Harald IV. (d.
1136), king of
Norway, surnamed Gylle (probably froln Gylle Krist, i.e. servant of Christ), was born in
Ireland about
1103. About
1127 he went to Norway and declared he was a son of King
Magnus III Barefoot[?], who had visited Ireland just before his death in
1103, and consequently a half-brother of the reigning king,
Sigurd[?]. He appears to have submitted successfully to the ordeal of fire, and the alleged relationship was acknowledged by Sigurd on condition that Harald did not claim any share in the government of the kingdom during his lifetime or that of his son Magnus. Living on friendly terms with the king, Harald kept this agreement until Sigurd’s death in
1130. Then war broke out between himself and Magnus, and after several battles the latter was captured in 1134, his eyes were put out, and he was thrown into prison. Harald now ruled the country until
1136, when he was murdered by Sigurd SlembiDiakn, another bastard son of Magnus Barefoot. Four of Harald’s sons,
Sigurd[?],
Ingi[?],
Eystein[?] and
Magnus[?], were subsequently kings of Norway.
Based on an article from 1911 EB
All Wikipedia text
is available under the
terms of the GNU Free Documentation License