Gyda Anundsdotter of Sweden, also known as ''Guda'' and ''Gunhild'' (died c. 1048/1049), was a medieval and

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 ...

Swedish princess and Danish queen consort, spouse of King Sweyn II of Denmark.

Biography

There is little information about Gyda; our main source being the German ecclesiastic chronicler Adam of Bremen (c. 1075). According to the much later historian Saxo Grammaticus and the Icelandic annals, she was the daughter of the Swedish king, meaning Anund Jacob (1022 – c. 1050). Her mother would then be Queen Gunhild of Sweden. The near-contemporary Adam, however, does not say that Anund and Gunhild had any children. It is also possible that she was the daughter of Anund and another woman. She was married to King Sweyn of Denmark, maybe in 1047 or 1048. The date cannot be confirmed, and it is possible, that they were married during the time when Sweyn lived in exile at the Swedish court. After a short marriage, she died. According to Adam of Bremen it was a matter of foul play, since she was poisoned by Sweyn's concubine Thora. It is not known if any of the many children of Sweyn were also the children of Gyda. Her assumed father Anund died in c. 1050, and was survived by Gunhild. At about the same time, Gyda's widower Sweyn married a woman also called Gunhild. She was possibly the same person as Gyda's mother or stepmother, though several modern historians maintain that there were two separate Gunhilds, a Swedish and a Danish queen, respectively. A much later ''Chronicle of Bremen'' refers to a letter supposedly written by Archbishop

Adalbert Adalbert is a German given name which means "noble bright" or "noble shining", derived from the words ''adal'' (meaning noble) and ''berht'' (shining or bright). Alternative spellings include Adelbart, Adelbert and Adalberto. Derivative names inclu ...

, which says that Gunhild was the "mother" (mother-in-law) of Sweyn. Anyway, Sweyn and Gunhild were soon forced to separate by the Archbishop of Hamburg on account of their close kinship.Adam av Bremen (1984), p. 137 (Book III, Chapter 12). Gyda has often been confused and mixed up with her assumed mother (or stepmother) Gunhild, as their names were similar, and because they were both married to Sweyn. Both of them were known as Gunhild, Guda or Gyda.

References

Literature

* Alf Henrikson (1989), ''Dansk historia'' (Danish history). Stockholm: Bonniers (Swedish) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gyda Of Sweden Danish royal consorts 11th-century births 1040s deaths Swedish princesses House of Munsö House of Estridsen 11th-century Swedish people 11th-century Danish people 11th-century Danish women 11th-century Swedish women 11th-century landowners Daughters of kings