The Hardrada Chronicles

[ThaHoward]

Or maybe they will become really strong? Wonder what willl happen, for all I know they will reach as far as into Rus or even Suomi. If they do they will become a major threat. Or they will crumble due to religious issues on the inside as you said

And don't know when the next update will come. I am aiming at the end of this week, but we will see if it have to be posponed

 

[Nikolai]

Hopefully they don't get as powerful as they once got in one of my games. They took out Europe all the way to France and half of my Scandinavian empire before they shattered and I ended up conquering half of Europe myself, due to them being heathens. I was very close to losing it all, though.

 

[Mozzavfc]

Finally finished reading this from start to finish. What a great story!

Are you running the Charlemagne DLC to create the North Sea Empire as a custom empire?

 

[ThaHoward]

Hopefully they don't get as powerful as they once got in one of my games. They took out Europe all the way to France and half of my Scandinavian empire before they shattered and I ended up conquering half of Europe myself, due to them being heathens. I was very close to losing it all, though.

God damn! Hope that won't happen here! Perhaps those christian nomads will deal with them, or even the buddhist ones! For all I know their stack of doom will falter once they advance into Russia and Finland. Will be interesting to see what happen, if they advance to Finland I am thinking of having Sweden as a bufferstate and let them have Finland! That way the Mongols are the Swede's problem and they will be my ally/buffer to against the hordes

Finally finished reading this from start to finish. What a great story!

Are you running the Charlemagne DLC to create the North Sea Empire as a custom empire?

Thank you for your kind words! I am glad you like it and hope you will continue to like it

Now for your question.

Yes I am running Charlemagne, but as you can see I am a little short on gold and prestige to form an empire Perhaps I will do it, but I guess it will be more likely for me to either form Scandinavia or Brittania and then rename it. Also I am kinda opposed, right now, to form an Empire as I do a little roleplay and only the HRE can be an empire in the catholic world. But maybe I will justify it or make the title High King instead of Emperor? Who knows what the future will bring, but currenlty I do not have enough prestige nor cash

 

[guillec87]

High King sounds good to me

 

[weresloth]

Jeez, because of the crappy notification system not working, O thought this aar died. Thank god I was wrong.^_^

 

[Nikolai]

Jeez, because of the crappy notification system not working, O thought this aar died. Thank god I was wrong.^_^

You do know of the rather excellent subscription system, right?

 

[ThaHoward]

High King sounds good to me

Maybe I will go for it. We'll see if Håvard the Lame get more prestige or not.

Jeez, because of the crappy notification system not working, O thought this aar died. Thank god I was wrong.^_^

Ah welcome back then Tell me about it, I have to check certain AAR's if they have died or not..

And I can’t promise y'all anything, but I am aiming at an update this weekend!

 

[ThaHoward]

Darkening Clouds

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King Håvard II and Jarl Ogmund.

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King Håvard would ascend to the throne when Norway were at it's greatest. Under his sister Norway had finally united the old empire of Knut the Mighty. And it were all the brainchild of their father who the new King were named after; Håvard the Holy. Håvard II had a lot to live up to if he were to even gain a portion of the prestige and glory his two predecessors had got. Before Håvard became sole king he ruled as co-king of Norway and Prince of Wales and were known to be a most capable commander and veteran crusader. However that was as far as his talents reached him as all he knew were war. Håvard were seen by many as quite unintelligent, and the fact that he had lost his left arm to a bear gave him the title "the Lame". Still he were a great warrior and time would show if he would become a great king.

Start of yet another civil war. Jarl Ogmund - the heir of the three kingdoms.

When Gyrid died Håvard would continue to support his Polish ally, and niece, in her Prussian Crusade. During his absence the Norwegian and English vassals would per tradition instigate a civil war to challenge the authority of the crown. Two Norwegian chiefs would rise up, along with the republics of Iceland and Holstein. Most worringly Lady Eldrid of Søreyjar woul rebel. She controlled all of Mercia and the traditional Norse capital of England; Jorvik. Meanwhile Håvard were crusading in Prussia and had to fight his way to the coast in order to face his challengers. He would make his nephew Jarl Ogmund of Mann (son of his deceased brother Magnus Håvardsson) Prince of Wales and co-King of Norway. In effect this gave him a titular title and made him Jarl of Trøndelagen. It signaled that Ogmund would be the heir of Norway and England as Håvard had no sons.

