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?
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?
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