Anund sv, Bröt-Anund meaning ''trail-blazer Anund'' or ''Anund the Land Clearer''; alternate names ''Brøt-Anundr'' (

Old East Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...

) or ''Braut-Önundr'' (

Old West Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...

) was a semi-legendary Swedish king of the

House of Yngling The Ynglings were a dynasty of kings, first in Sweden and later in Norway, primarily attested through the poem ''Ynglingatal''. The dynasty also appears as Scylfings (Old Norse ''Skilfingar'') in ''Beowulf''. When ''Beowulf'' and ''Ynglingatal'' ...

who reigned in the mid-seventh century. The name would have been

Proto-Norse Proto-Norse (also called Ancient Nordic, Ancient Scandinavian, Ancient Norse, Primitive Norse, Proto-Nordic, Proto-Scandinavian and Proto-North Germanic) was an Indo-European language spoken in Scandinavia that is thought to have evolved as a ...

*''Anuwinduz'' meaning "winning ancestor".

History

In his ''

Ynglinga saga ''Ynglinga saga'' ( ) is a Kings' saga, originally written in Old Norse by the Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson about 1225. It is the first section of his ''Heimskringla''. It was first translated into English and published in 1844 ...

'',

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 ...

relates that Anund succeeded his father King Yngvar who fell in battle with the Estonians. After his father's wars against Danish Vikings and

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

n Vikings, peace reigned over Sweden and there were good harvests. Anund was a popular king who became very rich, not only because of the peace and the good harvests but also because he avenged his father in Estonia. That country was ravaged far and wide and in the autumn Anund returned with great riches. In those days Sweden was dominated by vast and uninhabited forests, so Anund started making roads and clearing land and vast districts were settled by Swedes. Consequently, he was named ''Bröt-Anund''. He made a farm for himself in every district and used to stay as a guest in many homes. One autumn, King Anund was travelling between his

hall In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the gr ...

s (see Husbys) and came to a place called ''Himinheiðr'' (sky heath) between two mountains. He was surprised by a landslide which killed him. After presenting this story of Anund, Snorri Sturluson quotes

Þjóðólfr of Hvinir Þjóðólfr ór Hvini (anglicized as Thjódólf of Hvinir or Thiodolf; fl. late 9th–early 10th c. AD), was a Norwegian skald, said to have been one of the court-poets of the semi-legendary Norwegian king Harald Fairhair. His name suggests that ...

's ''

Ynglingatal ''Ynglingatal'' or ''Ynglinga tal'' (Old Norse: 'Enumeration of the Ynglingar') is a Skaldic poem cited by Snorri Sturluson in the ''Ynglinga saga'', the first saga of Snorri's ''Heimskringla''. Þjóðólfr of Hvinir (Thjodolf), who was a poe ...

'': The ''

Historia Norwegiæ ''Historia Norwegiæ'' is a short history of Norway written in Latin by an anonymous monk. The only extant manuscript is in the private possession of the Earl of Dalhousie, and is now kept in the National Records of Scotland in Edinburgh. The manu ...

'' presents a Latin summary of ''Ynglingatal'', older than Snorri's quotation (continuing after

Ingvar Yngvar Harra (or Ingvar; Proto-Norse ''*Ingu-Hariz''; non, Yngvarr ; d. early 7th century) was the son of Östen and reclaimed the Swedish throne for the House of Yngling after the Swedes had rebelled against Sölvi. He is reported to have fa ...

): The original text of ''

'' is hard to interpret, and it only says that Anund died ''und Himinfjöllum'' (under the sky mountains) and that stones were implied. According to ''

'', he was murdered by his brother Sigvard ''in Himinherthy'' (which the source says means "the fields of the sky", ''cœli campus''. Such a place name is not known and Swedish archaeologist

Birger Nerman Birger Nerman (6 October 188822 August 1971) was a Swedish archaeologist, historian and philologist who specialized in the history and culture of Iron Age Sweden. Nerman was educated at Uppsala University, where he began his career as a lectur ...

(1888–1971) suggests that the original place of death was under the ''sky mountains'', i.e. under the clouds (cf. the etymology of ''cloud''). Consequently, he may have been killed outdoors, by his brother and with a stone. '' Thorsteins saga Víkingssonar'' says that Anund was not the son of

, but

Östen Eysteinn (Swedish: Östen; died ca 600) was the son of Eadgils and Yrsa of Saxony. He was the father of Ingvar. The Eysteinn tumulus ''(Östens hög)'' in Västerås near Östanbro has been linked to King Eysteinn by some popular historians. The ...

. It also relates that he had a brother named Olaf who was the king of

Fjordane Sogn og Fjordane (; English: "Sogn and Fjordane") was, up to 1 January 2020, a county in western Norway, when it was merged to become part of Vestland county. Bordering previous counties Møre og Romsdal, Oppland, Buskerud, and Hordaland, the cou ...

. All sources say that Anund was the father of

Ingjald Ingjald illråde or Ingjaldr hinn illráði (''Ingold Illruler'' or ''Illready'') was a semi-legendary Swedish king of the House of Ynglings, son and successor of King Anund, and the father and predecessor of King Olof Trätälja. As with many ...

(''Ingjald Illråde'').

References

Primary sources

* Thorsteins saga Víkingssonar *

(part of the

Heimskringla ''Heimskringla'' () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorre Sturlason (1178/79–1241) 1230. The name ''Heimskringla'' was first used in the 17th century, derived ...

)

Secondary sources

*Birger Nerman (1925) ''Det svenska rikets uppkomst'' (Stockholm: Föreningen för svensk kulturhistoria) {{Norse mythology 640 deaths 7th-century rulers in Europe People whose existence is disputed Semi-legendary kings of Sweden Year of birth unknown

History

See also

References

Primary sources

Secondary sources