Sweyn's Close Call

Sweyn's care for his people allowed Harald Hardrada to escape during their sea skirmish, but Sweyn himself had a similar close call. In 1062, at the Battle of Niså off the coast of Halland (a Swedish province).

The tale is told by Snorri Sturluson: Harald and Sweyn agreed to meet in a decisive battle. If Sweyn won, Harald would stop trying to invade and conquer Denmark (he had been calling himself king of Denmark for years). The two navies would meet on 9 August. Harald was there, but Sweyn did not show up. Harald kept his formal navy but allowed his non-soldiers—the villagers who were conscripted for the fight—to go home.

That's when Sweyn appeared, seizing what he saw as an advantage. Harald linked all his ships with rope so that Sweyn's ships could not separate them. Sweyn did the same, and the battle lasted into the night. Then Harald's earl, Haakon Ivarsson, detached his ships and started attacking the weakened and tired Danish ships from a new angle.

Sweyn didn't have a way to do the same, and by dawn 70 of his ships were empty and the rest went into retreat. Sweyn leapt into the water to escape being attacked in his recognizable boat. He was actually rescued by Haakon, who did not turn him over to Harald. Haakon had been an ally of Sweyn's in the past, and saved his life.

Sweyn would have been killed or turned over to Harald by anyone else, but Haakon got him to safety. Later, Haakon claimed that Sweyn was in disguise and unrecognizable, but that is unlikely since they knew each other personally. Haakon's actions caused the Norwegians to condemn him. He later became the earl of Halland under Sweyn.

Harald's forces won, but the damage was so great on his side as well that Norway was suffering. The saga would not be concluded for another couple years. We'll wrap this up tomorrow.