When Magnus had been king nine years, his uncle Harold Sigurdsson, the son of Sigurd Syr and Aasta, came to Norway and demanded half of the kingdom. Harold had, as we have seen, at the age of fifteen fought at Stiklestad, and had been severely wounded. After his recovery he betook himself to Russia, where for some years he held a command under Jaroslav, and went thence to Constantinople, where he became the captain of the Varangians, the foreign body-guard kept by the Greek emperors. He was a man of gigantic frame, fair of face, with long blonde hair, and an imperious glance which betrayed the race from which he had sprung. According to the sagas, he made a sensation in Constantinople by his mere appearance, and his wit, strength, and reckless bravery opened for him a brilliant career. As the chieftain of the Varangians, he participated in many campaigns against the Saracens in Asia and in Sicily, and accumulated great treasures. That some antagonism must have existed between him and the Greek General-in-chief, Georgios Maniakes, is evident from the anecdotes preserved in the sagas, all of which accord to Harold the glory for all victories, and express the contempt with which the Norsemen regarded the most exalted personage of the Southern nations. That Harold's importance in these campaigns has been exaggerated by his Norse followers, to whom the saga-men were indebted for their accounts, is natural enough; but even allowing for exaggerations, it is evident that he made a great name for himself, and was powerful enough to bid defiance, when he was so disposed, to the Greek commander. He chose, however, if the saga account is reliable, to outwit Maniakes rather than openly resist him. [Illustration: MARBLE LION FROM THE PIRÆUS, REMOVED IN 1687 TO VENICE, WHERE IT NOW STANDS AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE ARSENAL. THE RUNIC INSCRIPTION, CUT BY SOME VARANGIAN, IS NOW HALF EFFACED AND ILLEGIBLE.]