Until a few years ago, I was convinced that the Norwegian Vikings went west and the Swedes went east. I have learned that it was wrong. Five Viking chiefs spent part of their lives in the Kiev area. After a period all of them returned to Norway and became kings. One of them had a facinating life. After some years he continued his travel to Bysants ... He was named Araltes. His life plays an important role in the backstory of this mystery -thriller , The Viking Heritage.
Araltes life in medieval history - and in the mystery-thriller: The Viking Heritage
Araltes was the named Harald Hardrada Sigurdsson was known in Byzantium / Constantinople. He will supposedly also have used the name Norbrigt while he was in Bysants. In fact it is preserved a Byzantine manuscript (top of page 6 in the .pdf-file) that tells about Araltes (Harald). It was translated and annotated by historian Gustav Storm in 1884.
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Harald Hardrada in the Strategikon of Kekaumenos https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Harald_Hardrada_in_the_Strategikon_of_Kekaumenos
The Strategikon is a work thought to have been written by the Byzantine general Kekaumenos in the last quarter of the 11th century. The following translation is an excerpt of the part dealing with the later Norwegian king Harald Hardrada, who was in Byzantine service as the leader of the Varangian Guard from c. 1034 to 1042.
Araltes[1] was the son of the king of Varangia[2], and brother of Julavos[3], who had inherited the kingdom after his father. Araltes came next after him in dignity. But Araltes, who was young and who admired the power of the Romans[4], left his country and wanted to come in our service, show respect for the blessed master Emperor Michael Paphlagonia and see with his own eyes the customs and governance of the Romans. He brought with him a group of 500 brave men and entered service to the emperor, who received him in a dignified manner, and sent him to Sicily since the Roman army was there to conduct warfare on the island. Araltes went there and did many remarkable things, and when the war was over, he went back to the emperor who gave him the title manglavites. Somewhat later, Delianos started a revolt in Bulgaria, and Araltes then participated in the emperor's campaign and performed great feats against the enemy, such as it behooves a man of his lineage and great abilities. When the emperor had forced the Bulgarians to surrender, he returned (to Constantinople). I[5] participated myself and fought as best I could for the emperor. So, when we came to Mosynupolis, the emperor decorated him[6] for his fighting courage and gave him the title spatharokandidatos. After Emperor Michael was dead and the next emperor , his sister's son (had taken over), Araltes wante d to return to his country in the days when Constantine Monomakhos was emperor. He asked for permission to leave, but was refused permission and it was difficult for him to leave. Nonetheless, he managed to escape in secret and became king in his own country instead of his brother Juvalos. He was neither angry for just having been appointed to manglavites or spatharokandidatos, but instead, when he became king, he maintained the loyalty and friendship with the Romans.
- i.e. Harald (Hardrada).
- ↑ i.e. Norway.
- ↑ i.e. Olaf (Haraldsson).
- ↑ i.e. the East Romans or Byzantines.
- ↑ i.e. the author of the Strategikon.
- ↑ i.e. Harald.
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The book was composed between 1075 and 1078 by a Byzantine general, Kekaumenos. He was of partly Armenian descent. In it, he offers advice, based on his own personal experience and drawing upon numerous historical examples from the events of the 11th century.