Editing Sweyn II of Denmark (section)

===Feud with Harald Hardrada===
Harald, unwilling to relinquish Denmark, attacked Sweyn and fought a long war. Harald sacked [[Hedeby]]  in 1050, and also sacked [[Aarhus]].<ref name="pajung"/> Sweyn almost captured Harald in 1050, when Harald attacked the coast of Jutland and loaded his ships with goods and captives. Sweyn's flotilla caught up with the Norwegians and Harald ordered his men to throw out the captured goods, thinking the Danes would stop to get the goods. Sweyn ordered his men to leave the goods and go after Harald. Harald then ordered his men to throw the captives overboard. For them Sweyn was willing to let Harald slip away.<ref name="huitfeldt"/>
Sweyn came close to losing his life at the naval [[Battle of Niså]] off the coast of [[Halland]] in 1062.<ref name="bricka"/> According to the sagas Harald urged Sweyn to meet him in a final and decisive battle at Elv in the spring of 1062.<ref>[http://mcllibrary.org/Heimskringla/hardrade2.html http://mcllibrary.org/Heimskringla/hardrade2.html], p.61</ref> When Sweyn and the Danish army did not show up, Harald sent home a large part of his army, only keeping the more professional warriors in his fleet. When Sweyn finally came to meet Harald, his fleet numbered 300 ships to Harald's 150.<ref>[http://mcllibrary.org/Heimskringla/hardrade2.html http://mcllibrary.org/Heimskringla/hardrade2.html], p.63</ref> The fleets met at night and the battle lasted until morning, when the Danes started to flee. In the sagas the Norwegian victory is largely credited to earl Haakon Ivarsson, who disengaged his ships from the Norwegian flanks and started attacking the weakened ships on the Danish flanks.<ref>[http://mcllibrary.org/Heimskringla/hardrade2.html http://mcllibrary.org/Heimskringla/hardrade2.html], p.65</ref> This might be the aiding Norwegian chieftain that Saxo Grammaticus refers to, as turning the tide in Norwegian favour.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.jomsborg.eu/Saxobog11.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2013-09-01 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304223123/http://www.jomsborg.eu/Saxobog11.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Sweyn managed to escape the battle, reached land and stopped at the house of a peasant to ask for something to eat. "What was the terrible rumbling in the night?" she asked. "Didn't you know the two kings were fighting all night?" asked one of Sweyn's men. "Who won, then?" the woman asked. "Norwegians," came the reply.  "It's a shame on us, for a king we already have. He limps and is timid."  "No," King Sweyn explained, "Timid the king of the Danes is assuredly not,"{{Clarify|date=September 2009}}<!--who said this??--> defended another of the king's men, "but luck isn't with him and he lacks a victory." The housecarl brought the men water and a towel to wash themselves. As the king was drying his hands, the woman tore the cloth from him, "You should be ashamed of yourself for using the whole towel for yourself," she scolded. "The day will come when I will have your permission to use the whole cloth," was the king's comment. Her husband gave the king a horse and Sweyn continued on his way to Zealand.

Some time later the peasant was called to Zealand and given lands there for his service to the king, but his wife had to remain behind in Halland.<ref name="huitfeldt"/> Sweyn had a reputation for generosity and kindness that helped him on several occasions to win the trust of his people. Harald relinquished his claims to Denmark in 1064,<ref name="bricka"/> in exchange for Sweyn's recognition of Harald as [[Harald III of Norway]].<ref name="vsm"/> Harald then sailed off to England to claim the [[Monarchy of England|crown of England]], and was killed [[battle of Stamford Bridge|there]].