Norwegian Monarch. He is considered by many to be the most noted and influential of the early Norwegian kings of the Viking era. He reigned as the King of Norway from 1047 until 1066. Born circa 1015 to Asta Gudbrandsdatter and her second husband, Sigurd Syr, he was the youngest of King Olaf II Haraldsson's (later known as Saint Olaf) three half-brothers. In 1030, around the age of 15, he fought along with his half-brother at the Battle of Stiklestad, in an attempt to restore him to the Norwegian throne which had been taken from him two years earlier by the Danish King Canute the Great. They were defeated and Olaf II was killed and he was wounded. He escaped to a remote farm in Eastern Norway with the help of a friend, Rognvald Brusason (later on the Earl of Orkney). After his wounds healed, he fled in exile to Russia via Sweden to the present day region of Kiev, Ukraine, where he was welcomed by the Grand Prince Yaroslav the Wise, whose wife, Ingegerd, was a distant relative. Because of his leadership abilities, Yaroslav made him a captain of his army. In 1034, he and his men relocated to Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, and they joined the Varangian Guard (the Byzantine emperor's bodyguard). He was involved in the military campaigns against the Arab pirates in the Mediterranean and Asia Minor and according to the sagas, he had become a leader of all the Varangians. By 1035, he and the Byzantine army had driven the Arabs out of Asia Minor and he took part in the military campaigns that went as far as the Euphrates River. He then joined the Byzantines in their effort to take the island of Sicily from the Saracens, and after the success of that campaign, he returned to Constantinople. As a reward, he was appointed by Byzantine Emperor Michael IV as an official of the imperial court for his successful role in the Sicilian campaign. He was then called upon to fight against the Bulgarians and again served with distinction. In December 1041 Emperor Michael IV died and he lost favor at the imperial court which was followed by conflicts between the new Byzantine Emperor Michael V and the powerful Empress Zoe. During this time he was arrested and imprisoned, but managed to escape with the aid of some of the Varangians, who were revolting against the new emperor. He and the Varangians seized the new emperor, blinded him, and exiled him to a monastery. Empress Zoe was restored to the throne in June 1042, together with Constantine IX. Harald requested to return to Norway but Zoe refused and he decided to escape back to Russia, where he had befriended Yaroslav. During his time in Constantinople he amassed immense wealth, through the spoils of battle and from pillaging of the palace treasury, when it was convenient, and had sent it to Russia for safekeeping. During his second stay in Russia, he married the Elisabeth (or Ellisif), Yaroslav's daughter and granddaughter of King Olof Skotkonung of Sweden. In 1046, he returned to Scandinavia to pursue his goal of regaining the Norwegian throne. He had learned that the sons of Canute the Great had abandoned Norway and Magnus the Good, an illegitimate son of Olaf II had been restored to the Norwegian throne as well as being selected King of Denmark. He and his forces soon began some minor military exploits against Magnus. Magnus' advisors cautioned him against engaging in an all-out warfare against Harald and a shaky compromise was reached where Harald would rule jointly with Magnus and Harald would share half of his wealth with him. In 1047, Magnus died and Harald became the sole ruler of Norway. However, the inhabitants of Northern Norway, under the leadership of Einar Tambarskjevle, were opposed to his rule and after a confrontation with Harald's men, Einar was killed, which threatened to pull Norway into a civil war. Harald eventually managed to negotiate a peace, thereby securing Einar's family and supporters' submission for the remainder of his reign. He then began to embark on the conquest of Denmark to depose King Sweyn Estridsson, the Danish royal pretender. From 1048 until 1064, he conducted hit and run warfare along the coast of Denmark. On August 9, 1062, he engaged Sweyn's forces at the Battle of Nisa, a naval encounter in which Harald was the victor, but Sweyn and a large part of his fleet and men managed to escape. In spite of this, Harald was never successful at conquering Denmark and his campaign began to lose popularity in Norway. He dealt with this opposition with brutal force and maintained control through the use of his private army maintained by the Norwegian lords. However, the fatigue and cost of the Danish campaign eventually forced Harald to negotiate an unconditional peace with Sweyn in 1064 or 1065. He then turned his attention to the conquest of England, basing his claim to the English throne on an agreement supposedly made between Magnus and Harthacanute (Canute III), son of Canute the Great, which stated that if either died, the