in the night after the battle. The bondi lived in an out-of-the-way place, and kept him secretly, and cured him completely” (Fms. Harald Hardradi’s Saga, c. 1).
Prof. Wassiliewsky has published a treatise, in Moscow, in which he gives extracts from a Greek work of the eleventh century. We here give part of them:—
“Araltes (Harald) was a son of the king in Varangia; he had a brother Julavos (St. Ólaf) who inherited the realm after his father’s death, and made his brother Araltes the highest man next after himself. Araltes was young, and admired the Roman power. He came and bowed knee before the late Emperor Michael Paflagon; he had with him a host of five hundred valiant men. The Emperor received him befittingly, and sent him to Sicily into the war. Araltes went there and performed deeds of high renown; and when Sicily was subdued he came back to the Emperor with his host. Thereafter it happened that Delianos made a revolt in Bulgaria, and Araltes with his men, together with the Emperor and his host, went there; and he performed against the enemies feats worthy of his birth and valour. When the Emperor had subdued Bulgaria he went home. I was there too, and fought for the Emperor as well as I could. On the way home, in Mosynupolis, the Emperor, in reward for his feats, made him Spatharokandidatos (a title). After Michael’s death, in the time of the Emperor Monomachos, Araltes wanted to go home to his country, but was not allowed to do so, and he was hindered from going. Nevertheless he got away secretly, and became king in his own country, instead of his brother Julavos (Olaf). Even as king he preserved his loyalty and love towards the Romans” (Gustav Storm: Norsk Historisk Tidsskrift, 1884).
We will now give some extracts from the Sagas which contain an account of Harald’s remarkable career, and which relate to the English and Norman history of that period.
“Edward, Æthelred’s son, was king in England after Hörda-Knut; he was called Edward the Good, and so he was. His mother was Queen Emma, the daughter of Rikard jarl of Rouen; her brother was Rodbjart (Robert), the father of William the Bastard, who was then duke (hertogi)[[428]] in Rouen in Normandy. Edward was married to Gyda, the daughter of Godwin jarl, son of Ulfnadr. Gyda’s youngest brother, Harald, Godwin’s son, was raised in the hird of Edward. The king loved him very greatly, and looked on him as his son, for he had no children” (Harald Hardradi’s Saga, c. 77).