The two battles in Prussia, and paintings decipting the Teutonic Order in the Prussian Crusade.

Håvard would lead an army that had already gained substantial casualties in the Polish civil war. Still led his army to victory in two major engagements in Prussia greatly quelling Prussian thoughts of independence. Håvard left for Norway and merely sought to fight his way to the sea. Now the Queen of Poland and the Teutonic Knights had to fight the rest of the crusade on their own.

The battles in Norway.

Håvard would arrive in Norway in August. Then he would quickly proceed to engage the rebels in the mountain ranges of Oppland. The battle of Dovre would prove to take several weeks, in fact almost a month, as the battle were not conventional. Fighting in the mountains would prove to be a nasty bussiness, and even churches got burnt to the ground, with civilians and soldiers seeking asylum in them. This would prove the brutality of the war and make the Church favor Håvard. Several battles would be fought in the mountains of Oppland and Oslo. During this time Håvard would raise several men to his cause. He would also lay siege to all of Vestfold, but did not traverse into the wild Hedmark in order to not get the nasty battles repeated. The Norwegian rebels were virtually defeated, and soon Håvard and his Norwegian and Dane warriors would set sail, once more, for England. Once more thousands of Norwegians and Saxons would die in the fertile soil of Albion in order to still the ambitions of kings and queens.

The battles focused around the Welsh heartland, English-Welsh borderlands and Jorvik. Welsh-English ruins in northern Wales.

This time however most of the fighting would take place in the Welsh hills and not England. In England Søreyjar and Orkney had amassed an impressive army of over six thousand warriors. This army were impressive at the initial phase of the war. They would not sieze the oppurtinity as the historians of Håvard noted. They noted furthermore that if they had set sail for Norway, the combined forces of Søyreyjar-Orkney and Vestfold-Hedmark would have been enough to beat Håvard in the battlefield. They did not choose a decisive victory, but instead to occupy western Wales. This would be their downfall as Håvard would arrive with over ten thousand warriors. The veteran crusader would then chase the rebels and fight battles al over Wales and northern England. In the end of May 1236, three years after the start of the war, Håvard would emerge victorious. The King had won once more, and thousands of men and women laid dead in the hills of Wales and mountains of Oppland.

Håvard losing his foreskin, and marrying Euphrosyne.

During the war more "trivial" events would take place. First of all Håvard would in all his clumpsyness lose the Foreskin of Christ. This relic had been the pride of his family, yet it's dubious nature, for centuries since Harald the Great himself had obtained it. It had blessed countless of harvests and now it were gone. Soon the wife of Håvard, and mother to his two daughters, would die a natural death. The priests and bishops of Norway would claim it were the punishment from God himself for Håvard's sin of losing his foreskin. Håvard would grief for a long time as the historians note, but he would soon betroth the Princess of Byzantium, gaining him a potential powerful ally. During this time Jarl Sune of Svitjod would prevail in his Finnish crusade. Meanwhile the Swedish king would lose his crusade, greatly emberassing the so called King of Sweden.

The peace of 1236. Lady Eldrid and Gudrun. Deciptions of King Håvard. Note the independent County of Finland and the Swedish enclave in Finland.

Håvard would then rush to secure the peace. Hedmark would be brought into Håvard's personal demense, while Vestfold were a direct vassal of Håvard (as it somehow became a vassal of Iceland). In England Eldrid would lose her overlordship over Jorvik. Håvard would seek to claim the old Norwegian capital in England for his own, but his current position did not allow for this. In Denmark gudrun of Sjælland would gain the Jarldom of Jylland. The Jarl of Jylland had not participated in the war, but he had been imprisoned for crimes against the crown. He would then get his jarlship revoked and become a vassal of Gudrun. Incidentally the Jarls of Skåne and Jylland had elected the Jarl of Jylland as heir to Denmark. As Håvard removed the Jutish Jarl he would in effect make his heir Ogmund the preffered heir. Granting Gudrun Jylland would also buy her loyalty, and the Estrid clan would continue to become the most powerful figures in Denmark after the King. Meanwhile in Finland the marsh of Finland had finally become Catholic. Gyrid had swore that once Finland became Catholic it should become a crusader state of it's own. Håvard would uphold his sister's oath and grant indepence to his nephew Tord who were Margrave of Finland. Now Håvard would once more focus on the Prussians. Peace were still far far away.

