Olav den helliges saga - Ragnvald jarl og Astrid - H

Ragnvald Ulfsson the Old (beginning 11th century) was a jarl of

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. Vä ...

Östergötland Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English ...

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 Tostesson. He was also the foster-son of Þorgnýr the Lawspeaker. Through his aunt

Sigrid the Haughty Sigrid the Haughty (Old Norse:''Sigríðr (hin) stórráða''), also known as ''Sigrid Storråda'' (Swedish), is a Scandinavian queen appearing in Norse sagas. Sigrid is named in several late and sometimes contradictory Icelandic sagas composed g ...

, he was the cousin of Swedish King Olof Skötkonung. He was married to

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 Olaf Tryggvason (960s – 9 September 1000) was King of Norway from 995 to 1000. He was th ...

, daughter of

Tryggve Olavsson Tryggve Olafsson ( Old Norse: ''Tryggvi Óláfsson'', Norwegian: ''Tryggve Olavsson'') (born 928 in Ringerike, died 963 in Sotnes, Bohuslän, Västra Götaland, Sweden) was king of Viken, Norway ( Vingulmark and Rånrike). Biography Tryggve ...

, son of Olaf Haraldsson Geirstadalf and grandson of King

Harald Fairhair Harald Fairhair no, Harald hårfagreModern 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 N ...

. When Olaf Haraldsson became king of Norway in 1015, a war erupted with Sweden and

Norwegians Norwegians ( no, nordmenn) are a North Germanic ethnic group and nation native to Norway, where they form the vast majority of the population. They share a common culture and speak the Norwegian language. Norwegians are descended from the ...

forces had pillaged in

. But then Norwegian King Olaf proposed to the Swedish princess Ingigerd Olofsdotter, the daughter of Sweden's King Olof Skötkonung. This would result in peace and a royal alliance which would favor Ragnvald who was related to both parties. However, at the

Thing Thing or The Thing may refer to: Philosophy * An object * Broadly, an entity * Thing-in-itself (or ''noumenon''), the reality that underlies perceptions, a term coined by Immanuel Kant * Thing theory, a branch of critical theory that focus ...

Gamla Uppsala Gamla, alt. sp. Gamala ( he, גַּמְלָא, The Camel) was an ancient Jewish city on the Golan Heights. It is believed to have been founded as a Seleucid fort during the Syrian Wars which was turned into a city under Hasmonean rule in 8 ...

, Ragnvald and his foster-father Þorgnýr the Lawspeaker had to persuade King Olof Skötkonung to promise his daughter to King Olaf, whom he did not like. When the Swedish king failed to deliver his daughter, Ragnvald realized that he was in trouble. He has not only fallen out of grace with the Swedish king, but he could also expect the revenge of the Norwegians. During a visit by the

skald A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: , later ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry, the other being Eddic poetry, which is anonymous. Skaldic poems were traditionall ...

Sigvatr Þórðarson Sigvatr Þórðarson or Sighvatr Þórðarson or Sigvat the Skald (995–1045) was an Icelandic skald. He was a court poet to King Olaf II of Norway, as well as Canute the Great, Magnus the Good and Anund Jacob, by whose reigns his floruit ...

, Ragnvald learned that Prince

Yaroslav I the Wise Yaroslav the Wise or Yaroslav I Vladimirovich; russian: Ярослав Мудрый, ; uk, Ярослав Мудрий; non, Jarizleifr Valdamarsson; la, Iaroslaus Sapiens () was the Grand Prince of Kiev from 1019 until his death. He was als ...

Kievan Rus' Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of ...

had proposed to Ingigerd, and so he developed the idea that King Olaf should marry Astrid Olofsdotter, an illegitimate daughter of Olof Skötkonung, who was staying with Ragnvald. Sigvat promised to deliver the proposal and the Norwegian king accepted. Ragnvald delivered Astrid at Sarpsborg in

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 she married the King Olaf after Christmas of 1019. King Olof Skötkonung was now so upset that he intended to hang Ragnvald at the next Thing. However, when Ingigerd Olofsdotter married

, she received Staraja Ladoga (''Aldeigjuborg'') and

Ingria Ingria is a historical region in what is now northwestern European Russia. It lies along the southeastern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordered by Lake Ladoga on the Karelian Isthmus in the north and by the River Narva on the border with E ...

(''Ingermanland'') as a wedding gift from Yaroslav. Ingigerd managed to arrange that Ragnvald became the jarl of both Staraja Ladoga and Ingria. Consequently Olof Skötkonung let Ragnvald depart with Ingigerd in the summer of 1019.

Marriage

Married to

. Children: # Uleb Ragnvaldsson Jarl # Eilif Ragnvaldsson Jarl #Ostrida Ragnvalsdatter He has been considered to have fathered king

Stenkil Stenkil (Old Norse: ''Steinkell'') was a King of Sweden who ruled c. 1060 until 1066. He succeeded Emund the Old and became the first king from the House of Stenkil. He is praised as a devout Christian, but with an accommodating stance towards th ...

,The entry Stenkil in Larsson 2000:33 with Astrid Nialsdotter from Norway. However this is based on later Icelandic sources,Lagerquist 1997:41 and the identification of Ragnvald with Ragnvald the Old of '' Hervarar saga''.Larsson 2002:154–157

Saga sources

Ragnvald is mentioned in the

ic poem '' Austrfaravísur'', ascribed to

of King Olaf Haraldsson of Norway (''Olaf the Holy''), who had been on a diplomatic mission to Sweden. This poem is quoted in the 13th century sagas '' Fagrskinna'' and

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 th ...

'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, derive ...

''. In addition to the poem, ''Fagrskinna'' only briefly mentions Ragnvald, while ''Heimskringla'' contains a more elaborate account of him. This 13th-century prose text is not considered historically reliable. ''Fagrskinna's'' account of Olaf the Holy's betrothal to Ingigerd, and eventual wedding with Astrid, differs significantly from the account in ''Heimskringla''. In ''Fagrskinna's'' account, Ragnvald is not given a prominent role in the proceedings.

Notes

Literature

*Larsson, Lars-Ove (1993, 2000). ''Vem är vem i svensk historia, från år 1000 till 1900''. Prisma, Stockholm. *Larsson, Mats G (2002). ''Götarnas Riken : Upptäcktsfärder Till Sveriges Enande''. Bokförlaget Atlantis AB *Lagerquist, Lars O. (1997). ''Sveriges Regenter, från forntid till nutid''. Norstedts, Stockholm. * Winroth, Anders (1995–1997) "Ragnvald Ulfsson", ''Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon'', volume 29, page 616. * Wisén, Theodor, revised by Erik Brate (1915),
Ragnvald Ulfsson
, '' Nordisk familjebok'', volume 22, 913–914 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ragnvald Ulfsson Geats Swedish nobility 11th-century deaths Year of birth unknown Swedish jarls