Origin of the Harding name – and the “Hardinger”

Harding is an Anglo-Scandinavian name, and is still used in Norway today for people who come from the Hardanger fjord area, and their dialect is Hardingmål. The name is also used in Norway and Sweden (as Hårding - pronounced as "Hawding") to represent a "Tough Guy". A cross-country skier would for example be a Harding.

Hello, I am Steve Harding, a Harding from Wirral in north-west England: welcome to my “Harding” page, I hope you like it!

THE HARDINGER OF HARDANGER
Click the picture to see this clip of Erling Skjalgsson address the Hardinger at a meeting of the Thing assembly.
From the 2005 Rygekongen Festival, Hafrsfjord, 2005.

Click here to hear (and download) Erling rouse the Hardinger.

ANGLO-SCANDINAVIAN NAME
The Harding name seems to have its origins in Scandinavia including those parts which are now northern Germany. It appears to be an old Nordic/Teutonic term for "tough guy" and is still used as such in Sweden and Norway. There seems to be two sources which may be linked, one from Norway - the Hardanger Fjord, where people are still called "Hardings" or “Hardinger” (Viking times: "Hardingar"): the dialect of the people from this area is known as Hardingmål. The other as Danish/Angle hordes where they were recorded in the Anglo Saxon Rune Poem as the warrior tribe "Heardingas". Both groups may have originated from the same source – the Charudes of the Jutland peninsula, who under pressure of expanding groups around them moved to Horderland/Hardanger area where they became the Horders or Hardinger. Ancient forms: Harding, Hardinge, Hartung, Hearding, Hadding, Herdan, Herden, Herdene. The name also appears in Nordic/Teutonic mythology: in Icelandic literature they are the "Haddings" and their legendary leader Hadding is protected by both Thor and Odin. In German mythology Hadding appears as Hartung.

In Viking times and before Harald Harfagre had tried to unite Norway at the end of the 9th century, Hardanger was a separate kingdom ruled by King Harding. He apparently lived in the village of Kinsarvik, which now has the excellent Harding Motel og Hyttentun, but in Viking times it had a boat house which held King Harding's ships (the walls of this boat house still exist today). The Norwegian Hardings have their own saga about him (recalled here by Tor Instanes)

THE SAGA OF KING HARDING OF HARDANGER
King Harding ruled Hardanger in the time of the Vikings (c.900ad) and lived in Kinsarvik. During a crusade to eastern England in 900ad King Harding was captured by the English and put in a prison tower. The Hardings liked their King and decided to rescue him. They equipped a Viking ship, called Hardinggeita (lit. "The Harding ship") to set sail to England and set their King free. The Hardings painted one side of the ship white and the other side black. When they approached the English shore they did so with the white side facing towards the shore...

... after which they managed to get to the prison tower and switched the king with an old man dressed like the king. Then they set sail and made their escape but with the black side of the ship facing the shore...

The English did not recognize them as the invaders as they were looking for a white ship. The saga ends with King Harding returning safely to Kinsarvik, Hardanger. For another version of the saga visit the Kinsarvik page.

Kinsarvik, (with promotional video for Hardangertun) and the excellent Harding Motell/ Hyttetun sounds like a great place of pilgrimage for the Harding clan. And for footie fans there is even a Harding Soccer Team, where? .. you've guessed it, in Kinsarvik! Heia Harding!

And there are some connections with another Scandinavian group - the Normans: the following web-site in France http://membres.lycos.fr/hagdik/noms_nordiques.html says: HARDING (anglo-scandinave) : « celui qui est dur, solide, fort » - attesté en Normandie dans le nom de lieu Hardinvast.

THE HARDING FIDDLE - THE NATIONAL INSTRUMENT OF NORWAY

The Harding Fiddle (Hardingfele).

The Harding fiddle (Harding fele or “Hardanger Fiddle”) is "almost as famous as Stave Churches and Viking Ships". Download this "wonderful piece" and visit Karin Code's web site.

HARDINGMÅL
Hardingmål or Hardingemål is a dialect of Norwegian still spoken in Hardanger/ Hordaland. F.ex. “Dai” is used instead of De (“You”), fann is used instead of fant (“found”), ikkje instead of ikke (“not”): Dai fann ikkje sildæ: “you didn’t find any herring”.

EXTRACT FROM "THE ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE DISTINGUISHED SURNAME HARDING", FROM THE TALES OF ROBIN HOOD, NOTTINGHAM
In terms of the introduction of the name into the British Isles this extract is probably not far off the mark.

"The Vikings, a fierce sea faring nation, acquired settlements in the 9th century at the northern tip of Scotland. It is from this group that the family name Harding emerges. Researchers found the origin of this surname Harding by referring to documents such as the Orkneyinga Sagas, the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland the Inquisitio and translations of local manuscripts, baptismals and tax records, found in the north at Dingwall, and in the Orkneys and Shetlands. The first record of the name Harding in England was in Derbyshire where they were seated from very ancient times, some say well before the Norman conquest.... The family name Harding emerged as a Scottish clan or family in this northern territory of Derbyshire where they were recorded as a family of great antiquity seated with manor and estates in that shire. The late Lord Harding, Scion of the family name, claimed to be descended from the Heardingas/Hardinger, a celebrated Viking race who settled in and near Derbyshire. They were widely recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086: their seat at that time was Kings Newton in Derbyshire, but later branching out to Combe Martin and Upcot in Devon. They held considerable estates in Madingley (Cambridge), Vallathie and Tamworth".

