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# "The Song of Harald the Bold" Is Not the Only Russian Rendering of the French Translation of "Harald's Saga"
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/pesn-garalda-smelogo-ne-edinstvennoe-perelozhenie-na-russkii-iazyk-frantsuzskogo-perevoda-sagi-o-kharalde-surovom/
- Published: 2025-01-24T08:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-01T05:31:20.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Archive, Books, Monarchies, People

"The Song of Harald the Bold" is not the only Russian rendering of the French translation of "Harald's Saga". The popularity of this particular text is owed, of course, to its Russian connection: the fragment tells of Harald's unrequited love for Elizaveta Yaroslavna, daughter of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, for whose sake the Norwegian king performs one glorious deed after another, yet cannot melt the heart of the Russian princess.

Harald III Hardrada was tied to Rus'; he served here in a mercenary retinue, took part in the campaigns of Yaroslav the Wise, and marched against Constantine Monomachos with Yaroslav's son, Prince Vladimir (not the Baptist, who was a Sviatoslavich, the own grandfather of the Yaroslavich). After a successful campaign Harald married Yaroslav the Wise's daughter Elizaveta, whom the sagas call Ellisif. Elizaveta bore Harald two daughters, Maria and Ingigerd. Elizaveta was half Swedish: her mother Ingigerd, Yaroslav's second wife, was the daughter of the King of Sweden, so the match did not look exotic

![](https://theparnassian.com/content/images/2026/09/photo_15032@24-01-2025_11-00-00.jpg)