Håkan the Red (

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 ...

: ''Håkan Röde'') was a

king of Sweden The monarchy of Sweden is the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parliamentary system: see the Instrument o ...

, reigning for about half a decade in the second half of the 11th century.''Håkan Röde'' in ''

Nationalencyklopedin ''Nationalencyklopedin'' (; "The National Encyclopedia" in English), abbreviated NE, is a comprehensive contemporary Swedish-language encyclopedia, initiated by a favourable loan from the Government of Sweden of 17 million Swedish kronor in 19 ...

'': There is little information on him, and it is mostly contradictory. Nothing is known about his reign."Håkan"
article in ''

Nordisk familjebok ''Nordisk familjebok'' (, "Nordic Family Book") is a Swedish encyclopedia that was published in print from between 1876 and 1993, and that is now fully available in digital form via Project Runeberg at Linköping University. Despite their consi ...

'' (1910): Swedish historian Adolf Schück has asserted that, rather than ''

Blot-Sweyn Blot-Sweyn (Swedish:''Blot-Sven'') was a Swedish king c. 1080, who replaced his Christian brother-in-law Inge as King of Sweden, when Inge had refused to administer the blóts (pagan sacrifices) at the Temple at Uppsala. There is no mention of Swey ...

'' being an individual king, there are indications that that may have been an

epithet An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...

for King Håkan. His cognomen ''the Red'' comes from the regnal list of the '' Westrogothic law'', written in early 13th century. The same source claims that he was born in Levene, in

Västergötland Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden. Väs ...

Succession sequence

Despite contradiction in the sources, Håkan's position as a ''successor'' of Stenkil in the line of Swedish kings is generally accepted as correct. Perhaps he reigned from c. 1066/1070 in some areas of

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 ...

(succeeding Stenkil or

Halsten Stenkilsson Halsten Stenkilsson, English exonym: Alstan (Old Icelandic: ''Hallstein''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 uninhab ...

as well (succeeding Anund Gårdske). The regnal line in ''

'' omits Anund Gårdske and presents Håkan as successor of Halsten Stenkilsson."Sverige" in ''

'': Nationalencyclopedin also suggests that he may have ruled jointly with

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 ...

in the 1080s. A papal letter from Gregory VII is addressed to Inge together with either Håkan or

Halsten Stenkilsson Halsten Stenkilsson, English exonym: Alstan (Old Icelandic: ''Hallstein''västgötar, ordering them to collect

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more r ...

and send priests to Rome to educate themselves. According to

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...

, " the end of 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 ...

pproximately 1050 Sweden remained a loose federation of provinces. The old family of kings died out in 1060; after the death of the last of these kings' son-in-law, Stenkil, in 1066, a civil war broke out. Around 1080 Stenkil's sons, Ingi and Halsten, ruled, .." If "civil war" is an appropriate characterisation of the period from 1066 to 1080, the rulers of that epoch would be in the grey area between "king" and "

warlord A warlord is a person who exercises military, economic, and political control over a region in a country without a strong national government; largely because of coercive control over the armed forces. Warlords have existed throughout much of h ...

". Describing this period for Sweden as a whole in a linear

translatio imperii ''Translatio imperii'' (Latin for "transfer of rule") is a historiographical concept that originated from the Middle Ages, in which history is viewed as a linear succession of transfers of an ''imperium'' that invests supreme power in a singular r ...

kind of regnal succession, can then only be achieved at least partially based on speculative historical reconstruction, which appears to have happened in diverging directions from the early 13th century on, at the latest.

Adam of Bremen

scholion Scholia (singular scholium or scholion, from grc, σχόλιον, "comment, interpretation") are grammatical, critical, or explanatory comments – original or copied from prior commentaries – which are inserted in the margin of t ...

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 ...

's ''History of the Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen'' (written 1070s–early 1080s) says that Håkan was elected king after Stenkil's son

Halsten Halsten Stenkilsson, English exonym: Alstan ( Old Icelandic: ''Hallstein''Anund Gårdske also had been rejected. At his enthronement he was obliged to "take the mother of young Olof in marriage". It is not clear from Adam's text which Olof is meant, but it has been suggested that he might be King Olav Kyrre 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 ...

