Adalsteinfostre (Raised by Athelstan): " . . . The nickname Adalsteinsfostri, foster-son of Aethelstan, which was later attached to Hakon, son of Harald Fairhair, a king of Norway, has been interpreted as supporting the claim in the sagas that Hako had been converted to Christianity at King Aethelstan's court. . . ." (Harper-Bill: 20)
the Good:
--"We have told how King Haakon succeeded his brother, Erik Blood-Axe, on the throne, and how, from his kindly and gentle nature, people called him Haakon the Good. There were other sons and several grandsons of Harold the Fair-Haired in the kingdom, but the new king treated them with friendliness and let them rule as minor kings under him. He dealt with the peasants also in the same kindly spirit, giving them back their lands and relieving them of the tax which Harold had laid. . . Harold made other wise laws, in which he took the advice of the ablest men of the kingdom." (Morris: 57)
--" . . . Haco's countenance was beautiful, his person robust, his mind disciplined, his manners popular. He was received with joy. The chiefs and people deserted Eric, and Haco was chosen king in his stead. His conduct and laws displayed the benefit he had received from the superior civilization of the court of Athelstan. He was rewarded for a virtuous reign, by a permanent and invaluable epithet. Though ten centuries divide him from us, his title still survives—'Haco the Good.'. . ." (Turner: 128)
--" . . . His untimely fate was deeply and universally lamented; and the epithet of the Good, by which his contemporaries designated him, has been confirmed by the judgment of a milder and more enlightened age. His memory was celebrated in the songs of the skalds, and especially in a lay called the Hakonar-mal, composed by the celebrated poet Eyvind Skaldaspiller, where the two nymphs of war, Skogul and Gondul, conduct the pious king in triumph into the heaven of Odin, there 'to quaff ale with the gods in the happy society of heroes.'" (Crichton: 142)
Hadmar von Kuenring.
the Hound: " . . . A trustworthy follower of this tyrant, in the possession of the castle, was Hadmar von Kuenring, who, with his brother, plied the profession of robbery so successfully and cruelly that they became the terror of the surrounding country, and gained the nickname of 'the Hounds.' They at leangth ventured to beard the young Duke of Austria, Frederick II, and carried off his great seal and treasury into one of their strongholds, of which they possessed 10, nicknamed by them their 10 fingers. . . ." (John Murray: 193)
Hakon Hakonarson
the Empire's First Servant (by Schiller): " . . . Hadrian is considered by many historians to have been wise and just: Schiller called him 'the Empire's first servant'. . . ." (Wikipedia)
the Greekling (Lat. Graeculus): " . . . Hadrian was schooled in various subjects particular to young aristocrats of the day, and was so fond of learning Greek literature that he was nicknamed Graeculus ('Greekling')." (Wikipedia)
the Happy Emperor: "Emperor for my people. Hadrian used to say, 'I am emperor not for myself but for my people" (76, 117-138)." (Brewer) (Doran: 6)
Halfdan I of Vestfold.
Whiteleg, White Legs; Whiteshanks (Hvitbeinn): " . . . Halfdan Whiteleg, was a great warrior. He conquered Raumarike in Norway and the great and fertile district called Vestfold, west of the fjord called Folden (now the Christiania Fjord). He he founded a famous temple in Skiringssal, which soon became a flourishing trading station and a favorite residence of the Norwegian kings. . . ." (Boyesen: 46)
--"In Norway the legendary Halfdan (called the Black because of his hair) reigned over the region of Agder and divided Vestfold with his brother Olaf. The historian Snorri Sturluson wrote that he was a wise man who made laws that he observed himself and made others observe, believing that violence should not replace the laws. He defined many criminal acts and set compensations, fines, and penalties. Halfdan increased his kingdom by conquest and marriage until he drowned when he was forty about 880. Since his son Harald Fairhair was only ten, his mother's brother Guthorm ruled as regent and fought against those attempting to gain independence." (Beck)
--"Godfrey's son was Halfdan the Swarthy. Halfdan was but a year old in 810 when his father was killed. At the age of eighteen, he assumed the government of Agder, which he inherited from his maternal grandfather. By warfare and by marriage he also increased the great possessions he had received from his father, and, was, beyond dispute, the mightiest king in all Norway. It is told of him that he was a man of great intelligence, who loved justice and truth. . . ." (Boyesen: 46)
--"Godfrey's son was Halfdan the Swarthy. Halfdan was but a year old in 810 when his father was killed. At the age of eighteen, he assumed the government of Agder, which he inherited from his maternal grandfather. By warfare and by marriage he also increased the great possessions he had received from his father, and, was, beyond dispute, the mightiest king in all Norway. It is told of him that he was a man of great intelligence, who loved justice and truth. . . ." (Boyesen: 46)
