Naval battle at the mouth of the Nissan River
| date | August 9, 1062 |
|---|---|
| place | At the mouth of the Nissan River in the Kattegat near Halmstad in Halland (Sweden) |
| output | Norwegian victory |
| consequences | Temporary success |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
Harald Hardrade King of Norway |
Sven Estridsson King of Denmark |
| Troop strength | |
| 150 ships | 300 ships |
| losses | |
|
Unknown |
Unknown |
The sea battle at the mouth of the Nissan in the Kattegat near Laholm off the coast of Halland (today in Sweden ) took place on August 9, 1062 between the fleet of the King of Norway Harald Hardrade († 1066) and the fleet of the King of Denmark Sven Estridsson († 1076) instead. It was a stage in the year-long struggle between the two kings for rule over Denmark, which was based on the arbitrary interpretation of inheritance claims by King Harald. In the battle, surprisingly, the - numerically far inferior - Norwegians won. Harald's assumption that King Sven was killed in the process and that the dispute had thus been decided in his favor, however, turned out to be an illusion, since King Sven had survived and was secretly rescued by Harald's most important follower, Jarl Hakon Ivarsson. The battle for Denmark therefore continued until 1064, when the kings finally agreed to forego mutual claims and to rule only their own country.
swell
An account of this battle can be found in an Icelandic saga , the saga of King Harald Hardrade - part of the Heimskringla , the story of the Norwegian kings written around 1230 by the Icelandic statesman, historian and poet Snorri Sturluson (* 1190, † 1241). This representation can only be regarded as a historical source to a limited extent, as it is based on oral traditions that were only written down almost 200 years later. The source is often handed down poems by skalds who were often direct witnesses of the events, Snorri Sturluson citing these poems several times as a source and probably also using them as a literary means to create immediacy and to dramatize the narrative.
The enmity between kings Harald and Sven and the following armed conflicts are also mentioned in the history of the Archdiocese of Hamburg by Adam of Bremen († 1081/85) in which, however, the political situation and the relationship between Harald and Sven are different - and more imprecise - than is shown in the saga of King Harald, which is understandable, since the Archdiocese of Hamburg is far from Norway and only had indirect information, while the saga was based on the direct tradition of contemporary witnesses.
prehistory
According to the saga of King Magnus, the roots of the conflict go back to an inheritance that was concluded around 1039 between Hardeknut , King of Denmark and King of England († 1042), and Magnus I the Good , King of Norway († 1047) according to which if one of them died without heirs, the other's lands would go to the other. However, contemporary sources - such as the Roskilde Chronicle - contain no reference to this.
When King Hardeknut died, King Magnus could only take over the Kingdom of Denmark, but not England, which fell to Edward the Confessor . King Magnus I subsequently ruled over Norway and Denmark, but was confronted in Denmark with the claims of Sven Estridsson, who raised hereditary claims. This is because he was a cousin of King Hardeknut through his mother Estrid Svendsdatter - a sister of Canute the Great , King of the North Sea Empire consisting of Denmark, Norway and England († 1035). In addition, his father Jarl Ulf Thorgilsson († murdered 1026) was Jarl the Great 1024 Jarl and Regent of Sweden and Hardaknut's foster father. King Magnus I made Sven Jarl and Regent of Denmark in 1042, but expelled him from Denmark in 1046 after he had assumed the title of King of Denmark.
In the same year 1046, another pretender came into play, as Harald III, called "Hardrade", returned to Norway as commander of the Varangian Guard after years of absence in the service of the emperors of the Byzantine Empire . He was an uncle of King Magnus and related to this through his mother Asta Gudbrandsdotter, who in her first marriage was King Olav II. Haraldsson , called "the saint", - the father of Magnus I - and in her second marriage Harald III. Sigurdsson, called "Hardrade", gave birth. King Magnus came to an arrangement with his uncle by making him co-king in return for half of the looted gold treasure and leaving him half the kingdom of Norway. When King Magnus died on October 25, 1047, Harald succeeded him as sole King of Norway.