The invasion of Prussia and Teutonic Order settling in Kulm. The battles and aftermarth of the crusade. The Grandmaster of the Teutonic order and the papal delegate overseeing the peace treaty.

Poland had fared with initial success in their crusade. They managed to conquer Kulm and would hand it over to the Teutonic Order. It were a Papal delegate who oversaw the peace treaties with the Prussian tribes, and he proposed that he monastic order should recieve some Prussian lands in order to advance Christendom in the Baltics and Lithuania. After this that very kingdom, the big brother of the Prussians, would intervene. Soon the Polish crusaders could not defeat the combined forces of Prussia and Lithunia and were beaten. Their crusade would be so crippled that Poland would send the Teutons and the Papal delegate to sign a seperate peace treaty with Galindia. Poland would not aim to annex Galindia if they ceased all hostilities. Meanwhile Poland and the Teutons would beg Håvard, the mighty crusader king, to come to their aid. Håvard had been busy fending of Finnish raiders and consumate his marriage, but would aid his niece and in September 1236, mere months after the peace in May, he would arrive with a massive crusader army. He would fight two battles and decimating the Prussians. The Lithuanians recognized the Norwegian power and did not dare to challenge it. Soon all of Prussia, beside from Galindia, would fall to Norwegian occupation. After the peace of May 1238 the Prussians, Polish, Teutons and Papal delegates would settle for a peace. Poland would initially gain both Marienburg and Samland. However soon the Papal delegate and Grandmaster of the Teutonic Order would convince Queen Katarzyna that she only needed Marienburg for her country's ancient desire of sea access. In other words: Galindia would remain independent, Poland would annex Marienburg while the Teutonic Order would annex Kulm and Samland.

Fychan and Cawdaf. Also Navarra and it's child king and the only battle of the war. Painting of the coronation of the Prince of Wales. ((Cawdaf from 1233)).

Håvard intended to secure his legacy. He could not be completely overshadowed by his predecessors and fixed his eyes on Wales. The Welsh had for centuries been the sworn enemies of the Saxons in Britain. Not only had they raided their farmlands and pillaged the villages, but also provided safe haven for the enemies of England. Now the heirs of England held the title of "Prince of Wales" to signal that it were in fact the Norwegians who ruled England. Håvard had invited a Welsh nobleman named Fychan to his court. Fychan had a claim on Deheubarth. Håvard would land him making him Thane of Nes (a castle in Oslo). This way Cawdaf would swear loyalty to Håvard. Håvard would in September 1239 invade the southern Welsh kingdom. It was not until 19th of February 1240 that he arrived with full force. Yet the war was hopeless for the south Welsh king. Håvard would relentlessly assault the walls in Wales and soon all of Fychan's lands were occupied by Håvard. Fychan could also only rely on his ally Navarra, but they would get beaten multiple times by Castille. Soon Navarra amassed a desperate invasion of Defna in Cornwalum and got beaten. The war was over, Norway-England expanded further into Wales. But this was not enough to still the apetite of Håvard.

War for Glamorgan. Cawdaf after the war. Illustration of the invasion of Wales, and a potrait of Håvard. Worsening health of Håvard.

The only remaining independent Welsh entity were the County of Glamorgan under Countess Sadb. Now Cawdaf were Lord of Deheubarth and claimed all of southern Wales. Håvard proposed Sadb vassalage, but as she refused it Håvard declared war and invaded Glamorgan, just weeks after the last war. Sadb would only win a minor battle in Powys, but soon she were outnumbered and lost the battle of Llangollen and would soon get all her castles and cities under attack. In October 1240 all of Wales were dependant on another realm. Most of Wales were under Norway as largely autonomous Lordships, while one province would be under Castille - another kingdom under the Hardråde clan. Would the partition of Wales end now or would it result in a clash between Norway and Castille? Only time would show. Despite Håvard's victory it seemed as God would not favor him. Soon his old wound where he lost his arm to a bear grew worse. His body and mind deteriorated and he were soon only a husk of is former self.

Mongol Empire bordering Europe. Prince Ølver and the failed Fourth Crusade.

