Signhildsberg (historically Fornsigtuna, where ''forn'' means ''ancient'', Old Sigtuna, ''Sithun'', ''Signesberg'') is a manor that formerly was a royal estate (

Uppsala öd Uppsala öd, Old Norse: ''Uppsala auðr'' or ''Uppsala øðr'' (''Uppsala domains'' or ''wealth of Uppsala'') was the name given to the collection of estates which was the property of the Swedish Crown in medieval Sweden.The article ''Uppsala öd'' ...

), located in the parish of Håtuna approximately west of the modern town of

Sigtuna Sigtuna () is a locality situated in Sigtuna Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 8,444 inhabitants in 2010. It is the namesake of the municipality even though the seat is in Märsta. Sigtuna is for historical reasons often still referr ...

, by Lake Mälaren in Sweden. Although the location is nearly forgotten, it has a central role in Norse mythology, according to which it was founded by the Norse god Odin.

Etymology

The name ''Sigtuna'' is contested. According to one theory, it is a compound name where the second element is -''

tuna A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae ( mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max len ...

'' and the first one is either of two closely related dialectal words, viz. ''sig'' meaning "seeping water" or "swamp" or ''sik'' meaning "swamp". As a basis for this intpretation, a brook south of Signhildsberg has been mentioned, or the fact that the estate was surrounded by marshy terrain.Entry ''Sigtuna'' in Svenskt ortnamnslexikon. Ed. Mats Wahlberg. Institutet för språk och folkminnen, Uppsala 2003. Another theory considers the name to be an ancient prestigious " wander toponym", meaning "strong fortress", like the Celtic toponym ''

Segodunum Segodūnum is an old Celtic place name derived from Proto-Celtic *'' sego''-'' dūno''-, meaning "strong fortress".The Place-Names of Roman Britain, pp. 452-3. A.L.F. Rivet & Colin Smith (1979). Princeton University Press. It can refer to the foll ...

'', from

Proto-Germanic Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. Proto-Germanic eventually developed from pre-Proto-Germanic into three Germanic bran ...

*''sigatūna''-,

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

''Sigtún'', cf. Proto-Germanic *'' segaz ~ *sigiz''- "victory": Gothic '' sigis'', Old Norse '' sigr'',

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

'' sigor'', Old Frisian ''sige, sīge'',

Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...

'' sigi, sigu''.Koch, John T. (2020)
CELTO-GERMANIC Later Prehistory and Post-Proto-Indo-European vocabulary in the North and West
In 1680, the name was changed to ''Signhildsberg'' after the

legend of

Hagbard and Signy Hagbard and Signe (Signy) (the Viking Age) or Habor and Sign(h)ild (the Middle Ages and later) were a pair of lovers in Scandinavian mythology and folklore whose legend was widely popular. The heroes' connections with other legendary characters pl ...

Heimskringla

In Chapter 5 of the ''

Ynglinga saga ''Ynglinga saga'' ( ) is a Kings' saga, originally written in Old Norse by the Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson about 1225. It is the first section of his ''Heimskringla''. It was first translated into English and published in 184 ...

'' section of his

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 ...

, Snorri Sturluson relates that Odin and the

Æsir The Æsir (Old Norse: ) are the gods of the principal pantheon in Norse religion. They include Odin, Frigg, Höðr, Thor, and Baldr. The second Norse pantheon is the Vanir. In Norse mythology, the two pantheons wage war against each other, ...

first arrived at Old Sigtuna when they came to Sweden: : Odin took up his residence at the Maelare lake, at the place now called Old Sigtun. There he erected a large temple, where there were sacrifices according to the customs of the Asaland people. He appropriated to himself the whole of that district, and called it Sigtun. To the temple priests he gave also domains. Njord dwelt in Noatun,

Freyr Freyr (Old Norse: 'Lord'), sometimes anglicized as Frey, is a widely attested god in Norse mythology, associated with kingship, fertility, peace, and weather. Freyr, sometimes referred to as Yngvi-Freyr, was especially associated with Sweden an ...

in Upsala,

Heimdal Heimdal is a borough in the city of Trondheim in the municipality of Trondheim in Trøndelag county, Norway. It covers the western and southwestern parts of the municipality. The village area that is also called Heimdal is located in the southe ...

in the Himinbergs,

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, an ...

in Thrudvang,

Balder Baldr (also Balder, Baldur) is a god in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, Baldr (Old Norse: ) is a son of the god Odin and the goddess Frigg, and has numerous brothers, such as Thor and Váli. In wider Germanic mythology, the god was kno ...

