A Royal Ghost: Harald the Something August 26, 2016
Author: Beach Combing | in : Medieval, Modern , trackback
Harald the Fair-Headed (aka Harald Fairhead: obit c. 932) is apparently in that very select group of monarchs who became ghosts after his death. About Harald we know practically nothing, btw, other than that he fathered Eric Bloodaxe and that he won enough battles to make him the first king of Norway. Pity the poor king in a garage, though.
Moans, rustlings, and tramp of Feet… Ghosts or other supernatural visitations are, as a rule, excellent producers. They generally stage their particular manifestations on earth in such eerie spots as churchyards, moated granges, or blasted heaths. At Sannessjoen, Norway, however, the peace of the inhabitants is being disturbed by spirits who elect to perform in so prosaic a place as the local hotel garage. And not only that. The most appalling lack of artistic seemliness is being displayed by them, for one of the wraiths reported to have been seen is that of no less personage than Harald the Fair-Headed, who (one would think) would least insist upon a becomingly ‘regal set’ for his appearance. According to the local paper, most uncanny happenings have been taking place in tho garage of the hotel. Persons passing it have heard moans, rustlings, and the tramp of feet; indeed, all the incidental effects due to a proper haunting. Others have observed the figure of a white-clad woman hovering near. The climax was reached when a belated wayfarer came face to face with a seemingly endless column of monks filing towards the hotel from the edge of the fjord. This event, according to the local press organ, is a reflection of the landing of Harald the Fair-Headed at Sannessjoen some 800 years ago. (1924)
The unusual and anachronistic moment in this, otherwise eerie description, are the monks. The monarchs of Norway did not embrace Christianity for perhaps sixty years after Harald’s death and yet here is the good king, marching to his garage with monks either coming out to meet him or escorting him. There is a small chance that the reference is to a later Norwegian king, as the newspaper talks of ‘some 800 years ago’. Possibly there is some confusion with the rather Christian Harald Gille (obit 1136): drbeachcombing AT yahoo DOT com
Leif writes, 29 Aug, 2016: Dear Dr. Beachcombing: The whole story sounds quite odd, to say the least. First, it’s unusual for ghosts to just pop up after playing truant for a thousand years. (In a previous post, ‘The Earliest Roman Ghost in Britain’ [January 4, 2012], Dr. Beachcombing is a pronounced skeptic, perhaps because he is unable to document one before the mid-nineteenth century.) Second, how did the witnesses know the ghost was Harald Hårfagre? Third, the date is 200 years off. Confusing Harald Hårfagre with Christian Harald Gille is like confusing George Washington with George Burns. No ghost fearing Norwegian would make such an error. And finally, these ghosts don’t sound at all Norwegian. Norwegian ghosts are revenants, and malevolent. If you’re haunted, you’re in for a really, really bad time. (See below.) The ghosts sound more like recent arrivals from the UK, just in time for the tourist season. The Norwegian word for ‘spook’ is ‘spøkelse’. The Norwegian word for ‘joke’ is ‘spøk’. Same root. I believe we know what is going on here. Cheers, Leif PS From Reidar Th. Christiansen, Norske folkeminne. Oslo, 1925. Pat Shaw Iversen’s translation: Folktales of Norway. The University of Chicago press. 1964. From the introduction. ‘A belief in the existence of a class of beings, not human but belonging to the world of man, seems to be universal. But the conception of them varies and is altered for every new country. New aspects, new characteristics, have developed in new surroundings. In Norway, as well as in the other northern countries, we note the persistence of the ancient pagan conception of the nature of man. He is not conceived of as consisting of two elements, the one surviving on the destruction of the other, but remains himself, continuing in some way to live on and on, to remain alive and active. This strange being, “the living corpse,” presents a serious problem to the survivors. In the sagas, many instances are mentioned of the difficulties caused by these shadowy but intensely human ancestors, more malignant and active than any ghost. They had to be placated. Quarters had to be provided for them in the burial mounds, and huge, empty grave mounds testify to such efforts. They might also have to move into a hill close to a farm. A Norse immigrant to Iceland is said to have chosen a site close to the mountain in order “to die into the mountain.” Removing the ancestors to a safer distance would mean a certain relief from the constant pressure involved by their presence. However, it might turn out that they were very close neighbors after all, living under the farmhouse itself, making their presence known and insisting upon being treated with respect and consideration.’As the centuries passed there was a further development, to a considerable extent due to the teachings of the Church. And gradually these non-human beings were conceived of as a race apart, were referred to by a new set of terms, some of them preserving the ancient associations (haugefolk, “the people of the grave mounds”). Also inherited from the past were some of their characteristics: the desire to capture mortals for their own world, the evidence of visitors to their houses of having met people there they once knew who had died before their visit. The persistence of the belief in the huldrefolk [fairies] and the preservation of the ancient characteristics justify the verdict of an archeologist that this belief “is the strongest link extant with a distant past.’