The rule of Håvard would be rather eventless after his conquest of Wales. Still, as he noted, dark clouds were amassing from the east. In 1241 the Mongols, which only had been mere rumors, turned up on the doorstep of Europe. They had beaten Finland and bordered Rus, while they were invading Cumania and Turkestan in Eurasia. In Anatolia the Crusade seemed to gather strenght as they turned the tables from losing battle after battle to prevail in the battlefield and even occupy territory. However the French, Sicilian and Germans could not agree on anything and soon the Crusader army would split up due to infighting. The Fatimids took their oppurtunity and amassed a major counterattack. The Crusade failed and the Clergy of Europe claimed God had sent the Mongols and made the Muslims victors as punishment for their sins. Dark clouds were coming in from the east. Would the clouds bring forth an eternal night and storm, or would the storm quickly pass away? In 1242 Håvard would also get a son, he surely wanted his son to suceed him. But could he? Ølver were young, and Håvard were old and weak his death would surely mean civil war and a weak king. Furthermore Ogmund were a powerful famed Varangian ruling all of Mann and Trøndelagen and having the titular title of Prince of Wales.

King Arnald and his unified France. Norman knights.

The line of succession wold prove to not be the only threat to Håvard and his realm. In the south even more clouds gathered and weather reports said they might spread to all of Englaland. King Arnald were a descendant of William the Bastard. Arnald had ruled all of Normandy and Champagne as Dux. By his Norman blood he would soon conquer all of Brittany making himself Dux au Bretagne aswell. This made him the most powerful figure in all of France, and soon he would wage war to make himself King of France - and he succeeded. In Aquitaine the Occitans would even elect him as King of Aquitaine. For the first times in nearly two centuries all of France were once more united under one king. Arnald, however, had only two daughters so the Normans would lose France on his deathbed. He would instead, by the Pope's blessing, claim all of England as his forefather had done. And old adversary were back, and their ambitions to claim all of England had not died with Willian the Bastard. He even managed to ally Scotland, Sicilly and the Holy Roman Empire. The Norwegians would simply call this alliance for the "Death Triangle". A war seemed inevitable. And it would be a war of no equal dimensions.

Change of laws. Finger of of St. John, potrait of Håvard and the pregnant Euphrosyne.

At the heed of his advisors Håvard would drastically change the administration of his realm. Ever since he had gotten a son Håvard wanted to secure the line of succession to his son Ølver. To do that he had to adopt a more modern feudal system as they found in continental Europe. However most of his council, and especially Ogmund, blocked any attempt to reform the realm. However Håvard would ride on the success of his sister, and eventually convince most of the council to adopt further reforms. He intended to legally secure succession to the eldest son of the King, but were met with opposition. In other manners Håvard would once more get the hold of a relic. It were, or so the claimed, the finger of John the Baptist! Such a gift surely meant that God once more favored the kings of Norway. Just months earlier the young wife of Håvard, at the age of 22, would once more get pregnant. This was truly a happy and prosperous time for the aging king.

Death of Håvard II and a potrait of him. Ogmund as the new King.

Håvard would never see his new child. The 13th of April the old King would fall asleep for good. His old wound were too much for him and he slet in at the age of 65. Håvard were the king who conquered all of - independent - Wales. He had for all of his life been a great warrior and a seasoned crusader. His latter years would be spent out hunting and gaining new companions and reforming the realm. He would not plunge his realm into a bloody civil war over who should succeed him as he said to his advisors "I am tired of war. It is all I have done all my life, give this old man some deserved rest". And rest he got and his nehpew Ogmund, son of the great warrior Magnus, would become King of Norway. Would Ogmund hold his realm together? Would he wrestle, and emerge victorious, over Arnald or would he lose a civil war to Ølver? Only time would show.

Long live King Ogmund of Norway, England and Denmark!

The realm of Ogmund in 1244.

 

[ThaHoward]

Hello! Another update done. Now I will perhaps make one flavor chapter to detail the personal life of Håvard the Lame as it were not detailed here. However a new game is coming out today and I guess you all know which! I will make a (short) AAR for HO4. It will be about Norway (creative right?), but it is a way for me to simply lose and learn HOI4 So this AAR will be semi-paused, but don't worry I will still update it and as I said I intend to write another flavor chapter So to go more into depths about things:

-Yet another war to lower crown authority. Surprise surprise! Initially all of northern Norway too would join the rebellion, but I made Ogmund Duke of Trøndelagem for RP purposes to signal who should be the heir AND to take out several rebels out of the war before it began Now the war itself were as you see, now the stuff about the church etc is just fantasy. After the war I released most as hostages for much needed gold, and revoked some of their titles. Jylland indeed were seen as the heir of Denmark, but were in prison for treason. So I revoked Jylland and gave it to the Duchess of Sjælland.