Breidablik } and ang, fācenstafas respectively). In Beowulf, the lack of refers to the absence of crimes being committed, and therefore both halls have been proposed to be sanctuaries. In popular culture * Breidablik is a sacred weapon in ''Fire Emblem H ...

; to all of them he gave good estates. Later the pirate

Sölve Sölve was a sea-king who conquered Sweden by burning the Swedish king Östen to death inside his hall. The ''Heimskringla'' relates that he was the son of Högne of Nærøy, and that he had his home in Jutland (however, according to the olde ...

arrived at Old Sigtuna to claim the Swedish throne: :Solve came unexpectedly in the night on Eystein (

Östen Eysteinn (Swedish: Östen; died ca 600) was the son of Eadgils and Yrsa of Saxony. He was the father of Ingvar. The Eysteinn tumulus ''(Östens hög)'' in Västerås near Östanbro has been linked to King Eysteinn by some popular historians. Th ...

), surrounded the house in which the king was, and burned him and all his court. Then Solve went to Sigtun, and desired that the Swedes should receive him, and give him the title of king; but they collected an army, and tried to defend the country against him, on which there was a great battle, that lasted, according to report, eleven days. There King Solve was victorious, and was afterwards king of the Swedish dominions for a long time, until at last the Swedes betrayed him, and he was killed. In the part called '' The Saga of St. Olaf'', the Norwegian king Olaf Haraldsson makes shore at Old Sigtuna: :King Olaf steered thereafter eastwards to Svithjod, and into the Lag (the Mælar lake), and ravaged the land on both sides. He sailed all the way up to Sigtuna, and laid his ships close to the old Sigtuna. The Swedes say the stone-heaps are still to be seen which Olaf had laid under the ends of the gangways from the shore to the ships.

Skaldic poetry

In '' Orvar-Odd's saga'',

Hjalmar Hjalmar () and Ingeborg () were a legendary Swedish duo. The male protagonist Hjalmar and his duel for Ingeborg figures in the '' Hervarar saga'' and in '' Orvar-Odd's saga'', as well as in ''Gesta Danorum'', '' Lay of Hyndla'' and a number of Fa ...

laments his dying: The location is also mentioned in other poems by the 11th-century skalds Þjóðólfr Arnórsson Valgarðr á Velli and Arnórr Þórðarson.

''Gesta Danorum''

Saxo Grammaticus Saxo Grammaticus (c. 1150 – c. 1220), also known as Saxo cognomine Longus, was a Danish historian, theologian and author. He is thought to have been a clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, the main advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark ...

writes in Book 8 of ''

Gesta Danorum ''Gesta Danorum'' ("Deeds of the Danes") is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th-century author Saxo Grammaticus ("Saxo the Literate", literally "the Grammarian"). It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark an ...

'' that Sigmund, one of the warriors of the

House of Yngling The Ynglings were a dynasty of kings, first in Sweden and later in Norway, primarily attested through the poem ''Ynglingatal''. The dynasty also appears as Scylfings (Old Norse ''Skilfingar'') in '' Beowulf''. When ''Beowulf'' and ''Ynglingatal'' ...

, came from what is chronologically Old Sigtuna to fight at the

Battle of Bråvalla A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

: :They likewise held the god Frey to be the founder of their race. Amongst these from the town of Sigtun also came Sigmund, a champion advocate, versed in making contracts of sale and purchase; besides him Frosti surnamed Bowl: allied with him was Alf the Lofty (Proud?) from the district of Upsala; this man was a swift spear-thrower, and used to go in the front of the battle.

Archaeology

There are two large ruins that had been two large three-aisled halls, a series of terraces just above the shore-line of the

Germanic Iron Age The archaeology of Northern Europe studies the prehistory of Scandinavia and the adjacent North European Plain, roughly corresponding to the territories of modern Sweden, Norway, Denmark, northern Germany, Poland and the Netherlands. The regi ...

