Magnus Barefoot — the Last Viking King of Norway?

In common opinion, Harald Hardrada’s death in the battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066 is perceived as a symbolic end of the Viking Age. However, that moment could be moved to 24 August 1103, when, after ten years of his reign in Norway, Harald’s grandson, Magnus dies in an ambush in Ulster. Some of Old Norse records that describe Magnus’s reign compare both rulers and depict Magnus as the true and determined follower of his grandfather. For that reason it is not surprising that the circumstances of Magnus’s death are often shown as the fullest manifestation of that picture, including both its positive and negative facets. The king of Norway appears to be deeply interested in making his reign perceived as a direct continuation of Harald Hadrada’s times. That tendency concerns not only his political actions in general, but also the area of propaganda. The latter was in turn dominated by skalds composing for the king.