Harald III

Harald Hardrada, known as the “last great Viking,” was King of Norway from 1046 to 1066. At age 15 he fought at the Battle of Stiklestad (1030), fled into exile after his half-brother King Olaf II was killed, and spent fifteen years as a Varangian Guard commander in the Byzantine Empire, amassing great wealth and fame.
He returned to Norway in the mid-1040s, first ruled jointly with his nephew Magnus the Good, then became sole king after Magnus’s death in 1047. Harald unified and strengthened Norway, built a stable central government, and fought long wars to claim Denmark.
In 1066 he invaded England to press his claim to the throne, won at Fulford but was defeated and killed by Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Stamford Bridge (25 September 1066). His death is widely regarded as marking the end of the Viking Age.