Magnus Haraldsson (1049 - 1069)

Born 1049 in Norway

Ancestors

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Biography

Magnus Haraldsson (Old Norse: Magnús Haraldsson; c. 1048 – 28 April 1069) King. Parents: King Harald III Sigurdsson "Hardråde" (1015-1066) and Tora Torbergsdatter (b. 1024). Brother of King Olav III Haraldsson "Kyrre" (ca. 1050-1093); father of King Hakon Magnusson "Toresfostre".

A son of King Harald Hardrada, Magnus was in 1058 appointed nominal leader of an expedition into the Irish Sea while still only a child. He appears to have assisted Welsh ruler Gruffydd ap Llywelyn and Ælfgar, Earl of Mercia in their struggles against the English, although his primary objective may have been to assert control over Orkney. He later accompanied his father in Harald's campaign against Denmark in 1062, and was appointed regent and made king before Harald's fatal invasion of England in 1066. Magnus briefly ruled Norway alone thereafter, until his younger brother Olaf returned from England in 1067.

Magnus co-ruled with Olaf following his brother's return to Norway, but less than three years into his reign, Magnus became ill and died. His kingship has been downplayed in later history in part due to this. Magnus had only one child, Haakon Toresfostre who was king briefly after Olaf, but who also died young, and without issue.

Research Notes

There are no known skaldic poems dealing with Magnus, and what it says about him in royal sagas does not constitute many lines. What is said is that he was Harald Hardrådes eldest son and may have been involved in his father's large battle fleet into Danish waters in 1062, which ended with the Norwegian victory at the Battle of Nisa in Halland.

Sources

• HKR.
• NFH, Vol. 2
• H. Koht: biography in NBL1, Vol. 9, 1940
• I. Reichborn-Kjennerud: "Old Disease name", in Maal og Minne 1942, pp. 118-120
• https://nbl.snl.no/Magnus_2_Haraldsson