, traces of a harbour, a large mound and a number of smaller

grave field A grave field is a prehistoric cemetery, typically of Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe. Grave fields are distinguished from necropoleis by the former's lack of remaining above-ground structures, buildings, or grave markers. Types Grave fields can b ...

s. Excavations have dated the remains to the

Vendel Age In Swedish prehistory, the Vendel Period ( sv, Vendeltiden; 540–790 AD) appears between the Migration Period and the Viking Age. The name is taken from the rich boat inhumation cemetery at Vendel parish church, Uppland. This is a period wi ...

, part of the

, and 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 Germ ...

, i.e., from the 6th century until the 11th century.

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 1 ...

History

It was an

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

and mediaeval royal estate (see

) and it was located strategically at the waterway to

Old Uppsala Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England * Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Ma ...

and the

Temple at Uppsala The Temple at Uppsala was a religious center in the ancient Norse religion once located at what is now Gamla Uppsala (Swedish "Old Uppsala"), Sweden attested in Adam of Bremen's 11th-century work '' Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum'' and ...

. In the 10th century, the name was transferred to modern

, which apparently assumed many of its functions. *It is mentioned in the 1170s when Pope Alexander III addresses king Knut Eriksson and

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 ...

Birger Brosa Birger Brosa Old Norse: ''Birgir Brósa'' (died 9 January 1202) was jarl of Sweden from 1174 to 1202. Biography He was a son of Bengt Snivil and a member of the powerful House of Bjälbo. In the medieval texts he is either called the '' jarl ...

('' Svenskt Diplomatarium I nr 852. Originalbrev''). The pope demands that they return to the archbishop of Uppsala (until 1270 the name referred to

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 81 B ...

) the villages ''Strom'' (Ström in the parish of Norrsunda), Fornesitune and ''Guazbro'' (probably Vadsbro). The villages had earlier belonged to the bishop of

, but they had been confiscated by the crown when the

bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

had been moved to

. *In 1299, Birger Magnusson, the son of

Magnus Ladulås Magnus III ( 1240 – 18 December 1290), also called Magnus Ladulås, was King of Sweden from 1275 until his death in 1290. Name He was the ''first Magnus'' to rule Sweden for any length of time, not generally regarded as a usurper or ...

, spent some time in Old Sigtuna as one of his letters was written in Sightonia Antiqua (in Malmberg, Ernst: ''Svenska slott och herresäten'') or apud antiquam Sightoniam The difference seems to be a matter of presenting the name in the nominal case or preserving the case in which the name appeared in the original text. *In 1315, according to ''Svenskt Diplomatarium (SD) III nr 2032 (s.228)'', Erik Magnusson was bestowed a part of Old Sigtuna, which is called Siktonia vetus (''vetus'' being Latin for "old"). Neighbouring properties are also named: ''Norgungi'' (Norränge in Håtuna) and ''Frötunum'' (Frötuna in Håbo-Tibble)Malmberg, Ernst: ''Svenska slott och herresäten'' *In 1541, according to ''Kammar-ark.: jordeböcker, Uppland 1541 nr 5'', the location is named as one of

Gustav I Vasa Gustav I, born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known as Gustav Vasa (12 May 1496 – 29 September 1560), was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death in 1560, previously self-recognised Protector of the Realm ('' Riksföre ...

's estates and spelled Forsictuna, Foorsictuna and Fforssiiktwna (in Malmberg, Ernst: ''Svenska slott och herresäten''). *In 1542, according to ''Gustav Vasas jordebok'' are mentioned Foorsictuna and ''Norringe'' (Norränge)Friesen: ''Om staden Sigtunas ålder'' *In 1551, according to ''Sven Nielssons jordebok för Stäkets län'', it is mentioned as the royal estate of Forsictuna (Malmberg, Ernst: ''Svenska slott och herresäten'' and Friesen: ''Om staden Sigtunas ålder''). *In 1567, it is mentioned as Foder Sictuna in the province of

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 ...

*In the 17th century, the name Försigtuna is used on a map (''Lantmät.verk. Gävle''). Since the 17th century, the location has been a manor named ''Signhildsberg'' or ''Signesberg''.

References

{{Reflist

Other Sources

an
A historical review of the name, from which the information about the name and dates is taken