Hen, Hein: " . . . [T]his prince . . . obtained the surname of Hein (the Gentle). . . ." (Crichton & Wheaton: 198)
the Lazy, the Indolent, the Slothful (Fr. le Faineant): " . . .[W]hen Swein died, many pitched upon our saint, whose eminent virtues best qualified him for the throne; but the majority, fearing his martial spirit, preferred his eldest natural brother Harald, the seventh king of that name, who, for hi stupidity and vices, was commonly called the Slothful. . . ." (Dunham: 317)
the Ugly Head: "ABOUT the year 890, Harald Haarfagr, son of Halfdan the Black, established his supremacy over the numerous jarls, or princes, who had hitherto divided Norway into so many independent states, and maintained among themselves an almost chronic warfare. He subdued also the vikings of the outlying islands, the Orkneys, the Hebrides, the Shetlands, and even the island of Man. In this great enterprise he seems to have been inspired, as most of us are in all our actions, by mingled motives; by ambition, by patriotism, and by his passionate love for a young and beautiful Norwegian lady, named Githa or Gida, of Hordaland. When in his young and impetuous manhood he sought her hand, she answered him proudly: That it would not become her to wed any one so low and mean as a jarl; that he, like Gorm of Denmark, Erik of Sweden, and Egbert of England, must bring under one firm and equable rule the jarls who quarrelled confusedly around him, and then he might renew his proposal. Harald had the wisdom to see the true patriotism that underlay this lofty reply, and vowed to let his hair grow, and never to cut it or comb it, until he had accomplished the task set by the fair Gida, and merited her love. "Having, in the course of twelve years, subdued the wild jarls, and laid the foundations of law and order, he proceeded to shear the long tawny locks that, like a lion's mane, hung upon his shoulders, and had gained him the nickname of "Ugly Head," and renewed his suit to Gida. She had no longer any motive for rejecting it, became the brightest queen in all the north, and bore to her stalwart lord five sons and a daughter." (Adams: 18)
Denmark's Blight: " . . . We have seen that when King Magnus of Norway died in 1047, and gave the kingdom of Denmark to Knud the Great's nephew, Svend Estridsen, he left his Norwegian crown to his uncle Harald. This prince known in history as Harald Haardraade, and to the Danes of his own and later times as 'Denmark's Blight,' and the 'Lightning of the North,' was by no means satisfied with his nephew's way of disposing of his crowns, and was eager to go to war with Svend almost before the breath was out of King Magnus's body. But the Norwegians refused to fight for him . . . and the new king had therefore to content himself with his one crown." (Otte: 150)
Hardrade, the Hard-ruler: :
--" . . . Traditionally, he is portrayed as a harsh ruler, but there is little historical evidence to support this view. His personality is vividly recorded in the sagas, giving a picture of a gifted man with bold plans. The byname Hardråde (the Ruthless) does not imply criticism. Rather, it points to Harald’s strength of will and his determination to fully exercise his powers as king." "He was called Hardrade, that is, the severe counsellor, the tyrant, though the Icelanders never applied this epithet to him." [Saga of Harald Hardrade]
--"Western European soldiers often serve in armies in the fringes of or far outside Western Europe. Harald Sigurdsson (c. 1015-1066), for example, whose life story is told in six Scandinavian sagas and who later became King of Denmark is still known by his epithet, 'Hardrada' (Old Norse for 'hard ruler'). Before becoming king in 1046, he spent a period in exile as a mercenary commander. At one point he was chief of the Byzantine Empire's elite mercenary unit, the Varangian Guard . . . Harald may also have commanded Norman mercenaries in Sicily. ('Norman' refers to the descendants of the Norse Vikings who raided England towards the end of the last millennium. They were known in medieval Latin documents as normanni, i. e., 'northmen.')." (Mercenaries in Medieval and Renaissance Europe: 7)
the Lightning of the North:
the Servant of Christ (Nor. Gille, Gilchrist; Gylle Krist):
King of Haithabu
Goldbeard
Red Lips, Agdekonge
the Orator
the Smooth Tongue
the Spear
the Bad
the Harefoot: "On the death of Edward the Confessor, King of England, Harold, from his fleetness surnamed Harefoot, one of the bravest nobles of the realm, assumed the crown, to the exclusion of Edgar Atheling, the lawful heir. . . ." (Cairns Collection: 365)
the Last of the Saxons: "Harold was called thus in 1066 by William of Normandy after conquering England dethroning Harold."
1126–1131
Mr. Wonderful:
the Fecund:
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