Chris from Haunted Ohio Books, 29 Aug 2016: ANOTHER King in a car park?!? You speak of “that very select group of monarchs who became ghosts” but it really is not that rare a phenomenon. While it is true that ghosts of Queens and Princesses are much more numerous, there are a fair number of haunting monarchs. The ghosts of Tsars Peter the Great and Alexander III have been reported and I would not be surprised if the spirit of the murdered Paul I was seen as well. King Alexander of Serbia’s ghost was seen and contacted by mediums after his assassination. The screaming ghost of King Edward II is said to haunt Berkeley Castle, site of his murder. King George IV’s ghost has been reported at the Brighton Pavilion. The Castle of Gripsholm is haunted by the ghost of King Eric XIV who had been imprisoned there. The Empress Frederick claimed to have seen King Charles I at Windsor, while Mrs Davidson, wife of the Archbishop of Canterbury, said that she saw the martyred king’s ghost in the cloister of the deanery of Saint George’s Chapel. The spirit of King George III, bearded and melancholy, has been seen at Windsor, including a rather unusual sighting shortly after his death where a squad of soldiers saluted the ghost standing in the window, believing it to be the King. Supposedly the ghost of King Henry VIII has also been seen at Windsor, although I am a little sceptical–the stories sound like modern fake-lore. And let us not forget Hamlet’s father…
Bruce T. 29 Aug 2016: What is behind the penchant of Europeans to build parking lots over the graves of their ex-leaders? I saw a documentary twenty plus years ago of some character digging up parking lots and garages all over the former East Germany looking for Hitler’s grave from info he found in released Stazi documents. He never found Hitler. We both know damned well Hitler is on St. Helena passing himself off as Napoleon, the tricky Hun. The Harald story reminds of one I read in a book called “Ghosts in Irish Houses” in my early teens. It involved a Lord who is seen with a procession of monks outside of some tower. They’re coming from the tower where the Lord and his men slaughtered their opponents in an ambush at a feast. They then pried up the stones from the floor and buried their victims under it. The stones were said to writhe on the anniversary of the slaughter, with streams of blood appearing as the dead were restless. I think the Lord, the monks and the Lord’s men appear at the same time? With the Viking influence in Ireland, it made me wonder if the story might be a transference from Norway to Ireland upon reading your post? However the Irish were very adept at slaughtering each other w/o outside influences, so I doubt it.
Bruce T. 29 Aug 2016: What is behind the penchant of Europeans to build parking lots over the graves of their ex-leaders? I saw a documentary twenty plus years ago of some character digging up parking lots and garages all over the former East Germany looking for Hitler’s grave from info he found in released Stazi documents. He never found Hitler. We both know damned well Hitler is on St. Helena passing himself off as Napoleon, the tricky Hun. The Harald story reminds of one I read in a book called “Ghosts in Irish Houses” in my early teens. It involved a Lord who is seen with a procession of monks outside of some tower. They’re coming from the tower where the Lord and his men slaughtered their opponents in an ambush at a feast. They then pried up the stones from the floor and buried their victims under it. The stones were said to writhe on the anniversary of the slaughter, with streams of blood appearing as the dead were restless. I think the Lord, the monks and the Lord’s men appear at the same time? With the Viking influence in Ireland, it made me wonder if the story might be a transference from Norway to Ireland upon reading your post? However the Irish were very adept at slaughtering each other w/o outside influences, so I doubt it.