Succession in Denmark became a problem, because King Magnus I had left him only Norway in his will and not Denmark, which he transferred to Sven Estridsson, who succeeded him as King of Denmark. King Harald disregarded this, as he saw himself as a universal heir to King Magnus, and therefore also claimed the succession in the Kingdom of Denmark. With this in mind, he was reinforced by a personal hostility towards Sven Estridsson. This went back to the time of his return from Constantinople via Russia to Sweden in 1046, where he had allied himself against his nephew King Magnus I with Sven Estridsson, who was in exile there, in order to wrest Magnus Denmark. Later, however, there was a quarrel between them and even Sven's assassination attempt against Harald, which prompted him to reconcile with his nephew King Magnus.
Immediately after the death of King Magnus, Harald wanted to march into Denmark in autumn 1047, but was slowed down by important magnates who were friends with King Magnus, who insisted that the dead king must first receive a dignified burial. As a result, there were multiple mutual attacks and skirmishes between Norwegian and Danish patrols, whereupon the Danish King Harald Hardrade called for the question of rule over Denmark to be resolved the following summer through a battle on the border between the two countries - at the mouth of the Göta River - to decide.
When King Harald with his fleet and Ulf arrived at the agreed meeting point, he learned that Sven had stayed in the south of Denmark, near Zealand . Since a decisive battle was not to be expected, Harald sent back the peasants' contingent and kept only the 150 ships of his feudal people with him and undertook raids in Denmark, including burning the famous trading town of Haithabu in 1050 .
Harald then sailed to Skagen , to the northern tip of Denmark, but was stopped there by adverse winds and forced to seek shelter on the island of Laeso in the northern Kattegat. When the fog lifted that morning, the Norwegians saw that a large Danish fleet was approaching. Harald ordered the departure, after which a race between the fleets began, in which the Danes came closer and closer as the Norwegian ships were heavily loaded with booty. Harald therefore ordered ballast, then pieces of booty and finally Danish prisoners to be thrown into the sea in order to lighten the boats and to distract the pursuers, which enabled him to escape.
As a result, there were further mutual military expeditions, with Harald taking the opportunity to take revenge on Kalf Arnasson, the brother of his father-in-law Thorberg Arnasson, who had a reputation for being Harald's half-brother, King Olav II , at the Battle of Stiklestad . the saint for having dealt the fatal blow. Harald did this by giving Kalf Arnasson advance command but waiting with the main force until this troop was defeated and Kalf Arnasson was killed.
The result was that his brother, Finn Arnasson, an influential magnate and follower of Harald, left his service and went to his enemy, King Sven Estridsson, who made him Jarl of Halland and entrusted with the defense against Norwegian attacks.
On another expedition to Denmark, Harald plundered first in Jutland and then in the Limfjord with a small fleet , but was surprised there by King Sven Estridsson with a large fleet that blocked the exit of the fjord. The fight was hopeless, the escape route blocked, yet Harald Hardrade found a way out. He drove his ships to the point of the fjord, where it is only separated from the North Sea by a narrow land bridge. During the night he had the crews pull the boats across the isthmus and thus escaped his pursuers across the sea.
Prepare for battle
With a decisive confrontation looming, King Harald established the city of Oslo as a base for his actions against Denmark, the location being favorable to raiding Danish territory and easy to resupply the troops from the surrounding country . Harald also had a huge longship built in Eyrar, like the famous battleship of King Olav I Tryggvason († 1000), known as the "Long Snake", which was considered the largest and most expensive ship ever built in Norway . Harald's kite ship had a kite head at the bow and a kite tail at the end and surpassed the 34 row benches of the "Long Snake" by having 35 row benches built in on each side, the ship was furnished with the greatest care and decorated with gold.
King Harald thereupon challenged King Sven with a message to go next spring with his fleet to the border of the two countries, at the mouth of the Gota River, in order to clarify in a decisive battle who rules Norway and Denmark should. At the same time, Harald issued a contest across the country to gather all available troops and, with great sympathy from the population, let his new dragon ship into the water in the Nidelva River . This event was so significant that the contemporary Icelandic skald and Norwegian court poet Thjodolf Arnarsson († 1066 at the Battle of Stamford Bridge ) recorded it in a poem that found its way into the saga of King Harald:
Harald now removed the long tent of the ship .
And on the high board looked
on Saturday the city women
A new ship steered the Nid
along the sea.
Then a young king. And
the oars lashed the floods
...
