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English Summary/英文概要： A wounded and teenaged Harald Hardrada fled Norway in 1030 following the death of his half-brother King Olaf II at the Battle of Stiklestad. He would return home decades later as a battle-hardened mercenary commander, weighted down with plunder acquired from wars fought across the Mediterranean. Harald’s transition from exiled semi-royal to a famed adventurer and warrior saw him weave a circuitous route from the steppes and trading post of Kievan Rus to the shining palaces of Constantinople and the ancient war-torn cities of Sicily. As a commander of the Byzantine Empires legendary Varangian Guard Harald travelled extensively before leveraging his hard-won wealth, experience and political connections in a ruthless play for the throne of Norway.
The world of eleventh-century Europe was neither self-contained nor compartmentalized, benefiting as it did from long-established routes of commerce and communication. Hardrada’s journeys and his interactions with the many overlapping cultures and political entities that he encountered further illuminate this essential interconnectivity. The eleventh century was a particularly formative one in the history of Europe that saw the emergence of a crop of pugnacious new kingdoms and setting of the foundations upon which the Europe to come would be built atop. As eleventh-century Europe roiled and struggled to find a new equilibrium in response to the cultural, political and demographic changes being wrought upon it, incredible opportunities were open to those adventurers bold enough to take advantage of this era of uncertainty.
Returning to Norway after his long exile Harald’s ambitions stretched far beyond the Norwegian throne to encompass the recreation of the North Sea Empire of Cnut the Great, his family’s greatest foe. Harald has often been called, with no small amount of admiration or respect, the Last Viking. Yet this title underestimates the depths of Harald’s achievements and the profound effect he had on the form and internal coherency of the Kingdom of Norway. Part biography, part medieval travelogue, this book extends its critical and incisive examination of Harald’s career to the many European and Mediterranean polities he travelled and fought through during his long exile. By placing Harald within his proper historical context, he is firmly detached from his role as a mere runner up in 1066’s struggle for the Kingdom of England and revealed to be one of the great rulers and state builders of the age.
Chinese Summary/中文概要： 1030年，在同父異母的哥哥奧拉夫二世國王於斯蒂克勒斯塔德戰役中陣亡後，身負重傷的少年哈拉爾·哈德拉達逃離了挪威。數十年後，他以身經百戰的傭兵指揮官的身份重返故土，肩負著從地中海各地戰爭中掠奪的戰利品。哈拉爾從流亡的半王室成員到聲名顯赫的冒險家和戰士，其人生軌跡曲折蜿蜒，從基輔羅斯的草原和貿易站一路輾轉到君士坦丁堡的輝煌宮殿和飽受戰火蹂躪的西西里古老城邦。身為拜占庭帝國傳奇的瓦蘭吉衛隊的指揮官，哈拉爾遊歷四方，最終利用他來之不易的財富、經驗和政治關係，對挪威王位展開了殘酷的爭奪。
11世紀的歐洲並非封閉或孤立，而是受益於長期建立的商業和通訊路線。哈拉爾的旅程以及他與沿途遇到的眾多相互交織的文化和政治實體的互動，進一步闡明了這種至關重要的相互聯繫。十一世紀是歐洲歷史上一個具有特殊塑造意義的時期，見證了一群好戰的新王國的崛起，並奠定了未來歐洲發展的基礎。在十一世紀的歐洲動盪不安，努力尋求新的平衡以應對文化、政治和人口的巨變之際，對於那些敢於利用這一不確定時代的冒險家來說，千載難逢的機會也隨之而來。
在經歷了漫長的流亡之後，哈拉爾回到挪威，他的野心遠不止於挪威王位，而是要重建克努特大帝——他家族最大的敵人——的北海帝國。哈拉爾經常被人們尊稱為「最後的維京人」，這其中飽含著人們的欽佩和敬意。然而，這個頭銜低估了哈拉爾德的成就及其對挪威王國形態和內部凝聚力的深遠影響。本書兼具傳記和中世紀遊記的特色，不僅對哈拉爾德的生平進行了批判性的深入剖析，更將其足跡延伸至他在漫長流亡期間遊歷和徵戰的眾多歐洲和地中海政體。透過將哈拉爾德置於恰當的歷史背景之中，他不再僅僅是1066年英格蘭王國爭奪戰中的亞軍，而是被揭示為那個時代最偉大的統治者和國家締造者之一。(Zoe)
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