Harald Hardrada, king of Norway, fancied himself as a second Canute. The Danish Canute came to the throne while in his teens and quickly added England to his domains. At the time of his death, still only in his thirties, Canute ruled Denmark, England, Sweden and Norway. Scandinavia was where the shock-troops came from, but England, then Europe's most prosperous country, was where the money was. Hardrada managed to turn the tables on Canute's Danish successors and on his contemporaries in Sweden, but he wanted England, too. When Edward the Confessor, England's king, died in 1066, Harald Hardrada saw his chance. His army landed on the north-east coast of England and easily defeated the first force sent against it. England's new king, also Harold (the name was Scandinavian and made fashionable by the fact that England had had three Danish kings), moved north, gathering an army as he went. At a place called Stamford Bridge, Harold surprised Harald and the Norwegian army was chopped to pieces. Harald Hardrada's invasion is regarded as the last act of the Vikings in the British Isles. Further south, the Duke of Normandy was landing a formidable force in Sussex. Harold raced to meet the Normans, but was defeated, of course, at Hastings (Senlac). Had he not had to face the Norwegians first, Harold Godwinson would very probably have vanquished William of Normandy and the subsequent history of the world would have been very different. (Norman rule of England was disastrous. Killing was what the Normans did best and that included the goose that laid golden eggs.) Moral: never be the first to invade England during a calendar year. Apollo Maximus and Vue.