other would inherit the deceased's throne and lands. With the encouragement and promise of support from of Earl Tostig Godwinson, the brother of the English King Harold Godwinson, he landed at northern England in September 1066, with a force of around 15,000 men and 300 ships in preparation to fight the English king for the throne. On September 20, 1066, he engaged the English forces at the Battle of Fulford, near York, and won a great victory. Believing that King Harold Godwinson was prepared to surrender, he took about two-thirds of his forces, carrying only light weapons and wearing only light armor, and leaving the rest of his army at the ships. As his men were collecting tribute from the local citizens, Harold Godwinson's English army, who were heavily armed and outnumbered Harald's forces, surprised them at the Battle of Stamford Bridge on September 25, 1066. Harald was killed along with Earl Tostig Godwinson, and his survivors were so badly beaten that only 24 of the ships that transported his army to England were used to carry the survivors back to Norway. A year after his death, his body was transported from England to Nidaros (now Trondheim) and interred in the Mary Church which he had built. About a hundred years later his remains were reinterred in the Helgeseter (or Elgeseter) Priory in Nidaros (Trondheim), which was destroyed in 1564. Despite his hard rule, his reign was one of peace and progress for Norway. He is considered to have instituted a good economic policy and developed a Norwegian currency and a viable coin economy that allowed Norway to participate in international trade. Through his previous connections, he initiated trade with Russia and the Byzantine Empire, as well as with Ireland and Scotland. He also continued to advance Christianity in Norway, building and improving churches, and importing priests and monks from abroad. His death marked the end of the Viking age.
Norwegian Monarch. He is considered by many to be the most noted and influential of the early Norwegian kings of the Viking era. He reigned as the King of Norway from 1047 until 1066. Born circa 1015 to Asta Gudbrandsdatter and her second husband, Sigurd Syr, he was the youngest of King Olaf II Haraldsson's (later known as Saint Olaf) three half-brothers. In 1030, around the age of 15, he fought along with his half-brother at the Battle of Stiklestad, in an attempt to restore him to the Norwegian throne which had been taken from him two years earlier by the Danish King Canute the Great. They were defeated and Olaf II was killed and he was wounded. He escaped to a remote farm in Eastern Norway with the help of a friend, Rognvald Brusason (later on the Earl of Orkney). After his wounds healed, he fled in exile to Russia via Sweden to the present day region of Kiev, Ukraine, where he was welcomed by the Grand Prince Yaroslav the Wise, whose wife, Ingegerd, was a distant relative. Because of his leadership abilities, Yaroslav made him a captain of his army. In 1034, he and his men relocated to Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, and they joined the Varangian Guard (the Byzantine emperor's bodyguard). He was involved in the military campaigns against the Arab pirates in the Mediterranean and Asia Minor and according to the sagas, he had become a leader of all the Varangians. By 1035, he and the Byzantine army had driven the Arabs out of Asia Minor and he took part in the military campaigns that went as far as the Euphrates River. He then joined the Byzantines in their effort to take the island of Sicily from the Saracens, and after the success of that campaign, he returned to Constantinople. As a reward, he was appointed by Byzantine Emperor Michael IV as an official of the imperial court for his successful role in the Sicilian campaign. He was then called upon to fight against the Bulgarians and again served with distinction. In December 1041 Emperor Michael IV died and he lost favor at the imperial court which was followed by conflicts between the new Byzantine Emperor Michael V and the powerful Empress Zoe. During this time he was arrested and imprisoned, but managed to escape with the aid of some of the Varangians, who were revolting against the new emperor. He and the Varangians seized the new emperor, blinded him, and exiled him to a monastery. Empress Zoe was restored to the throne in June 1042, together with Constantine IX. Harald requested to return to Norway but Zoe refused and he decided to escape back to Russia, where he had befriended Yaroslav. During his time in Constantinople he amassed immense wealth, through the spoils of battle and from pillaging of the palace treasury, when it was convenient, and had sent it to Russia for safekeeping. During his second stay in Russia, he married the Elisabeth (or Ellisif), Yaroslav's daughter and granddaughter of King Olof Skotkonung of Sweden. In 1046, he returned to Scandinavia to pursue his goal of regaining the Norwegian throne. He had learned