 Although initially successful, Harald was defeated and killed in an attack by Harold Godwinson's forces in the Battle of Stamford Bridge, which wiped out almost his entire army.Modern historians have often considered Harald's death, which brought an end to his invasion, as the end of the Viking Age.Harald's most famous epithet is Old Norse "harðráði", which has been translated variously as 'hard in counsel', 'tyrannical', ‘tyrant’, ‘hard-ruler’, ‘ruthless’, ‘savage in counsel’, ‘tough’, and ‘severe’.