, whose mother

Tora Torbergsdatter Tora Torbergsdatter ( non, Þóra Þorbergsdóttir, born 1025 – year of death unknown: fl. 1066) was a Norwegian royal consort. She was the mother of two kings of Norway. It is possible, but unconfirmed, that she was also queen of Denmark or Swed ...

was a cognatic descendant of the Norwegian branch of the Yngling dynasty. While this remains unproven, the marriage was probably a politically well-planned act to gain support for Håkan's rule. Historian Sture Bolin has argued that the passage about Olof's mother in fact refers to Tora Torbergsdotter marrying the Danish King Sweyn Estridsen, and has nothing to do with Håkan. However, while Adam of Bremen mentions a Tora at Sweyn's court, he characterises her as his concubine rather than wife.

Regnal list of the ''Westrogothic law''

According to the regnal list of the '' Westrogothic law'', Håkan the Red would have ruled 13 years, as Stenkil's ''predecessor''. He was born in Levene in Viste Hundred in

, and was buried there after his demise. The Levene estate is also associated with King Stenkil, suggesting that Håkan might have sprung from the same kin group. Another Swedish king list from the 13th century has the sequence Stenkil - Halsten - Näskonung -

- Håkan the Red (Haquinus rufus) -

Sagas

In ''

Magnus Barefoot Magnus Olafsson (Old Norse: ''Magnús Óláfsson'', Norwegian: ''Magnus Olavsson''; 1073 – 24 August 1103), better known as Magnus Barefoot (Old Norse: ''Magnús berfœttr'', Norwegian: ''Magnus Berrføtt''), was King of Norway (being Ma ...

's Saga'', a part of

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 ...

's ''

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 ...

'' (1225), he is given as the ''successor'' of Stenkil (who died in 1066):

Steinkel, the Swedish king, died about the same time as the two Haralds fell, and the king who came after him in Svithjod was called Håkan. Afterwards
Inge Inge is a given name in various Germanic language, Germanic language-speaking cultures. In Swedish and Norwegian, it is mostly used as a masculine, but less often also as a feminine name, sometimes as a short form of Ingeborg, while in Danish, Est ...
, a son of Steinkel, was king, ..ref name="Magnus Barefoot
"Saga Magnús konungs berfœtts"
, in ''
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 ...
'' (W. Schultz, 1869–1872) at ''Norrøne Tekster og Kvad''. English translation
"Magnus Barefoot's Saga"
from ''Heimskringla'' at the ''Online Medieval & Classical Library''.

Similarly, in '' Hervarar saga'' (13th century):

Steinkel had a son called Ingi, who became King of Sweden after Håkan."Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks"
Guðni Jónsson's and Bjarni Vilhjálmsson's edition at ''Norrøne Tekster og Kvad''. English translation by N. Kershaw

in ''Stories and Ballads of the Far Past, translated from the Norse (Icelandic and Faroese)''. Cambridge University Press, 1921.

Runestone

Presumably it was Håkan the Red who ordered the carving of a

runestone A runestone is typically a raised stone with a runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition began in the 4th century and lasted into the 12th century, but most of the runestones da ...

found in

Hovgården Hovgården is an archaeological site on the Lake Mälaren island of Adelsö in Ekerö Municipality in central-eastern Sweden. During the Viking Age, the centre of the prospering Mälaren Valley was the settlement Birka, founded in the mid-8th cen ...

(

Adelsö Adelsö is an island in the middle of Lake Mälaren in Sweden, near Björkfjärden. The island is part of Ekerö Municipality and Stockholm County. It is about by ferry and road west of downtown Stockholm. The administrative center of the im ...

island in

Lake Mälaren A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

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 uninhab ...

). The

Rundata The Scandinavian Runic-text Data Base ( sv, Samnordisk runtextdatabas) is a project involving the creation and maintenance of a database of runic inscriptions. The project's goal is to comprehensively catalog runestones in a machine-readable way f ...

catalog number of this runestone is U 11.U 11, Hovgården, Adelsö
by Ingrid Karlmar and Urban Fredriksson, 27 February 1996.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hakan Red 11th-century Swedish monarchs Year of birth missing Year of death missing House of Stenkil People from Västergötland