The Listening Grove · Viking Tales
Chapter 6: Harald is King
A Charlotte Mason history read-aloud lesson. Press play, with the lesson.
What is Viking Tales Chapter 6, Harald is King, about?Parent review
Viking Tales Chapter 6, Harald is King, brings a great change. When Harald is ten years old, his father King Halfdan dies, and Harald is to become king, but first he must hold his father's funeral ale. He orders the feast hall made ready and sends messengers to bid kinsmen and friends from three months' journey away. The many-day feast is told in rich detail: the hall with its high seats and long benches, the food, the mead poured by the queen's women, and the skald Audun's song of Halfdan. Harald drinks the horn of memory, vows to grind his father's foes under his heel, and takes the king's high seat as everyone shouts "King Harald!" Then he gives such rich gifts that no guest leaves empty-handed, and men call it the richest funeral feast ever held in Norway.
Say what you remember!
Tell what you remember from the last chapter.
What happened in Viking Tales Chapter 5, Foes'-Fear?Have a look
In Chapter 5, Foes'-Fear, Harald grew from a listening boy into a young warrior. Longing for viking life, he trained daily in swimming, riding, archery, the harp, and smithing, and named the foreign goods vikings brought home from France, Greece, Rome, and Arabia. At the smithy he forged a spear-head, beat runes into it, and named it Foes'-Fear. Going out on skees in deep snow to cut an ash handle, he was attacked by a wolf and killed it with the spear-point, taking his first wound. Thorstein saw the wound and said Harald bore it like a true warrior.
Read the previous lesson: Foes'-Fear →Show what you know!
Use your printable Lesson Guide. Fill in the vocabulary you know, then click to check your work and learn some new words today.
What are the difficult or advanced vocabulary words in Viking Tales Chapter 6, Harald is King?tapestry, scour, scabbard, ermineHave a look
- tapestry: a heavy woven cloth with pictures, hung on a wall
- scour: to clean by rubbing hard
- scabbard: a sheath that holds a sword
- ermine: a weasel with white winter fur
Locate it on the map!
Use your printable Lesson Guide. Use an atlas and fill in the blank map if you can find the geographic location, then click to check your work.
What important geographic locations connect with Viking Tales Chapter 6, Harald is King?
- Find Vestfold (near Sandefjord, Norway): Vestfold, west of the Oslofjord in southeastern Norway, is where Harald's family were kings.
See these places on the mapHave a look
These match the map in your Lesson Guide.
The Books come Alive!
Read or listen to Chapter 6 of Viking Tales, the Kindred Thicket Enhanced Edition, read by Faerie Book Mama.
Read by Faerie Book Mama for LibriVox (public domain), professionally adjusted and trimmed by Kindred Thicket.
What historical context goes with Chapter 6 of Viking Tales?Parent review
This is a Kindred Thicket Enhanced Edition. Jennie Hall’s 1902 words are read exactly as she wrote them, and we add Teacher’s Notes with historical and cultural context.
- About the whole bookViking Tales is Jennie Hall’s 1902 retelling of old Norse stories drawn from the sagas, such as the Heimskringla and the Vinland sagas. These weave real history together with legend, so the tales are best enjoyed as saga tradition rather than exact history.
Memory becomes Action!
Use the Response Resource* to remember and spell tricky names. Choose one way to narrate.
*Materials in the Lesson Guide.
What is the list of names, people, characters, and places that are important in Chapter 6 of Viking Tales?Harald, King Halfdan, The Queen, Harald's uncle, Gudrod, Norway, ValhallaHave a look
- Harald: Halfdan's son, ten years old, who becomes king at his father's funeral feast.
- King Halfdan: Harald's father, newly dead as the chapter opens; Halfdan the Black in the sagas.
- The Queen: Harald's mother and hostess of the funeral feast; Ragnhild in the sagas.
- Harald's uncle: Harald's kinsman, who holds the seat of honor and toasts the new king.
- Gudrod: Harald's grandfather and King Halfdan's father.
- Norway: The land Harald begins to rule; a country of few roads and many mountains.
- Valhalla: The Norse hall of the honored dead, where Harald's toast places his father.
Chapter 6 Q & A
This is a Kindred Thicket Enhanced Edition. We keep Jennie Hall’s 1902 words as written and add historical context. Here are common questions about this chapter.
What happens in Chapter 6 of Viking Tales?
In Chapter 6, Harald is King, ten-year-old Harald becomes king after his father Halfdan dies. He first holds a great funeral ale, inviting kinsmen from far away to a many-day feast. He drinks the horn of memory, vows to grind his father's foes under his heel, takes the king's high seat, and gives rich gifts so no guest leaves empty-handed.
How old is Harald when he becomes king in Viking Tales?
Harald is ten years old when he becomes king in Chapter 6, after the death of his father King Halfdan. Because he is so young, some of Halfdan's old foes will later think him weak, which sets up the battles to come. His early kingship is one of the ways the story follows his rise to power.
What is a funeral ale in Viking Tales?
A funeral ale was a Norse memorial feast held to honor the dead, and in Chapter 6 Harald holds one for his father before he can take the throne. The feast lasts several days with food, mead, gifts, and a skald's song. It was also the moment an heir formally became king, a custom the Teacher's Notes help explain.
What is a skald in Viking Tales?
A skald was a Norse poet and singer, and in Chapter 6 the skald Audun sings of King Halfdan at the funeral feast, earning a bracelet from Harald. Skalds preserved history and honored kings through song in a world where few could read or write. Their storytelling is one reason so many Norse tales survived to be written down later.