27 Facts About Harald Wartooth

Harald Wartooth or Harold Hiltertooth was a semi-legendary king of Denmark who is mentioned in several traditional sources.

Harald Wartooth is held to have succeeded his father as king of Zealand and to have expanded his realm.

Harald Wartooth is said to have been finally defeated and killed at the legendary Battle of Bravalla.

Saxo Grammaticus, in Gesta Danorum, gives two different accounts about why Harald had the name wartooth.

Saxo further tells that according to another opinion, the name was derived from Harald Wartooth having protruding teeth.

Harald Wartooth is stated by most texts to have flourished three generations before the conquest of part of England by the sons of Ragnar Lodbrok.

Later Saxo has forgotten about this and writes that Harald Wartooth was the son of Halfdan, Borkar's son, and a woman named Gyrid, the last member of the Skjoldungs.

Harald Wartooth successfully reclaimed his grandfather's domains, so that in the end he owned more than his grandfather had, and there was no king in either Denmark or Sweden who did not pay him tribute or was his vassal.

Harald Wartooth subjugated all the parts of England that had belonged to Halfdan the Valiant and later Ivar.

Harald Wartooth appointed Hjormund, the son of Hjorvard Ylfing, the king of Ostergotland.

Hervarar saga mentions that Harald Wartooth retook his grandfather's domains, but it says that the conquests started out from Gotaland.

Harald Wartooth was favoured by Odin, so that steel could not hurt him; in return, he offered the souls of those slain by his sword to the god.

When Ingjald passed away at a later time, his adolescent son Hring inherited him, while Harald Wartooth appointed suitable guardians for the boy.

Again reacting to undue female agency, Harald Wartooth intervened and slew the two women in person.

Harald Wartooth next overcame a Frisian raider called Ubbe who had attacked Jutland.

Harald Wartooth furthermore undertook successful expeditions of conquest along the Rhine, in the lands of the Slavs, Aquitania, and Humbria in England.

Harald Wartooth's fame attracted warriors from various parts of the world, who formed a mercenary guard.

When Harald Wartooth realized that he was about to die of old age, he suggested to Hring, king of Sweden, that a great battle should be fought between them.

Harald Wartooth hoped to die in this battle and go to Valhalla instead of dying in his bed and end up in Niflheim.

When Brune drowned on a journey, Odin, who had by now abandoned Harald Wartooth's cause, took his likeness and began to weave a web of intrigues, successfully pitting the two kings against each other.

Hring gathered warriors from Sweden, Vastergotland and Norway, while Harald Wartooth assembled troops from Denmark, the Baltic region and Germany.

The most ferocious champion on Harald Wartooth's side was Ubbe the Frisian who killed scores of enemies before being shot down by Norwegian archers.

Blind, old King Harald Wartooth rode out into the fray in a chariot with a sword in each hand and struck away at the enemy.

Hring stood before the fire and bade Harald Wartooth ride straight to Valhalla and secure lodging for those who had perished.

The archaeologist Birger Nerman, on the other hand, argued that Harald Wartooth was indeed the overlord over a comprehensive Danish-Swedish realm, while Hring was a sub-king with authority over Sweden, Vastergotland and Gotland.

An annal entry of 813 shows that the rivals of this Harald Wartooth's nephews sought support in the struggle for Danish kingship among the Swedes, successfully ousting Harald Wartooth's kin.

Whether vague memories of this dynastic contest are reflected in Harald Wartooth's story is a moot point.