-The old wife of Håvard died. I had initially thought to marry him to the Duchess of Tripoli, a daughter to the King of Jerusalem or a claimant to Sweden. Now I figured in the end that it would truly show the power of the Norwegian empire to marry the daughter of the Byzantine emperor Honestly I had not expected him to live long anyway. Other than that the war for Prussia is as it seem, one county got a seperate peace with Poland, and Poland got their asses kicked. I came and saved the day, and voila! Poland did give two counties to the teutons, but the reasons and the papal delegate and so forth is of course just fantasy. Will be interesting to see what happen next!

-For Wales I had built a barony in Oslo, now I were over my demense limit, but could not find anyone to give it to. Now I looked at claimints for that Welsh kingdom and found one. I landed him and waged war for Wales. It were to successive wars, and both were steamrolling as they never stood a chance. Now it is only one more province left in Wales, if we get that all of Wales be under Norway-England.

-The Crusade of Anatolia failed. It was kinda interesting, the crusaders were first winning, then losing and then winning again. But in the end they lost. The Mongols are advancing, claiming Bjarmia from Suomi and expanding further into Mongolia proper and Cumania and Turkestan. It will surely be interesting to see what happen there, hopefully Rus or Suomi will be the furthest they expand. Sweden have expanded into Finland, but it is only the Duke of Uppland who did that. The Swedish king himself lost the holy war, and Uppland waged yet another holy war against Suomi and won.

-France is interesting. The Normans ruled all of Normandy and Champagne making them the major player in France (remember it was only the de-jure kingdom of France then). They would under Arnand expand into all of Brittany and later wage war for France. Through marriage they actually married Aquitaine. Finally all of France were united again. Now I helped them a litle and destroyed Aquitaine so that France will remain grand and powerful. I also gave him a strong claim on England. Why you may ask. Simply to give myself a challenge and to honor the IRL Normans. The Godwins have been the antagonist of the AAR basically. But they are now pretty much gone, so hopefully the Normans and descadents of William will once more be the antagonists in this AAR. We will see what will happen!

-I tried to implement primoguture (or how it is writen) succession in my realm. Now I had a hard time to only get late feudal administration, due to the council owing favors to others and one being disconent etc etc. I intended to implement the new succession law, but noo it had to be ONE dude with negative prestige. I did want to instigate a civil war, like the clash between Håvard and Ogmund (and other behind the latter) over if Ogmund or Ølver should rule. But I figured Håvard were now a weak king and more keen on looking after his own health and pastime activities than fight a hopeless war he might die before it's over.

So that's it! Hope you liked it

 

[Nikolai]

I liked it.

BUT: Svealand delenda est.

 

[ThaHoward]

I liked it.

BUT: Svealand delenda est.

Good! And hope you guys don't misunderstand me, the AAR is not over! But for the time being it won't be that active. Once I am finished with my other AAR this will be much more active again. I guess I will write a flavor chapter this week and then a full update next week, or longer

And we will see! Perhaps the Frenchies will destroy me first

 

[ThaHoward]

Hey guys, I will just say the obvious that this AAR is currently paused. I thought I would be able to run another AAR and semi-post in here, but I was wrong. Don't worry it is not over and with a lot more to come! Be patient

 

[ThaHoward]

So yes, as I've said in the other AAR I was too busy to make updates and even pop in here Now I will make the epilogue for the HOI4 AAR. Then I will check if my save game is compatible with the newest patch and perhaps even the newest dlc's (havent had time to check it out). If yes then I will continue with this, if no we will see what happen

 

[Nikolai]

If not compatible, there's always the beta tabs.

 

[ThaHoward]

If not compatible, there's always the beta tabs.

Unfortunately I assumed as much Is it any way to go.back to former patches?

 

[Nikolai]

Yes, IIRC you have several options in the aforementioned beta tab inside the Steam game settings. Right click, properties, betas tab, select beta.