that the sons of Canute the Great had abandoned Norway and Magnus the Good, an illegitimate son of Olaf II had been restored to the Norwegian throne as well as being selected King of Denmark. He and his forces soon began some minor military exploits against Magnus. Magnus' advisors cautioned him against engaging in an all-out warfare against Harald and a shaky compromise was reached where Harald would rule jointly with Magnus and Harald would share half of his wealth with him. In 1047, Magnus died and Harald became the sole ruler of Norway. However, the inhabitants of Northern Norway, under the leadership of Einar Tambarskjevle, were opposed to his rule and after a confrontation with Harald's men, Einar was killed, which threatened to pull Norway into a civil war. Harald eventually managed to negotiate a peace, thereby securing Einar's family and supporters' submission for the remainder of his reign. He then began to embark on the conquest of Denmark to depose King Sweyn Estridsson, the Danish royal pretender. From 1048 until 1064, he conducted hit and run warfare along the coast of Denmark. On August 9, 1062, he engaged Sweyn's forces at the Battle of Nisa, a naval encounter in which Harald was the victor, but Sweyn and a large part of his fleet and men managed to escape. In spite of this, Harald was never successful at conquering Denmark and his campaign began to lose popularity in Norway. He dealt with this opposition with brutal force and maintained control through the use of his private army maintained by the Norwegian lords. However, the fatigue and cost of the Danish campaign eventually forced Harald to negotiate an unconditional peace with Sweyn in 1064 or 1065. He then turned his attention to the conquest of England, basing his claim to the English throne on an agreement supposedly made between Magnus and Harthacanute (Canute III), son of Canute the Great, which stated that if either died, the other would inherit the deceased's throne and lands. With the encouragement and promise of support from of Earl Tostig Godwinson, the brother of the English King Harold Godwinson, he landed at northern England in September 1066, with a force of around 15,000 men and 300 ships in preparation to fight the English king for the throne. On September 20, 1066, he engaged the English forces at the Battle of Fulford, near York, and won a great victory. Believing that King Harold Godwinson was prepared to surrender, he took about two-thirds of his forces, carrying only light weapons and wearing only light armor, and leaving the rest of his army at the ships. As his men were collecting tribute from the local citizens, Harold Godwinson's English army, who were heavily armed and outnumbered Harald's forces, surprised them at the Battle of Stamford Bridge on September 25, 1066. Harald was killed along with Earl Tostig Godwinson, and his survivors were so badly beaten that only 24 of the ships that transported his army to England were used to carry the survivors back to Norway. A year after his death, his body was transported from England to Nidaros (now Trondheim) and interred in the Mary Church which he had built. About a hundred years later his remains were reinterred in the Helgeseter (or Elgeseter) Priory in Nidaros (Trondheim), which was destroyed in 1564. Despite his hard rule, his reign was one of peace and progress for Norway. He is considered to have instituted a good economic policy and developed a Norwegian currency and a viable coin economy that allowed Norway to participate in international trade. Through his previous connections, he initiated trade with Russia and the Byzantine Empire, as well as with Ireland and Scotland. He also continued to advance Christianity in Norway, building and improving churches, and importing priests and monks from abroad. His death marked the end of the Viking age.
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9503940/harald_iii_of_norway: accessed
), memorial page for Harald III of Norway (1015–25 Sep 1066), Find a Grave Memorial ID 9503940, citing Domkirkegården, Trondheim,
Trondheim kommune,
Sør-Trøndelag fylke,
Norway;
Maintained by Find a Grave.
Add Photos for Harald III of Norway
Fulfill Photo Request for Harald III of Norway
Photo Request Fulfilled
Thank you for fulfilling this photo request. An email has been sent to the person who requested the photo informing them that you have fulfilled their request
There is an open photo request for this memorial
Are you adding a grave photo that will fulfill this request?
Oops, some error occurred while uploading your photo(s).
Oops, something didn't work. Close this window, and upload the photo(s) again.
Make sure that the file is a photo. Photos larger than 8Mb will be reduced.
All photos uploaded successfully, click on the <b>Done button</b> to see the photos in the gallery.
General photo guidelines:
Photos larger than 8.0 MB will be optimized and reduced.
Each contributor can upload a maximum of 5 photos for a memorial.