There is much suffering before the men
row back to the land
From heavy seas. Seventy
benches can be seen there!
There is now running across the sea
The dragon ship of the Vikings
And it seems to me
as if aaars are swinging there.
Battle of the Nissan Estuary
surprise
King Harald set off with his fleet to the agreed meeting point with the Danes, but got caught in a severe storm that forced the ships to seek shelter in the archipelago or in fjord mouths, but eventually reached the mouth of the Göta-älv in the Kattegat as agreed .
When King Harald arrived there, he learned through his spies that King Sven had again preferred to avoid a decisive battle, since he had stayed in Smaland with his fleet in the south of Denmark . Harald therefore sent back the peasants' contingent as usual and only kept the 150 or so ships of his feudal people with him to plunder with them in Denmark. He did this first in Halland (then in Denmark, now in Sweden) and then in Laholmsfjord when scouts told him that King Sven was approaching with his entire fleet of 300 ships. King Harald then called the men of his fleet together to discuss the situation. In view of the hopelessness of a fight against such overwhelming numbers, some advised fleeing.
Harald opposed this and said it was better to die in honor than to be killed while fleeing. The Icelandic skald and Norwegian court poet, Stein Herdisarson, who had taken part in the battle on Marshal Ulf Ospaksson's ship himself, recorded this in a poem as follows.
Harald, bold as a hawk.
Says out loud what he meant:
“Happy hope for peace, he thought
, would have long since been put to shame.
Nobody should spare themselves
or even think about escape!
We'd sooner fall than give way! ”
Weapons were brought up on all sides.
Order of battle
On the Norwegian side, Ulf Ospaksson , the brother-in-law and marshal of King Harald, and Jarl Hakon Ivarsson († after 1065), who was related by marriage to King Harald through his wife, Ragnhild Magnusdatter, as she was a daughter of Harald's nephew, are named as commanders , King Magnus I of Norway.
On the Danish side, the - defector - Jarl Finn Arnasson and "six Jarle" - without further details - are named as commanders.
The fleets took up position opposite each other, with the kings' great ships in the middle. The dragon ship of King Harald was flanked by the ship of his Marshal Ulf Ospaksson and the ship of the Danish King Sven Ulfsson by the ship of the Norwegian dissident, Finn Arnasson.
On both sides, the ships in the center were tied together to create a stable platform for hand-to-hand fighting, while the remaining ships could intervene in the battle at their own discretion.
On the Norwegian side, the fleet of Jarl Hakon Ivarsson stood on one flank, while the other flank was held by the ships of the fighters from Trondelag .
Course of the battle
The battle began in the late afternoon of August 9, 1062 off the coast of Halland at the mouth of the River Nissan | Nissan (today the city of Halmstad is located there ) and lasted all night. The fighting was very bitter, as the skald stone Herdisarson noted:
Turning off the shield protection, the kings loudly ordered to
shoot and hit . So
you got close to each other.
Many stones and arrows
flew there, and
the red blood ran down from the shining sword.
Fallen soon faded.
While the fighters of the two fleets wrestled with each other in the center and King Harald shot the Danish warriors with his bow, his most powerful follower, Jarl Hakon Ivarsson, played a decisive role, as he and his squadron attacked Danish ships from the flank and killed their crew. which led to the fact that the Danes withdrew there. Alternately, he also came to the aid of the Norwegian units that had gotten into trouble, attacking Danish ships throughout the night wherever necessary, with no one able to withstand his determined attack.
The fighting was particularly hard in the center on the tied ships, with numerous fighters on both sides falling, jumping into the sea to save themselves, or escaping to other ships. Towards the end of the night, however, King Harald and his men succeeded in boarding King Sven's large ship and then killing his crew in battle or driving them away from the ship, as some tried to save themselves by jumping into the sea.
Arnor Thordarsson, called "the Jarls-Skald", the skald of the Jarle of Orkney , wrote the following poem about it:
Well, not without reason
you jumped overboard , brave Sven,
Because hard iron echoed
in the helmets of your men!
Because it was completely deserted, Edler
your oak ship, only corpses were
seen! You had to
flee again, more eloquent .
