Harald Klak - Death

Death

His brother Hemming seems to have died in 837 defending Walcheren from unidentified Viking raiders. The Annales Fuldenses report "The Norsemen came to the island of Walcheren to collect tribute and on June 17 they killed Eggihard, the count of this place, and Hemingr, the son of Halfdan, with many others, and laid waste Dorestad and went back after they received tribute from the Frisians. The emperor gave up his journey to Rome and stayed the winter at Aachen. The Annales Bertiniani mention the attack but not Hemming. "The Norsemen at this time fell on Frisia with their usual surprise attack. Coming upon our unprepared people on an island called Walcheren, they slaughtered many of them and plundered even more. They stayed on the island for a while, levying as much tribute as they wanted. Then they fell on Dorestad with the same fury and exacted tribute in the same way. When the Emperor heard about these attacks, he postponed his planned journey to Rome and wasted no time in hurrying to the fort of Nijmegen close by Dorestad. When the Norsemen heard of his arrival there, they withdrew immediately. Now the Emperor summoned a general assembly and held an inquiry in public with those magnates to whom he had delegated the task of guarding that coast. It became clear from the discussion that partly through the sheer impossibility of the task, partly through the disobedience of certain men, it had not been possible for them to offer any resistance to the attackers. Energetic abbots and counts were therefore dispatched to suppress the insubordinate Frisians. Now too, that from then on he would be better able to resist their incursions, he gave orders that a fleet should be made ready to go more speedily in pursuit in whatever direction might be required."

The Annales Fuldenses mention in 852: "Haraldr the Norseman had in earlier years fled the anger of his lord Horekr, king of the Danes, and went to King Louis, by whom he was well received. He was baptized and received into the Christian faith, and held in honour among the Franks for many years. At length he became suspect to the leading men of the northern regions and the warders of the Danish march as of doubtful loyalty and a possible treachery, and was therefore killed by them." Harald the younger, his supposed nephew, was already mentioned deceased in 850. Unless this is a second entry for the same event, the dead man was probably Harald Klak. Though it could be argued that it was Harald the nephew or another namesake who died, the royal reception by Louis seems to only match Harald Klak. Coupland notes that this Harald was killed "on nothing more substantial than the suspicion of potential disloyalty". It seems that, in the years between 829 and 852, Harald had remained a figure of some influence in the region, but he never again managed to launch a serious attempt to regain the Danish throne, nor did the Frankish monarchs seem interested in sending more armies to fight his cause. He died two years before his rival King Horik the elder.