 

[ThaHoward]

Ah yes, thank you As it seems for now, it is compatible! So if that is the case I will just continue, if not just re-roll it back to the old version So we will see soon how the Chronicles of Hardråde continues

 

[Nikolai]

Glorious.

 

[ThaHoward]

Ragnarok​

Modern illustration of the battle of Crediton.

It was the nephew of the dead king Håvard, Ogmund, that would inherit the crowns of Norway, England and Denmark. He were a veteran Varangian and were no stranger to war and combat, and due to the threat of the French King Arnald the nobility of Norway chose Ogmund to lead them instead of the infant Ølver - the son of Håvard. Ogmund would redesign his weapon crest to three lions. Each lion were to represent each kingdom, and it was said he wore a lion on his helmet as he were called "the Lion of the North". Would the Lion of the North manage to keep the legacy of Hardråde together and fend away any external and internal threats? Only time would show and all eyes were fixed on him.

The French King and Holy Roman Emperor going to war.

Just months into what had seemed as a peaceful reign the great catastrophy came dropping down punching hard in the face of Ogmund. Arnard were a cunning warrior who had conquered his way as the Duke of Normandy to taking the throne of France and then Aquintaine uniting the French kingdom once more. Arnald viewed England as part of his ancestral legacy and sought to conquer England where his forefather William had failed. Arnald were not alone however. The German nobility had never quite recovered from the great humiliation at the hands of the legendary Queen Gyrid. She had led the three lions to war against what was believed to be a superpower and conquered Holstein. The Emperor wanted to correct the wrongs by reclaiming his lost lands and prestige. Surely allying himself with France and wresting England, the most powerful kingdom the Norwegians held, would vastly weaken the Norse. In addition to this the Jarl of Uppsala in Sweden desired the Swedish crown, however Ogmund was allied to both Öster and Väster- Götaland making them the greatest powers in Sweden. Therefore the eastern neighbour of Norway would join the continental monarchs on their conquest of England. It is said Ogmund would exclaim "Ragnarok is upon us, and we will ride into death and smack Satan in the face!"

The armies of Ogmund gathering.

To muster and raising such vast armies were a logistical nightmare for both sides. In September, two months into the war, Ogmund had managed to gather his northernmost armies, meanwhile in England thousands of men were marching to the prosperous hub of London and the Norse warriors were flocking to Oslo. As the northernmost army were the only one who was prepared they would be led by Jarl Svein of Jemtland and engage the Scottish army. Hopefully they would be able to knock the Scottish highland warriors out of the war before death would land on the shores of Englaland...

The invasion of Scotland and England.

In November Jarl Svein would prove his worth and duel the Scottish anti-Pope (which would be slain) and winning a major victory. The victory, however, would not be celebrated. French armies would be spotted on the coast of East-Anglia and Northumbria. Over 14.000 deadly French soldiers and knights would arrive in Bernica alone. Ragnarok were truly upon the Hardrada-Empire. The chronicles of this time were obviously focused on the war, but it were also mentions of a Court Chaplain wanting to tempt Ogmund to follow the heretical Waldenesian belief. The Chronicles state that Ogmund would say it was a sign, a sign that Satan had tempted him, but he held true to his believes and would therefore hold on against the Knights of Arnald.

The southern front, battle of Faversham, Ogmund becoming a bookworm.

New year of 1245 Ogmund would order his army of England to march on and clear out the two smaller Upplander and French armies. Meanwhile another French invasion force had arrived in Defna with an army of the impressive number of 11.000 men. The tide was turning. Ogmund would emerge victories of the Svears and would dedicate the victory to the Holy Virgin. It is said he would from this day on believe that it was Satan and God who were testing him, Ogmund would therefore dive deep into the sacred texts in order to pass the test. He would even become known as "the Wise" among Bishops, priests and monks. Still the war was far from over, and the two major French still had to be dealt with.

The effects of the harsh tax collection. Ogmund encircling the French in Bernica.