A recent survey of surname distributions in the British Isles for the year 1881 indeed confirms significant densities of Hardings in the Kings Newton area (Leicestershire/ South East Derbyshire), Cambridgeshire and Devon, although the highest density (compared to other surnames) was in what is now the Borough of Dacorum, incorporating Hemel Hempstead. This was formerly the Hundred of Dacorum (Latin for "of the Danes") within the old Danelaw. It was also listed in the Domesday book as Tring and Danais.

KING’S NEWTON, DERBY
In Kings Newton, at the Derbyshire/Leicestershire border and also within the Danelaw, there is the 17th century home of the Hardinge Family, restored in 1910 and the excellent pub/hotel The Hardinge Arms (see map) - like the Harding Motell at Kinsarvik, this is strongly recommended to all pilgrims of the Harding/ Hadding clan! A stain glass window at Madingley Hall (just west of Cambridge near the Cavendish Laboratory) proudly shows Baron Harding.

ANGLO SAXON RUNE POEM
This is where the Heardingas appear, in connection with “Ing” and the East-Danes:

· Ing wæs ærest mid East-Denum

· gesewen secgun, oþ he siððan est

· ofer wæg gewat; wæn æfter ran;

· ðus Heardingas ðone hæle nemdun.

· Ing was first seen by men among the East-Danes,

· till, followed by his chariot,

· he departed eastwards over the waves.

· So the Heardingas named the hero.

NORDIC/TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

In Icelandic literature they are the "Haddings" and their legendary leader Hadding is protected by both Thor and Odin: see part 24 and onwards of from Viktor Rydberg's TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY

HARDING AS A SURNAME
It has to be remembered that patrilineal surnames did not come into common use in the British Isles until the 14th Century. Here is a record of the escapades of one Harding from Wirral from 1353:
Hardings in Wirral: Extract from "Calendar of Cheshire Trailbaston Proceedings 1353" ed. P. Booth in Cheshire History (vol. 12, 1983):
· Henry Cherleton v. Robert Poole and Thomas Harding.

· Henry Cherleton complained that Robert Poole and Thomas Harding killed his dog at Great Neston, Wirral on Friday 1st Feb. 1348 and broke his hedges. They denied guilt. Jury verdict - Not guilty.

Although the name Harding clearly has Anglo-Scandinavian roots, despite some claims to the contrary it is impossible to properly trace surname lineages from these areas into the British Isles since the “patrilineal” system of surnames came well after the Viking Age invasions and colonisations. Its use as a proper surname in the British Isles possibly evolved in Britain from a description of someone coming from these groups of people or possibly from Anglo-Scandinavian communities using the expression to describe a particular tough guy in the village. Ultimately when in these various communities patrilineal surnames did eventually emerge, one particular Harding passed his name to his sons and daughters and so on. In Scandinavia this never happened because the use of patrilineal surnames is quite recent, and in the case of Iceland they still use the “son of and daughter of” system of surnames.

SOME FAMOUS HARDINGS
Famous Hardings include Gunnar Harding prize winning author/poet/critic from Sundsvall, Sweden and Daniel Harding the conductor principal guest conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra.
Famous past Hardings include Pedre (Peter) Harding, 13th century hero of the Baltic Sea island of Gotland. The (uncoloured) rose symbol on his gravestone at the church in Vall/Visby has become an emblem for Gotland and appears on the coat of arms for their annual Medieval Festival:

The rose of Pedr (Peter) Harding, 13th century hero of Gotland

BALTIC GENES?
Modern genetic methods based around analysis of the male Y-chromosome and comparing with databases may throw light on possible links although most people have Y-chromosome “types” or haplotypes that have matches with people from many different countries – but at different frequencies, some places giving stronger matches than others. DNA on the male Y-chromosome is passed patrilinearly (from father to son to his son etc.) with no change, except for occasional mutations that can occur over a very long time period. The new Viking DNA book describes the method and uses as an example the North West of England. Our own family DNA Y-chromosome – DNA on which is passed along the male line down the generations without any change - belongs to the group known as L11(xU106,xS116) – commonly referred to as “L11star”. Besides England the only other strong area of matches is the Baltic Sea region (Denmark, N. Germany, N. Poland) – centering on the island of Bornholm where 1 in 10 men – 10% - have this chromosome.

Adapted from Myres et al, Eur. J. Hum. Gen (2010), 1-7, Fig 1h.

LINKS
Read more about the Vikings from my part of the world in the book (available on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com):

and read this new book about Viking DNA*

*Now just out on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com – see in particular page 76.


Visit the Kinsarvik, Hardanger page

…and visit the Wirral & West Lancashire Viking Research page.

The site is maintained by Stephen Harding

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