Harold Sigurdsson soon showed that he appreciated the advantages of his position as the sole heir both of Harold the Fairhaired and St. Olaf. For St. Olaf's sanctity had shed new lustre upon the royal house, and greatly strengthened its hold upon the people. In fact, the later kings refer the source of their authority more frequently to their heirship of St. Olaf than to that of Harold the Fairhaired. When the tidings of King Magnus' death had gone abroad, his successor called a _thing_ together and declared that it was not his intention to abide by his late nephew's decision to leave Denmark to Sweyn Estridsson. Denmark was his by right of inheritance, and he meant to go at once to Viborg-_thing_ and proclaim himself king of the Danes. This declaration was not well received by the friends of King Magnus, and Einar Thambarskelver voiced their feelings, when he reminded Harold that it was his first duty to take the corpse to Nidaros and bury it with the proper honors. The fleet then broke up, and Harold having but a small force left, had no choice but to accept Einar's advice. At Borgar-_thing_, and later at Oere-_thing_, he was, according to ancient custom, proclaimed king, no opposition being offered to his succession. But cheerfully the peasants did not offer him their allegiance, for they knew him well and expected nothing good of him. His ideas of government he had imbibed among the Southern races, which patiently bore tyranny, because they lacked the sense of dignity and the sturdy manhood of the North. He had, indeed, a more definite political programme than any of his predecessors, but it was not a programme which was in accord with the genius of a free Germanic people. Harold's first object, and the one which he pursued with indefatigable zeal throughout his reign, was to break the power of the tribal aristocracy. The influence, authority, and calm defiance of those miniature kings were perpetually a thorn in his flesh. His tall growth and great physical strength, no less than the ease with which he had so far achieved all that he had striven for, had inspired him with a supreme self-reliance and a corresponding contempt for all forces and interests opposed to his own. The ruthlessness with which he carried out his purposes made him many enemies and procured for him the surname _Haardraade_,[A] _i. e._, the hard ruler, the tyrant. What enabled him to maintain so stern a sway over a people, so jealous of their rights, was his superior intellect. "He was," says Snorre, "extremely intelligent, so that all men are agreed that there has never been a more intelligent king in the North. Moreover, he was an excellent swordsman, strong, and skilled in the art of war, and altogether a man who knew how to accomplish his purposes." [Footnote A: Harold is referred to in English history as Harold the Haughty. German histories call him H. der _Unbeugsame_ (H. the Inflexible).]