After the fight, the 70 tied ships of King Sven Estridsson remained, whose crew had been killed, drowned or occasionally escaped swimming. King Harald took up the pursuit of the fleeing people with his fleet, where he succeeded in capturing the Jarl Finn Arnesson who had defected from him at the time and who had fought against him on the Danish side.
After a short pursuit, Harald returned to the battlefield and searched King Sven's ship, where many dead and booty were found, but not King Sven's body. He was therefore considered fallen. Harald then made sure that his own dead were buried and the wounds of the injured were taken care of. He had the fallen Danes brought ashore and caused the local farmers to bury them. Then he had the booty collected by the Danish ships distributed and stayed with his fleet for a few days.
Harald's joy at the unexpected victory against the overpowering Danish fleet and the satisfaction that now, after the death of King Sven, he would also rule in Denmark, did not last long. A few days later, a messenger brought the message that King Sven was not only alive, but had already begun to rally the survivors of the battle and other troops around him in Zealand.
After the battle
King Harald Hardrade then returned disappointed with his fleet to Norway and spent the winter in Oslo.
There, of course, everyone was talking about the surprising victory of their own fleet, with discussions about who would have shown the greatest bravery and who would have achieved the greatest fame, with most praising Jarl Hakon Ivarson as the bravest and most skillful of what King Harald heard.
For his part, Jarl Hakon Ivarsson returned to his possessions in the province of Oppland after the battle and was very popular with his compatriots because of his successes in the battle.
Treason
The veterans who had fought under Jarl Hakon Ivarsson met again and again and talked about the course of the battle and about those who had distinguished themselves in it. One day in the spring of 1063, for example, when some said that besides Jarl Hakon Ivarsson there were others who had distinguished themselves through particular courage and bravery. One of the group said that that was probably correct, but that no one had been as lucky as Jarl Hakon Ivarsson. Many agreed to this, as he had seized many Danish ships. The man disagreed, however, and said that his luck was different, namely to have saved King Sven Estridsson of Denmark in the battle. He told his unbelieving comrades that he had the story of the man who had brought King Sven to safety in a boat after the battle on behalf of Jarl Hakon.
According to this, Jarl Hakon Ivarsson would not have taken part in the pursuit of the fleeing Danes with his ships, as he could not move forward because of the numerous partly empty and damaged ships. A boat approached his ship, on which stood a tall man with a long cloak and hat who wanted to speak to the Jarl personally. In relation to this he called himself “Vandrat” (the perplexed) and offered him his life “if he wanted to give it to him”.
Jarl Hakon took a closer look at the stranger, then called two men he trusted and ordered them to take Vandrat ashore by boat to a landowner friend called Karl, who should give Vandrat horses and his son to guide him. Despite the cruising ships, the boat was able to reach the mainland and Vandrat was brought to safety at the Karls Gutshof.
Now the old saying that “a king has many ears” has proven to be true, since King Harald heard the story shortly afterwards. Angrily, he set out that same night with a hundred horsemen to kill Jarl Hakon Ivarsson. On the way, one of his companions met a farmer he knew. He gave him money and instructed him to warn Jarl Hakon that the king wanted to kill him because of the rescue of the Danish king. The farmer hurried on shortcuts to Jarl Hakon, who immediately set off with his household and did not stop until he had reached Swedish territory and thus escaped the persecution of King Harald.
Consequences of the battle
The expectation that this battle would finally clarify the question of rule in Denmark was not fulfilled. The bloody battle at the mouth of the Nissan River was not a decisive battle and Harald's surprising success was only a stage victory, as King Sven had survived contrary to expectations and the struggle for rule in Denmark therefore continued unchanged. It was not until 1062, at a meeting on Göta-Älv, after difficult negotiations under the pressure of the teams, who pointed out the great damage caused by the mutual wars, and through mediation efforts of experienced followers, to an agreement that was sealed with solemn oaths and hostages has been. Accordingly, the war was ended, with each of the two kings ruling his country and waiving claims against the other.
As a side effect of the battle, Jarl Finn Arnasson, who had resigned from the service of Harald in anger, was taken prisoner by Harald. Despite being reinstated in his estates, he remained hostile to King Harald, who had caused the death of his brother Kalf Arnasson.
