King Stenkil
Stenkil (Old Norse: ''Steinkell'') was a King of Sweden who ruled c. 1060 until 1066. He succeeded Emund the Old and became the first king from the House of Stenkil. He is praised as a devout Christian, but with an accommodating stance towards the old Pagan religion. His brief reign saw an armed conflict with Norway. Family background The '' Hervarar saga'' (13th century) describes Stenkil as the son of Ragnvald the Old and Astrid Njalsdotter, the daughter of Njal Finnsson from Hålogaland in Norway and a cognatic descendant of Harald Fairhair. Later historians have identified the father of Stenkil as Ragnvald Ulfsson who was the earl of Staraya Ladoga and the grandson of the legendary Viking Skoglar Toste, but this presumed family-connection is not supported by any other sources and must therefore be regarded as very uncertain. The Icelandic sagas mention a wife and two sons of Ragnvald Ulfsson but none are identified with Stenkil and his mother Astrid. The contemporary chronicl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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List Of Swedish Monarchs
This is a list of Swedish kings, queens, regents and viceroys of the Kalmar Union. History The earliest record of what is generally considered to be a Swedish king appears in Tacitus' work '' Germania'', c. 100 AD (the king of the Suiones). However, due to scant and unreliable sources before the 11th century, lists of succession traditionally start in the 10th century with king Olof Skötkonung, and his father Eric the Victorious, who also were the first Swedish kings to be baptized. There are, however, lists of Swedish pagan monarchs with far older dates, but in many cases these kings appear in sources of disputed historical reliability. These records notably deal with the legendary House of Yngling, and based on the Danish chronicler Saxo Grammaticus, Eric the Victorious and Olof Skötkonung have often been classified as belonging to the Swedish house of Ynglings, tracing them back to Sigurd Hring and Ragnar Lodbrok (whom Saxo considered to belong to the House of Yngling). Ho ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pagan Religion
Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. In the time of the Roman empire, individuals fell into the pagan class either because they were increasingly rural and provincial relative to the Christian population, or because they were not '' milites Christi'' (soldiers of Christ).J. J. O'Donnell (1977)''Paganus'': Evolution and Use ''Classical Folia'', 31: 163–69. Alternative terms used in Christian texts were ''hellene'', ''gentile'', and '' heathen''. Ritual sacrifice was an integral part of ancient Graeco-Roman religion and was regarded as an indication of whether a person was pagan or Christian. Paganism has broadly connoted the " religion of the peasantry". During and after the Middle Ages, the term ''paganism'' was applied to any non-Christian religion, and the term presumed a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Snorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of the ''Prose Edda'', which is a major source for what is today known as Norse mythology, and ''Heimskringla'', a history of the Norwegian kings that begins with legendary material in ''Ynglinga saga'' and moves through to early medieval Scandinavian history. For stylistic and methodological reasons, Snorri is often taken to be the author of ''Egil's saga''. He was assassinated in 1241 by men claiming to be agents of the King of Norway. Biography Early life Snorri Sturluson was born in (commonly transliterated as Hvamm or Hvammr) as a member of the wealthy and powerful Sturlungar clan of the Icelandic Commonwealth, in AD 1179. His parents were ''Sturla Þórðarson the Elder'' of ''Hvammur'' and his second wife, ''Guðný Böðvarsdóttir''. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mälaren
Mälaren ( , , or ), historically referred to as Lake Malar in English, is the third-largest freshwater lake in Sweden (after Vänern and Vättern). Its area is 1,140 km2 and its greatest depth is 64 m. Mälaren spans 120 kilometers from east to west. The lake drains, from south-west to north-east, into the Baltic Sea through its natural outlets Norrström and Söderström (as it flows around Stadsholmen island) and through the artificial Södertälje Canal and Hammarbyleden waterway. The easternmost bay of Mälaren, in central Stockholm, is called Riddarfjärden. The lake is located in Svealand and bounded by the provinces of Uppland, Södermanland and Västmanland. The two largest islands in Mälaren are Selaön (91 km2) and Svartsjölandet (79 km2). Mälaren is low-lying and mostly relatively shallow. Being a quite narrow and shallow lake, Mälaren has bridge crossings between Eskilstuna and Västerås with two crossings on the western end at Kvicksund and t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Uppland
Uppland () is a historical province or ' on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. On the small uninhabited island of Märket in the Baltic, Uppland has a very short and unusually shaped land border with Åland, an autonomous province of Finland. The name literally means ''up land'', a name which is commonly encountered in especially older English literature as ''Upland''. Its Latinised form, which is occasionally used, is ''Uplandia''. Uppland is famous for having the highest concentration of runestones in the world, with as many as 1,196 inscriptions in stone left by the Vikings. Administration The traditional provinces of Sweden serve no administrative or political purposes, but are historical and cultural entities. The corresponding administrative county, or ', is Uppsala County, which occupies the larger part of the territory. The b ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Saint Ingamoder Emundsdotter Of Sweden
