A Kingdom Forged in Snow - Mk. II

Preamble: Welcome, ladies and gentlemen! This is the remake of a timeline I tried to write in 2013. It failed drastically, as back then I was a terribad writer and really had no clue how to write a timeline. Nowadays i'm a pro - ust kidding, i've just read many many more timelines and sorta learned how to apply butterflies. There are two main PODs here; the first is that Harald Hardrada dies in Byzantium in 1035, therefore unable to challenge Magnus Olafsson's claim to Norway. The second is that the mysterious circumstances of that very same Magnus' death never happens. Without much further ado, here is A Kingdom Forged in Snow!

Chapter One, or: How A Byzantine Tax Collector's Abduction Creates A Muslim Italy

Great Bulgaria; June 4th, 1035: Harald Hardrada, Commander of the Varangian Guard, was dealing with disputes in a small village in Great Bulgaria. It was a mission with much importance, as the people in Bulgaria had kidnapped a tax collector that Michael IV (current emperor of the Byzantium Empire), had sent to collect taxes. The taxes were very unpopular and led to revolts such as this - and the Varangian Guard was sent to stop them.

It wasn't long, however, before the Varangian Guard found the small farmer's hut that the Bulgarian rebels had holed up in. From the corpses laid about around the hut, they easily deduced that the farmer and his family weren't willing hosts to the miscreants. Harald grimaced as he stepped over the body of what looked to be a once beautiful woman's slashed up face, and instead quietly motioned for three other members of the Guard to come forward.

These three members were carrying a log, and were going to use it as a battering ram. With a forceful push they managed to knock the door down; the Guard entered the house to find it surrounded. Harald himself walked forward, warily looking for places that a relatively large group could hide. He called out for half of the Guard to enter the house, while the rest would remain outside and watch out for anything that seemed suspicious. They started to ransack the house, and it was only when Harald walked into a small bedroom that he found the tax collector. Or, what was left of him. With a sigh and what could almost be taken for a roll of the eyes, Harald called out for his men to walk outside, only to be shocked by what came next. His entire squadron had disappeared! As Harald was a calculating man, instead of panicking he walked back into the main room and looked outside.

On the ground were ten members of the Varangian Guard, their throats slit and souls sent to Heaven. Harald would've given them a good, Christian prayer to help guide their souls to God, but had no time, as standing over his men were a large ground of Bulgars, all heavily armed. While he was no coward, and a proud, honorable Norwegian man, Hardrada understood that he was outnumbered, and tried to run back into the house, perhaps using the doorway as a choke point.

He closed himself into the windowless bedroom, slamming shut the door, getting himself ready. He was Commander of the best men in all of Byzantium! He could easily take a couple of rogue barbarians! He had not anticipated just how clever these barbarians were. He smelt the smell of burning wood, and realized he'd been played. He tried to open the door to the room, only to realize a heavy weight on the other side was blocking him from escaping. His final moments upon him, he began to pray for his soul to be guided to God.

Kievan Rus; 1035: Yaroslav of Rus had heard of the death of Harald Hardrada. It displeased him greatly, as he had been stockpiling Hardrada's wealth in order to help him return and reclaim Norge and Danemark! With his public support against the current king of Danemark-Norge, Magnus Olafsson the Good, he realized an alliance with the two kingdoms would not happen. Instead, he reached outward to the rest of Europe to find another powerful noble to marry off his daughter, Elisiv, to.

Sicily; 1038: Without Hardrada's excellent leadership, the Byzantium expedition to Sicily fails - the Emirate of Sicily is here to stay, possibly opening up later Muslim expansion into Italy. When the Byzantines attempt to put down the Lombard princes during the Lombard-Norman revolts several years later, they ally the Sicilian Muslims, who attack to gain more power over their Byzantine foes. The Normans and the Muslims backstab the Lombard princes after this; dividing the land between the Kingdom of Lombardie in the north, and the Emirate of Sicily (which contains the island of Sicily and the peninsula of Calabria). Sicily would later come out to be the dominant force in Italy, but more on that later.

Danemark; 1045: Without Harald coming to the rescue, Sweyn Estridsson would continue to serve under Magnus Olafsson as the Earl of Jutland, never gaining the support or power to rebel alone. For ten years, the young King Magnus the Good had ruled his nation with a less-than-iron grasp, barely clinging to power. As a child, not much had been expected from him, however, he was now 21 years of age, and it was time to take charge of his kingdom. Without Hardrada's pesky claim on Norway, he was in a much better position to do so! Fate had dealt Magnus a hand that would help strengthen his throne in Danemark-Norway. But would it help him escape his untimely death?
 
Last edited:
Quite interesting. Do you need any assistance?

Sure! Any butterflies, ideas, or just plain musings that you've got, i'll take em! If I remember correctly, you're the guy who mentioned my lack of being able to pull off butterflies right on the first go. :p
 
Chapter Two, or: A Guide On How To Deal With A Rebel Infestation

Roskilde, Danemark; Febuary 5th, 1046: Magnus Olafsson the Good, King of Danemark and Norge, had been the de facto ruler of formerly stated nations for ten years now. However, the ruling had mostly been done by the two men who put him in power: Einar Thambarskelfir and Kalv Arnesson. While the two had served as mentors - even father-like figures to him - Magnus knew that he was basically their puppet. Magnus was a very cunning man, and knew that he had to somehow centralize the power back to himself! The boy barely controlled either of his kingdoms, and his power largely relied on the fact that he had no power; once he started to gain power, the nobles would run to Sweden to rule them instead. If Magnus wanted to solidify his power over the realm, he'd have to solidify his power over the people in charge of it. In order to do that, he called a meeting with three of the most powerful men in his realm; Einar, Kalv, and the Jarl of Jutland, Sweyn Estridsson. Sweyn was constantly at odds with the young King Magnus; he wanted Danish power all for himself. Without an real threat forcing Magnus' attention in Norge, however, he could not snatch the very power that was right under his nose.

In a private council days before, Magnus had confided in Einar and Kalv that Sweyn needed to be disposed of as a threat. The three of them quickly came up with a plan; one that involved his death. The meeting had the four of them in a longhouse at Roskilde; no guards on the inside, just stationed outward. These guards were all members of Magnus' own Royal Hird - a band of the toughest men he could find. All members of the Royal Hird were loyal to Magnus; he had made sure to only recruit those he could trust into it. Therefore, whatever happened in the longhouse would stay in the longhouse. And it did; when halfway through the meeting Sweyn's face turned a bright blue color as the poison Einar slipped into his goblet got to him.

Roskilde, Danemark; Febuary 6th, 1046: Late afternoon in the next day, Magnus addressed the people of Roskilde. He appointed Kalv as Jarl over Danemark, in contrast to Sweyn's Jarldom of Jutland. When those loyal to Sweyn asked about the questionable circumstances of Kalv's ascension, Magnus simply said that Sweyn was no longer part of the kingdom. Mass rioting occurred; not many of note on the first day, however, as Kalv's own Hird put most of the rioters in the crowd down.

Roskilde, Danemark; Febuary 7th, 1046: The remaining members of Sweyn's family, led by Oluf I (who claimed Sweyn's plans for Danish control were now his as well), take over large majorities of the city. The Roskilde Battles begin.

Roskilde, Danemark; Febuary 9th, 1046: Oluf I and the remnants of the late Sweyn's Hird hole up in a large longhouse on the northern rim of the city. Magnus' Royal Hird take a daring move: they go under. Swimming in the shallow harbor waters deep enough to where they won't be seen, they swim to behind the longhouse, and attack the outer supports holding it up from behind. This battle, known as the Battle of the Beams, is famed for the Hird killing the entire group inside by collapsing the building, making it implode.

Roskilde, Danemark; Febuary 10th, 1046: The riots begin to calm down as the majority of Sweyn's supporters have been suppressed. Key points in the city have been taken by Kalv and Magnus' joint efforts. Non-Sweyn allied rioters are almost completely gone, being scared after the show of power earlier.

Roskilde, Danemark; Febuary 12th, 1046: Battle of the Bakery occurs. This famed battle is known to be when the last of Sweyn's supporters in Roskilde holed themselves up in a small bread baking shop after being pushed to the eastern borders of the city. In an laughable attempt to fight off Magnus' own Royal Hird, the rebels threw flour at them, trying to blind them. It is said the amount of flour that ended up on the streets rivaled that of the amount of dirt on the ground! This day is generally celebrated by the people of Norge as the day Danemark was consolidated into the kingdom, and Bakery Day is celebrated with a large festival in Danemark every year, where a mock flour fight rampages through the streets.

Paris, France; 1046: In western Europe, a marriage between Henri I of France and Elisiv of Kiev consolidated the French-Rus alliance. Rus had grown strong from the the funds Hardrada had set up and never returned to claim, becoming the richest nation among the Slavs. France wanted that wealth, and Yaroslav of Rus was more than willing to give some of it up for an alliance with one of the strongest nations in Europe. This alliance irritated Einar Thambarskelfir, who wanted the Kievan marriage alliance to come to Danemark-Norge. Elisiv was promised to Magnus' uncle, Harald Hardrada, and Einar had been arranging for her to be betrothed to Magnus. She would be a solid candidate, and the rich Slavs of Rus would be good allies for the new age Danemark and Norge were going into. Alas, it would never come. Once again, fate had other plans for Magnus.
 
Hmm. So now that Magnus the Good's authority over Norway and Denmark is unchallenged, where shall he go from here? First off he should marry someone (a successful marriage with Gyda of Sweden would not only produce heirs and princesses, but give his children a cognatic claim to the Swedish throne when the House of Munso dies out c.1060 to the Stenkilings.

Oh wait, fate has other plans for Magnus? Ah well. :p

Also here's a map of OTL 1054.

Orkney's still a great Norwegian vassal so there's that. Which is ruled by the Great King of the Isles Thorfinn Sigurdsson (Vinland Saga anyone?)
 
Last edited:
I wouldn't say he's got both kingdoms firmly under himself just quite yet. He's also got a death coming pretty soon he'll have to escape before looking towards anything else! As for a wife, Gyda could work; with Sweyn dead a few years earlier than their marriage she would be more than available, and would escape the her death by Sweyn's lover. And later on he would have a claim to Sweden.. hmmm. I was still working out who he'd marry, actually. In the first go at this he married Tora Torbergsdatter, niece of Kalv and would've-been-wife of Harald Hardrada, but that seemed fruitless and I was going to avoid going down that road in this.

The thing about Orkney is very interesting, especially as my plan for Norwegian Scotland comes into play. I'll definitely add that into it. I still have a little while before I get there though, and a piece of writing to go ahead and post. Thanks for the help, man! Also, isn't Vinland Saga a book?
 
Vinland Saga is an excellent Manga actually.

And Thorfinn border's MACBETH's Kingdom. (Seriously look 'em up on the wiki, do as much research as need be!)

Also have these butterflies hit England yet? I'd like to see a surviving Wessex dynasty under Edward the Exile after his uncle's death.
 
Top