Ragnvaldr was a captain of the
Varangian Guard
The Varangian Guard ( el, Τάγμα τῶν Βαράγγων, ''Tágma tōn Varángōn'') was an elite unit of the Byzantine Army from the tenth to the fourteenth century who served as personal bodyguards to the Byzantine emperors. The Varangi ...
in the first half of the 11th century. He may appear on several runestones, some of which suggest that he was the son of an Ingvar connecting him to the
Jarlabanke clan.
In Ed there are two runic inscriptions named
U 112 A and B on a large boulder which measures 18 metres in circumference,
located at a path called Kyrkstigen ("church path").
[ Rundata] The inscriptions are in the
style Pr4,
and they were ordered by a former captain of the
Varangian Guard
The Varangian Guard ( el, Τάγμα τῶν Βαράγγων, ''Tágma tōn Varángōn'') was an elite unit of the Byzantine Army from the tenth to the fourteenth century who served as personal bodyguards to the Byzantine emperors. The Varangi ...
named Ragnvaldr in memory of himself and his mother.
[Enoksen 1998:131]
:U 112 A: Ragnvaldr had the runes carved in memory of Fastvé, his mother, Ónæmr's daughter, (who) died in Eið. May God help her spirit.
:U 112 B: Ragnvaldr had the runes carved; (he) was in Greece, was commander of the retinue.
Very few could return home with the honour of having been the captain of the Varangian guard, and his name ''Ragnvaldr'' shows that he belonged to the higher echelons of Old Norse society,
[Enoksen 1998:134][Jansson 1980:20] and that he was probably even a relative of
the ruling dynasty.
[Pritsak 1981:376]
This Ragnvaldr is identified with the Ragnvaldr whose death is announced on the
runestones U 309 and U 310,
[Pritsak 1981:389-393] which makes him the son of Ingvar of the Jarlabanke clan. The inscription U 310 was made on the orders of Ingvar's second wife
Estrid {{For, the name Estrid, Astrid (name)
Estrid (Old Norse: ''Æstriðr'', ''Ástríðr'') was a rich and powerful 11th-century Swedish woman whose long family saga has been recorded on five or six runestones in Uppland, Sweden. This Estrid was the m ...
(''Ástríðr'', ''Æstriðr''), who was not the mother of Ragnvaldr:
:U 309: Sigviðr and Ingvarr and Jarlabanki had the runes carved in memory of Ingvarr, their father, and in memory of Ragnvaldr, their brother.
:U 310: Ástríðr had the bridge made in memory of Ingvarr, her husbandman, and in memory of Ragnvaldr, his son.
Ragnvald's maternal grandfather Ónæmr is mentioned on two additional runestones in
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 ...
,
U 328 and
U 336.
[Pritsak 1981:389] U 328 informs that Ragnvaldr had two aunts named Gyríðr and Guðlaug, and U 336 adds that
Ulf of Borresta
Ulf of Borresta (Old Norse: ''Ulfr í Báristöðum'', modern Swedish: ''Ulf i Borresta'') was a runemaster in the eleventh century Uppland, Sweden, and a successful Viking who returned from England three times with a share of the Danegeld. He ...
, who received three
danegeld
Danegeld (; "Danish tax", literally "Dane yield" or tribute) was a tax raised to pay tribute or protection money to the Viking raiders to save a land from being ravaged. It was called the ''geld'' or ''gafol'' in eleventh-century sources. It ...
s in England, was Ónæm's paternal nephew
and thus Ragnvald's first cousin.
Omeljan Pritsak
Omeljan Yosypovych Pritsak ( uk, Омелян Йосипович Пріцак; 7 April 1919, Luka, Sambir County, West Ukrainian People's Republic – 29 May 2006, Boston) was the first Mykhailo Hrushevsky Professor of Ukrainian History at Har ...
notes that Ragnvaldr appears to have died simultaneously with his father Ingvar and uncle Ingifastr, and that their death should have happened before 1050.
[Pritsak 1981:393] He suggests that they died in the
Rus'-Byzantine War of 1043, for which
Vladimir of Novgorod
Vladimir Yaroslavich (russian: Владимир Ярославич, Old Norse ''Valdamarr Jarizleifsson''; 1020 – October 4, 1052) reigned as prince of Novgorod from 1036 until his death. He was the eldest son of Yaroslav I the Wise of Kiev by ...
had recruited Varangians.
[Pritsak 1981:394]
Notes
Sources
*Enoksen, Lars Magnar. (1998). ''Runor : historia, tydning, tolkning''. Historiska Media, Falun.
*Harrison, D. & Svensson, K. (2007). ''Vikingaliv''. Fälth & Hässler, Värnamo.
*Jansson, Sven B. (1980). ''Runstenar''. STF, Stockholm.
*Pritsak, Omeljan. (1981). ''The origin of Rus. Cambridge, Mass.: Distributed by Harvard University Press for the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute.
*
Rundata
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ragnvald Ingvarsson
Viking warriors
Varangian Guard
11th-century Byzantine military personnel
11th-century Vikings