The war however would take it's toll on the near empty coffers of Ogmund. Before the war Ogmund had lavishly spend his gold on jewels and horses for his wife in order to gain her love. Now he could regret that he did not spend his gold on his men instead of his wife. Ogmund, despite his immensly wealthy kingdoms, went bankrupt. As he was in dire need of money he took this out on the peasantry of Oslo. They were already living in poor conditions compared to the nobles and most of the formers were setting sails for England missing the previous year's harvest. Now the remaining ones had to under harsh conditions give all of their reserves to the King and his cause. This led to a great humanitarian crisis in the capital and greatly upset all of Ogmund's subjects.. Still in England Ogmund would win two more battles. One against the Scots in the north, and the French in East-Anglia. Both of these armies would march to enrcircle the French in Bernica, with one more army arriving from Norway.

The first major battle - and setback.

So it began. As the snow melted away, sun was coming back and life were blossoming once more in nature, man would undo this. The Norwegians and Normans would clash around Lindisfarne. Ironic as it was the attack here that truly marked the age of the Vikings. And both the Hardrada Empire and the Norman led French Kingdom represented the two greatest achievements of the Vikings. Both kingdoms were teh product of the Norse expansion, and where it all begun all might end. If the Norwegians won then the line of Hardrada might secure Englaland once and for all. If the French won, it might fall to the Normans. In the end, no matter the result it would fall to the descandents of the Norse. Major battles would be fought daily and bitterly, and 26th of May, over a month into the battles, Håvard o Douglas would die. He was no major noble, but he was one of the foremost knights among the Norwegian-English ranks and were thus a severe blow to Ogmund's war effort.

The battle of Lindisfarena. The march to Wessex.

Despite the loss of Håvard of Dover the Lion of the North would be the victor. Arnald suffered a major loss and his army fled to Cornwall where his second invasion force were holed up in. Ogmund, however, did not manage to keep up the pressure. The march to the south were long and his men were exhausted. He ordered them to recondition in Winchester as the force in Devon were too strong anyway. This proved to be a major error. Soon the beaten French army from the north would merge with the southern one, and the French army would reinforce their numbers each day. What would Ogmund do? Focus on the defense and risk becoming bankrupt and face rebellions or face the French army right on and risk a total defeat? One thing was sure, it was not an easy decision. And one over the other could easiley end the Hardrada Empire.

The early phases of the famed Battle of Crediton.

King Ogmund chose the latter. He chose to be on the offensive in the spirit of his forefathers. Despite being outnumbered by around 4000 men, it is stated that in the early phases of the battle it was an even one. The Norwegians would lose three days into the battle one of their leading commanders, however the French ahd suffered around 1000 casualties while the Norwegians suffered under 200. The gamble seemed to pay off, and the whole world held it's breath as one of history's defining moments were playing out.

Arrival of the Svear.

However the situation would soon get out of control. 25th of November, the day after the loss of Arvid the Svears of Uppland would arrive with over 4000 men. They might have not been as sophisticated as the French and Norwegian knights, but still suck a major force were too much for the ordinary Norse and Anglo-Saxon fyrd and would tip the scales in the favor of King Arnald. It was now King Ogmund would organize a cavarly strike. He would gather all his knights and housecarls and sought to break the lines of the French and Svear. Thousands of men would line up and would charge toward the enemy lines. Ogmund were said to be shouting "death! Death! Death! Ride to the end of the world and the end of mankind!"

Death of Ogmund.

And he rode into death. His gamble proved to be wrong and Ogmund died on the 4th of December 1245. Just over a year since the fighting started, and only two and a half year into his rule. To make matters worse the Norwegian-English forces had lost nearly 3000 men, while Arnald only a few hundred (since the Svear reinforcements arrived), and to add to the humiliation it was an unknown lowborn knight called Raymond who slew him, and Raymond would forever be written into history and secure his legacy, while Ogmund was now at the risk of spoiling away the legacy of Hardråde.

King Magnus II.

King Ogmund were slain, but the war continued. His son Magnus were chosen as his successor. Would he manage to lead the Norwegians out of their darkest moment and be victorious over the Normans as Hardråde had been? Or would he like his father lose to the Normans and only hold Norway and Denmark like Magnus I. "the Good" the predecessor to Hardråde? Only time would show who would win. But Arnald had already taken the Lion Helmet off Ogmund and proclaimed himself as King of England and sent the corpse of Ogmund to parade through all of France and the Holy Roman Empire. The war had proven to be the Ragnarok for Ogmund, but would it be the Ragnarok for all of the Hardrada Empire?

May God preserve King Magnus!

The crumbling Hardrada Empire.