<p>Exile, mercenary, Viking king. Harald Hardrada, 'Thunderbolt of the North', fought his way from Norway to Byzantium, from the streets of Constantinople to the battlefields of Sicily. He married a princess, blinded an emperor, and nearly conquered England.</p><br><p>Today, Dr Wayne Bartlett joins us to tell the astonishing story of the last great Viking, a man who shook the medieval world before meeting his end at Stamford Bridge in 1066.</p><br><p>Wayne's book is called "Thunderbolt of the North: Harald Hardrada, Viking King".</p><br><p>Produced by Mariana Des Forges and edited by Dougal Patmore.</p><br><p>We need your help! Let us know what you want from Dan Snow's History Hit by filling in our anonymous survey here: <a href="https://forms.gle/PvgayWLkWGjYT4St6" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://forms.gle/PvgayWLkWGjYT4St6</a></p><br><p>Dan Snow's History Hit is now available on YouTube! Check it out at: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@DSHHPodcast" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/@DSHHPodcast</a></p><br><p>Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at <a href="https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u>https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe</u></a>.</p><br><p>You can also email the podcast directly at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[email protected]</a>.</p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>