A memorial can have a maximum of 20 photos from all contributors.
The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional 10 photos (for a total of 30 on the memorial).
Include gps location with grave photos where possible.
No animated GIFs, photos with additional graphics (borders, embellishments.)
You are only allowed to leave one flower per day for any given memorial.
Memorial Photos
This is a carousel with slides. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. Use Escape keyboard button or the Close button to close the carousel.
Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried.
Show Map
If the memorial includes GPS coordinates, simply click 'Show Map' to view the gravesite location within the cemetery. If no GPS coordinates are available, you can contribute by adding them if you know the precise location.
Photos
For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab.
Photos Tab
All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer.
Flowers
Flowers added to the memorial appear on the bottom of the memorial or here on the Flowers tab. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button.
Family Members
Family members linked to this person will appear here.
Related searches
Use the links under See more… to quickly search for other people with the same last name in the same cemetery, city, county, etc.
Sponsor This Memorial
Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option.
Share
Share this memorial using social media sites or email.
Save to
Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print.
Edit or Suggest Edit
Edit a memorial you manage or suggest changes to the memorial manager.
Have Feedback
Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you.
You may not upload any more photos to this memorial
"Unsupported file type"
Uploading...
Waiting...
Success
Failed
This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has photos
This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded photos to this memorial
This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has photos
This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded photos to this memorial
Invalid File Type
Uploading 1 Photo
Uploading 2 Photos
1 Photo Uploaded
2 Photos Uploaded
Added by
GREAT NEWS! There is 1 volunteer for this cemetery.
Sorry! There are no volunteers for this cemetery. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request.
Enter numeric value
Enter memorial Id
Year should not be greater than current year
Invalid memorial
Duplicate entry for memorial
You have chosen this person to be their own family member.
Reported!
This relationship is not possible based on lifespan dates.
0% Complete
Saved
Sign in or Register
Sign in to Find a Grave
Sign-in to link to existing account
There is a problem with your email/password.
There is a problem with your email/password.
There is a problem with your email/password.
We encountered an unknown problem. Please wait a few minutes and try again. If the problem persists contact Find a Grave.
We’ve updated the security on the site. Please reset your password.
Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. Please contact Find a Grave at [email protected] if you need help resetting your password.
This account has been disabled. If you have questions, please contact [email protected]
This account has been disabled. If you have questions, please contact [email protected]
Email not found
Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person.
Sign in to your existing Find a Grave account. You’ll only have to do this once—after your accounts are connected, you can sign in using your Ancestry sign in or your Find a Grave sign in.
We found an existing Find a Grave account associated with your email address. Sign in below with your Find a Grave credentials to link your Ancestry account. After your accounts are connected you can sign in using either account.
Please enter your email to sign in.
Please enter your password to sign in.
Please enter your email and password to sign in.
There is a problem with your email/password.
A system error has occurred. Please try again later.
A password reset email has been sent to EmailID. If you don't see an email, please check your spam folder.
We encountered an unknown problem. Please wait a few minutes and try again. If the problem persists contact Find a Grave.
Password Reset
Please enter your email address and we will send you an email with a reset password code.
Registration Options
Welcome to Find a Grave
Create your free account by choosing an option below.
or
Ancestry account link
To create your account, Ancestry will share your name and email address with Find a Grave. To continue choose an option below.
or
If you already have a Find a Grave account, please sign in to link to Ancestry®.
New Member Registration
Email is mandatory
Email and Password are mandatory
This account already exists, but the email address still needs to be confirmed. Resend Activation Email
Your password is not strong enough
Invalid Email
You must agree to Terms and Conditions
Account already exists
Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox
Internal Server error occurred
If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map
You must select an email preference
We have sent you an activation email
Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters.
We just emailed an activation code to
Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account.
cemeteries found in will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
Within 5 miles of your location.
Within 5 kilometers of your location.
0 cemeteries found in .
0 cemeteries found.
Add a cemetery to fulfill photo requests
You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below.
Search above to list available cemeteries.
Getting location…
Loading...
Loading...
No cemeteries found
Find a Grave Video Tutorials
Default Language
Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. If you notice a problem with the translation, please send a message to [email protected] and include a link to the page and details about the problem. Thanks for your help!
Preferred Language
We have set your language to based on information from your browser.