Another side effect of the battle was that King Harald lost his most important follower by viewing Jarl Hakon Ivarsson as a traitor and persecuting him, since this Harald's adversary, King Sven Estridsson of Denmark, did not capture after the battle but enabled him to escape. whereby Harald lost the chance to bring the Kingdom of Denmark into his possession.
swell
- Snorri Sturluson : Heimskringla . Saga of King Harald Hardrade
- Adam of Bremen : Hamburg Church History . 2nd Edition. Third book. Translated by JCM Laurent. Dyk'sche Buchhandlung, Leipzig 1893, Chapter 12 ( Wikisource )
literature
- Magnus Magnusson, Hermann Pálsson: King Harald's Saga . Penguin Classics, reprint, Penguin Books, Harmondsworth Middlesex UK 1971, chap. 18, note 1
- Hans-Jürgen Hube (ed., Translator and commentator), Snorri Sturluson: Heimskringla , sagas of the Nordic kings. Matrix Verlag, 2006, ISBN 978-3-86539-084-4
- Detlev Schwennicke : European Family Tables , New Series, Volume II
Web links
- Heimskringla (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hans-Jürgen Hube (ed., Translator and commentator), Snorri Sturluson: Heimskringla , sagas of the Nordic kings. Matrix Verlag, 2006, ISBN 978-3-86539-084-4
- ↑ Heimskringla (English)
- ^ Adam of Bremen : Hamburg Church History . 2nd Edition. Third book. Translated by JCM Laurent. Dyk'sche Buchhandlung, Leipzig 1893, Chapter 12 ( Wikisource )
- ↑ Heimskringla, Saga of King Magnus chap. 6th
- ^ Hans-Jürgen Hube, Snorri Surlusson: Heimskringla . Magnus the Good, chap. 6, p. 466
- ↑ Detlev Schwennicke : European Family Tables , New Series, Volume II, Plate 97
- ^ Magnus Magnusson, Hermann Pálsson: King Harald's Saga . Penguin Classics, reprint, Penguin Books, Harmondsworth Middlesex UK 1971, chap. 18, note 1
- ↑ a b Detlev Schwennicke: European family tables . New series, volume II, plate 108
- ↑ Detlev Schwennicke: European Family Tables , New Series, Volume II, Plate 98
- ↑ Saga of King Harald, chap. 20th
- ↑ Saga of King Harald, chap. 22nd
- ↑ Saga of King Harald, chap. 29
- ↑ Saga of King Harald, chap. 34
- ↑ Saga of King Harald, chap. 35
- ↑ Saga of King Harald, chap. 52
- ↑ Saga of King Harald, chap. 53
- ↑ Saga of King Harald, chap. 58
- ^ Magnus Magnusson, Hermann Pálsson: King Harald's Saga . Penguin Classics, reprint, Penguin Books, Harmondsworth Middlesex UK 1971, note 1 to chap. 59
- ↑ Saga chap. 59
- ↑ Saga of King Harald, chap. 60
- ^ Translation after Hans-Jürgen Hube (ed., Translator and commentator), Snorri Sturluson: Heimskringla , Sages of the Nordic Kings. Matrix Verlag, 2006, ISBN 978-3-86539-084-4 , p. 534
- ↑ a b c Saga of King Harald, chap. 61
- ^ Translation after Hans-Jürgen Hube (ed., Translator and commentator), Snorri Sturluson: Heimskringla , Sages of the Nordic Kings. Matrix Verlag, 2006, ISBN 978-3-86539-084-4 , p. 533
- ^ Translation after Hans-Jürgen Hube (ed., Translator and commentator), Snorri Sturluson: Heimskringla , Sages of the Nordic Kings. Matrix Verlag, 2006, ISBN 978-3-86539-084-4 , p. 535
- ↑ Saga of King Harald, chap. 63
- ^ Translation after Hans-Jürgen Hube (ed., Translator and commentator), Snorri Sturluson: Heimskringla , Sages of the Nordic Kings. Matrix Verlag, 2006, ISBN 978-3-86539-084-4 , p. 536
- ↑ Saga of King Harald, chap. 63
- ↑ Saga of King Harald, chap. 65
- ↑ Saga of King Harald, chap. 68
- ↑ Saga of King Harald, chap. 64
- ↑ Saga of King Harald, chap. 71
- ↑ Saga of King Harald, chap. 66