Astrid Olofsdotter ( Norwegian: ''Astrid Olavsdatter'';

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

: ''Aestrith'') (died 1035) was the queen consort of King

Olaf II of Norway Olaf II Haraldsson ( – 29 July 1030), later known as Saint Olaf (and traditionally as St. Olave), was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. Son of Harald Grenske, a petty king in Vestfold, Norway, he was posthumously given the title '' Rex Per ...

Biography

Astrid was born to King

Olof Skötkonung Olof Skötkonung, (Old Norse: ''Óláfr skautkonungr'') sometimes stylized as ''Olaf the Swede'' (c. 980–1022), was King of Sweden, son of Eric the Victorious and, according to Icelandic sources, Sigrid the Haughty. He succeeded his father ...

of Sweden and his Obotritian mistress

Edla Edla (10th-century - 11th century), was a Slavic Viking Age woman. She was the mother of King Emund of Sweden and Queen Astrid of Norway. Tradition says Edla was the daughter of a Lechitic Tribal chief who has ruled part of terrain between ...

. She was the half sister of King Anund Jacob of Sweden and sister of King

Emund the Old Emund the Old or Edmund ( Swedish: ''Emund den gamle'', Old Swedish: ''Æmunðær gamlæ'', ''Æmunðær gammal'', ''Æmunðær slemæ'') was King of Sweden from c. 1050 to c. 1060. His short reign was characterised by disputes with the Archbishop ...

of Sweden. It is said that she and her brother Emund were not treated well by their stepmother, Queen

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 ma ...

, and that they were sent away to foster parents. Astrid was sent to a man named Egil 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 ...

. In 1016, it had been decided that Norway and Sweden should come to more peaceful relations by a royal marriage alliance. Noblemen of both countries tried to arrange a marriage between King Olaf of Norway and Astrid's legitimate half-sister, Princess

Ingegerd Olofsdotter Ingegerd Olofsdotter of Sweden, also known as Irene, Anna and Saint Anna (1001 – 10 February 1050), was a Swedish princess and a Grand Princess of Kiev. She was the daughter of Swedish King Olof Skötkonung and Estrid of the Obotri ...

of Sweden, but Ingegerd was instead married to

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 al ...

, Grand Prince of

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ...

and

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Ky ...

. Instead Astrid was married to King Olaf in

Sarpsborg Sarpsborg ( or ), historically Borg, is a city and municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Sarpsborg. Sarpsborg is part of the fifth largest urban area in Norway when paired with neig ...

in 1019. Some sources say that Astrid replaced Ingegerd by the wish of her father, while others say that the marriage took place against the will of her father, through the cooperation of King Olaf and the Swedish

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 pet ...

Ragnvald Ulfsson Ragnvald Ulfsson the Old (beginning 11th century) was a jarl of Västergötland or Östergötland 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 T ...

.''Olav 2 Haraldsson Den Hellige – utdypning'' (Store norske leksikon)
/ref> Astrid was described as beautiful, articulate and generous, and well liked by others. She was the mother of

Wulfhild of Norway Wulfhild of Norway (1020 – 24 May 1071), Old West Norse: ''Úlfhildr Ólafsdóttir'', Swedish: ''Ulfhild Olofsdotter'', was a Norwegian princess, and a duchess of Saxony by marriage to Ordulf, Duke of Saxony. Life Wulfhild was born in 1020 a ...

(1020–1070), who married

Ordulf, Duke of Saxony Ordulf (sometimes ''Otto'') ( – 28 March 1072) was the duke of Saxony from 1059, when he succeeded his father Bernard II, until his death. He was a member of the Billung family. Reign Ordulf's entire reign was occupied by wars with the Wends ...

, and the stepmother of King

Magnus the Good Magnus Olafsson (Old Norse: ''Magnús Óláfsson''; Norwegian and Danish: ''Magnus Olavsson''; – 25 October 1047), better known as Magnus the Good (Old Norse: ''Magnús góði'', Norwegian and Danish: ''Magnus den gode''), was King of Norwa ...

, with whom she had a good relationship. In 1030, she was widowed when her husband was killed. She left Norway and returned to the Swedish court, where she had a high position. When her stepson Magnus visited

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 ...

on his way to claim the Norwegian throne, she gave him her official support and encouraged Sweden to do so as well.

References

Sources

* *Lagerqvist, Lars O. ''Sverige och dess regenter under 1.000 år''. Albert Bonniers Förlag AB. 1982. * Thunberg, Carl L. ''Att tolka Svitjod'' 'To interpret Svitjod'' Göteborgs universitet. CLTS. 2012. .

External links

The family tree of Astrid Olofsdatter on Geni.com

Succession

{{DEFAULTSORT:Astrid Olofsdotter 1035 deaths Norwegian royal consorts Astrid 1000 Year of birth unknown House of Munsö Fairhair dynasty 11th-century Swedish people 11th-century Norwegian people 11th-century Swedish women 11th-century Norwegian women Daughters of kings