Astrid Njalsdotter (or Ástríðr Njálsdóttir) of Skjalgaätten (also Aestrith) (11th century), was a
Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
* Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
* Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including ...
noblewoman who married Ragnvald the Old and became the ancestress of the
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
Stenkil dynasty
The House of Stenkil was a dynasty on the Swedish throne from c. 1060 to c. 1125. Stenkil probably originated from Västergötland.
Line (of magnates and earls) before Stenkil, according to the Norse sagas:
*Skagul Toste (took Danegeld in Engla ...
(c. 1060-c. 1125). She is sometimes assumed to have been a Swedish queen, though the evidence is inconclusive.
Dynastic ancestress
The only source available for Astrid is ''
Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks'', which says that she was the daughter of Njal Finnsson from
Halogaland. From other Norse sources it appears that Njal Finnsson was the son of Gunhild Halvdansdotter of the Skjalga family, a cognatic descendant of
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 Nor ...
, the first king of
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
and an alleged scion of the
Yngling dynasty. According to the saga, she gave birth to
Stenkil (d. 1066) who became a
Jarl
Jarl is a rank of the nobility in Scandinavia. In Old Norse, it meant "chieftain", particularly a chieftain set to rule a territory in a king's stead. ''Jarl'' could also mean a sovereign prince. For example, the rulers of several of the petty k ...
in
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
and later inherited the kingdom in c. 1060. Since her grandsons, the Swedish kings
Halsten
Halsten Stenkilsson, English exonym: Alstan ( Old Icelandic: ''Hallstein''[Inge the Elder
Inge the Elder (Swedish: ''Inge Stenkilsson''; Old Norse: ''Ingi Steinkelsson''; died c. 1105–1110) was a king of Sweden. In English literature he has also been called ''Ingold''. While scant sources do not allow us to paint a full picture of hi ...](_blank)
, may have been born around 1050–1060, her marriage probably took place in the 1020s or 1030s. Nothing is known about the time when she died.
Her husband Ragnvald the Old is otherwise unknown. In older historiography it was common to identify him with
Ragnvald Ulfsson
Ragnvald Ulfsson the Old (beginning 11th century) was a jarl of Västergötland or Östergötland and was married to a sister of King Olav Tryggvason.Winroth 1995–1997:616
Biography
According to Snorri, Ragnvald was the son of jarl Ulf T ...
, a Swedish or
Geatic Jarl
Jarl is a rank of the nobility in Scandinavia. In Old Norse, it meant "chieftain", particularly a chieftain set to rule a territory in a king's stead. ''Jarl'' could also mean a sovereign prince. For example, the rulers of several of the petty k ...
who served under King
Olof Skötkonung
Olof Skötkonung, (Old Norse: ''Óláfr skautkonungr'') sometimes stylized as ''Olaf the Swede'' (c. 980–1022), was King of Sweden, son of Eric the Victorious and, according to Icelandic sources, Sigrid the Haughty. He succeeded his father in ...
in the early 11th century. According to the Norse sagas, Ragnvald Ulfsson was forced to flee Sweden after a dispute with the king, and was eventually established as Jarl of
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 ...
. However, this Ragnvald was married to the Norwegian princess
Ingeborg Tryggvasdotter Ingeborg Tryggvasdotter was the daughter of Tryggve Olafsson (died 963), the great-granddaughter of Harald Fairhair, and the sister of Olaf I of Norway.
She married the Swedish earl Ragnvald Ulfsson, first the earl of Västergötland and later of ...
and the father of
Ulf
Ulf, or Ulv is a masculine name common in Scandinavia and Germany. It derives from the Old Norse word for "wolf" (''úlfr'', see Wulf).
The oldest written record of the name's occurrence in Sweden is from a runestone of the 11th century.
The fe ...
and Eilif, and is nowhere associated with Stenkil. A second marriage of Ragnvald to Astrid is therefore mere guesswork.
Possible queenship
The German ecclesiastic historian
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 ...
writes that Stenkil was either the stepson (''privignus'') or nephew (''nepos'') of the previous Swedish ruler
Emund the Old
Emund the Old or Edmund (Swedish: ''Emund den gamle'', Old Swedish: ''Æmunðær gamlæ'', ''Æmunðær gammal'', ''Æmunðær slemæ'') was King of Sweden from c. 1050 to c. 1060. His short reign was characterised by disputes with the Archbishop ...
(c. 1050-c. 1060). On the basis of this, it has sometimes been assumed that Astrid Njalsdotter was first married to Ragnvald and then with Emund, whose spouse is otherwise unknown. This would help explain the smoothness of the dynastic succession in c. 1060, when the
Viking Age
The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Ger ...
family of rulers died out in the male line. Nevertheless, ''Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks'' says that Stenkil inherited the throne through
his wife, who was the daughter of Emund. Modern historians therefore tend to doubt this hypothesis.
[Hans Gillingstam (1981), "Utomnordiskt och nordiskt i de äldsta svenska dynastiska förbindelserna", ''Personhistorisk tidskrift'' 77:1, p. 1]
/ref>
References
Literature
Astrid Nialsdotter
(in Swedish)
(in Swedish)
* http://www.progressus.se/mormor_morfar/tree/PS08/PS08_314.HTML (in Swedish)
* Elgenstierna, Gustaf (1925–1936), ''Den introducerade svenska adelns ättartavlor'', Vol. I-IX (in Swedish).
* Ohlmarks, Åke (1973), ''Alla Sveriges drottningar'' (All the queens of Sweden; in Swedish). Stockholm: Gebers.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Astrid Njalsdotter
11th-century births
1060 deaths
11th-century Swedish people
11th-century Swedish women
11th-century Norwegian nobility
11th-century Norwegian women