''Ingamoder'' is a Swedish name invented in modern times for the daughter of King Emund the Old who was married to King Stenkil of Sweden and whose given name is not known. It translates to English as "Mother of Inge" (that is of King Inge the Elder). Biography The woman was born about 1025 to King Emund. She married Stenkil, who would later inherit her father's title. According to a few more or less reliable sources King Stenkil had four sons, of which the first two can be considered known to history: * Inge the Elder, King of Sweden * Halsten Stenkilsson, King of Sweden * Sweyn Stenkilsson * Eric Purported identity as ''Ingemo'' ''Ingemo'' was a local Swedish saint in Västergötland, however, she was not officially sanctioned and recognized by the Church. She is known only from customs at the Ingemo Well in Sweden. Ingemo Well ( sv, Ingemo källa), located between Skövde and Tidaholm, is a natural well where Ingemo was venerated according to legend, and which may originally ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Adam Of Bremen
Adam of Bremen ( la, Adamus Bremensis; german: Adam von Bremen) (before 1050 – 12 October 1081/1085) was a German medieval chronicler. He lived and worked in the second half of the eleventh century. Adam is most famous for his chronicle ''Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum'' (''Deeds of Bishops of the Hamburg Church''). He was "one of the foremost historians and early ethnographers of the medieval period". In his chronicle, he included a chapter mentioning the Norse outpost of Vinland, and was thus the first European to write about the New World. Life Little is known of his life other than hints from his own chronicles. He is believed to have come from Meissen, then its own margravate. The dates of his birth and death are uncertain, but he was probably born before 1050 and died on 12 October of an unknown year (possibly 1081, at the latest 1085). From his chronicles, it is apparent that he was familiar with a number of authors. The honorary name of ''Magister Adam'' sho ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Skoglar Toste
Skoglar Toste or Skoglar Tosti (there are several variations) is a legendary 10th century chieftain from the Swedish province of West Gothland. Snorri Sturlusson recounts in ''Heimskringla'' that he was a great Viking who often waged war and that is why he was called " Skagul's Tosti". Skagul was a Valkyrie.Davidson, Hilda Roderick Ellis (1988). Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe: Early Scandinavian and Celtic Religions. Manchester University Press. . p. 96 Toste is mentioned in several sagas, most notable in ''Heimskringla''. According to Snorri Sturluson, he was the father of Sigrid the Haughty. For some time he gave refuge to Harald Grenske, who later came back to woo Sigrid, only to be killed by her for his persistence. According to the sagas, Skoglar Toste was also the father of Ulf Tostesson, father of Ragnvald Ulfsson and grandfather of Stenkil who became the King of Sweden in 1060. Toste has been connected to the U 344 runestone in Orkesta in Vallentuna, near Stockho ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Staraya Ladoga
Staraya Ladoga (russian: Ста́рая Ла́дога, p=ˈstarəjə ˈladəɡə, lit=Old Ladoga), known as Ladoga until 1704, is a rural locality (a '' selo'') in Volkhovsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the Volkhov River near Lake Ladoga, north of the town of Volkhov, the administrative center of the district. It used to be a prosperous trading outpost in the 8th and 9th centuries. It was dominated by Varangians who became known as the Rus'. For that reason, it is sometimes called the first capital of Russia. History Origin Dendrochronology suggests that Ladoga was founded in 753. Until 950, it was one of the most important trading ports of Eastern Europe. Merchant vessels sailed from the Baltic Sea through Ladoga to Novgorod and then to Constantinople or the Caspian Sea. This route is known as the trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks. An alternative way led down the Volga River along the Volga trade route to the Khazar capital of Atil, and then ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Harald Fairhair
Harald Fairhair no, Harald hårfagre Modern Icelandic: ( – ) was a Norwegian king. According to traditions current in Norway and Iceland in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, he reigned from 872 to 930 and was the first King of Norway. Supposedly, two of his sons, Eric Bloodaxe and Haakon the Good, succeeded Harald to become kings after his death. Much of Harald's biography is uncertain. A couple of praise poems by his court poet Þorbjörn Hornklofi survive in fragments, but the extant accounts of his life come from sagas set down in writing around three centuries after his lifetime. His life is described in several of the Kings' sagas, none of them older than the twelfth century. Their accounts of Harald and his life differ on many points, but it is clear that in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries Harald was regarded as having unified Norway into one kingdom. Since the nineteenth century, when Norway was in a personal union with Sweden, Harald has become a na ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hålogaland
Hålogaland was the northernmost of the Norway, Norwegian provinces in the medieval Norse sagas. In the early Viking Age, before Harald Fairhair, Hålogaland was a Monarchy, kingdom extending between the Namdalen valley in Trøndelag county and the Lyngen (fjord), Lyngen fjord in Troms og Finnmark county. Etymology and history Ancient Norwegians said that was named after a royal named Hölgi. The Norse language, Norse form of the name was '. The first element of the word is the genitive plural of ', a 'person from Hålogaland'. The last element is ', as in 'land' or 'region'. The meaning of the demonym ' is unknown. Thorstein Vikingson's Saga, 1, describes it as a compound of Hial, "Hel" or "spirit," and "loge", "fire" - although this is largely discredited. The Gothic historian Jordanes in his work ' (also known as ''Getica''), written in Constantinople , mentions a people "Adogit" living in the far North. This could be an old form of ' and a possible reference to the petty k ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |