120mm Death of a King Harald Hardrada Diorama

Description

The famous connection between a King Harald and a Valkyrie comes from a 9th-century skaldic poem called Hrafnsmál “The Song of the Raven“. However, this poem is about Harald Fairhair (the first King of Norway), not Harald Hardrada (the “Last Great Viking” who died in 1066).

Hrafnsmál is structured as a conversation between an unnamed Valkyrie and a raven. The Valkyrie, described as a wise and beautiful maiden who chooses the slain, questions the raven about the deeds, court life, and military victories of King Harald Fairhair.

Because both men were legendary Norwegian kings named Harald, modern readers and pop culture often blend their stories together.

While Hardrada isn’t the subject of the famous Valkyrie poem, his life and final hours were deeply tied to the concepts of Valhalla and the Valkyries:

Harald Hardrada was himself a talented skald (poet). On the eve of his death at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066, he composed verses predicting either absolute glory or a hero’s death. The Doom of Valhalla: In Norse culture, Valkyries were the entities who chose which warriors died in battle to be taken to Odin’s hall. Hardrada’s death is taking an arrow to the throat while fighting without his armor. He’s traditionally romanticized as the final, dramatic moment where the Valkyries took the last great Viking king.