Harald the Younger (from "Herioldus iunior", how he is named in the ''

Annales Xantenses The ''Annales Xantenses'' or ''Annals of Xanten'' are a series of annals which adapt and continue the Royal Frankish Annals. Their first editor, Georg Pertz, thought they were perhaps written at the monastery at Xanten, hence their name. However, ...

'') was a

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

leader and a member of the

Danish royal family The Danish royal family is the dynastic family of the monarch. All members of the Danish royal family except Queen Margrethe II hold the title of ''Prince/Princess of Denmark''. Dynastic children of the monarch and of the heir apparent are accor ...

. He has sometimes been mistakenly identified with

Harald Klak Harald 'Klak' Halfdansson (c. 785 – c. 852) was a king in Jutland (and possibly other parts of Denmark) around 812–814 and again from 819–827."Carolingian Chronicles: Royal Frankish Annals and Nithard's Histories" (1970), translation by Bernh ...

, who was in fact his uncle and probable namesake. His brother was

Rorik of Dorestad Rorik (''Roricus, Rorichus''; Old Norse ''HrœrekR'', c. 810 – c. 880) was a Danish Viking, who ruled over parts of Friesland between 841 and 873, conquering Dorestad and Utrecht in 850. Rorik swore allegiance to Louis the German in 873. He ...

. In 841 the

Emperor Lothair I Lothair I or Lothar I (Dutch and Medieval Latin: ''Lotharius''; German: ''Lothar''; French: ''Lothaire''; Italian: ''Lotario'') (795 – 29 September 855) was emperor (817–855, co-ruling with his father until 840), and the governor of Bavar ...

granted the isle of

Walcheren Walcheren () is a region and former island in the Dutch province of Zeeland at the mouth of the Scheldt estuary. It lies between the Eastern Scheldt in the north and the Western Scheldt in the south and is roughly the shape of a rhombus. The two ...

to Harald and his brother as a fief ('' beneficium'') rewarding him for the attacks he had launched against Lothair's father,

Louis the Pious Louis the Pious (german: Ludwig der Fromme; french: Louis le Pieux; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aqui ...

, during the civil wars of the 830s.Coupland, "Poachers to Gamekeepers", 90–91. Since at the time Harald was a pagan, whereas the population of Walcheren was Christian, this incident is probably the basis for the contemporary historian Nithard's claim that Lothair placed a Christian population in submission to a group of Northmen and gave them licence to plunder the Christian territories of his enemies in the same year. Between 840 and 843 Lothair was engaged in a civil war with his brothers

Louis the German Louis the German (c. 806/810 – 28 August 876), also known as Louis II of Germany and Louis II of East Francia, was the first king of East Francia, and ruled from 843 to 876 AD. Grandson of emperor Charlemagne and the third son of Louis the P ...

and

Charles the Bald Charles the Bald (french: Charles le Chauve; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as Charles II, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), king of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a ser ...

, and Nithard records that Harald was present in his army in 842. Not long thereafter Harald died and his brother was forced to flee to the court of Louis the German, where he spent several years. Although later sources unambiguously describe Harald as a pagan—

Prudentius of Troyes Prudentius (? in Aragon, Spain – 6 April 861 at Troyes, France) was bishop of Troyes, a chronicler and an opponent of Hincmar of Reims in the controversy on predestination. Life Prudentius left Spain in his youth and came to the Frankish Empir ...

, author of the ''Annales Bertiniani'', regarded him as a "persecutor of the Christian faith and a demon-worshipper" and his receipt of a benefice as an "utterly detestable crime"—he may have been baptised as a young man at the imperial court. Harald Klak and his family, perhaps including Harald, were baptised at

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...

in 826, with Lothair standing as godfather. Harald's son

Godfrid Haraldsson Godfrid Haraldsson () was the son of the Danish king Harald Klak. In 826 he was baptized together with his parents in Mainz in the Frankish Empire, with crown prince Lothair standing as a godparent. After his baptism, Godfrid stayed in Lothair's ...

and one of his nephews remained at the imperial court even after the elder Harald left. Since Godfrid remained allied with Lothair until the mid-840s, it is possible that Harald was his cousin who remained with Lothair after 826 and began raiding Louis the Pious's

Frisia Frisia is a cross-border cultural region in Northwestern Europe. Stretching along the Wadden Sea, it encompasses the north of the Netherlands and parts of northwestern Germany. The region is traditionally inhabited by the Frisians, a West Ger ...

n lands in 834.Coupland, "Poachers to Gamekeepers", 93 and n. 48.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harald The Younger 840s deaths Viking rulers Year of birth unknown 9th-century Vikings