Beorn Estrithson (died 1049) was the son of Jarl
Ulf
Ulf, or Ulv is a masculine name common in Scandinavia and Germany. It derives from the Old Norse word for "wolf" (''úlfr'', see Wulf).
The oldest written record of the name's occurrence in Sweden is from a runestone of the 11th century.
The fe ...
and
Estrid Svendsdatter Estrid Svendsdatter of Denmark (''Estrith'', ''Astrith'': 990/997 – 1057/1073), was a Danish princess and titular queen, a Russian princess and, possibly, duchess of Normandy by marriage. She was the daughter of Sweyn Forkbeard and perhaps Gunhil ...
, sister of
Cnut the Great
Cnut (; ang, Cnut cyning; non, Knútr inn ríki ; or , no, Knut den mektige, sv, Knut den Store. died 12 November 1035), also known as Cnut the Great and Canute, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norwa ...
.
Life
Beorn established himself in England where many of his relatives held high positions. He held an Earldom in what is now the East Midlands.
In 1047, Beorn's cousin
Sweyn Godwinson
Sweyn Godwinson ( ang, Swegen Godƿinson) ( 1020 – 1052), also spelled Swein, was the eldest son of Earl Godwin of Wessex, and brother of Harold II of England.
Early life
In 1043 Sweyn was raised to an earldom which included Gloucestershi ...
fled England. Along with
Harold Godwinson
Harold Godwinson ( – 14 October 1066), also called Harold II, was the last crowned Anglo-Saxon English king. Harold reigned from 6 January 1066 until his death at the Battle of Hastings, fighting the Norman invaders led by William the C ...
, Beorn profited from Sweyn's absence by being awarded a share of his land.
[Walker ''Harold'' p. 22]
When Sweyn returned to England and attempted to secure a pardon from the king, Beorn and Harold refused to return any land. With three others, Beorn was guided to
Bosham
Bosham is a coastal village and civil parish in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England, centred about west of Chichester with its clustered developed part west of this. Its land forms a broad peninsula projecting into natural Chiche ...
by Sweyn, where he was taken captive. He was sent by ship to
Dartmouth, killed and his body buried.
[Walker ''Harold'' pp. 24–25]
Harold, Sweyn Godwinson's brother, later had Beorn reburied adjacent to his uncle King Cnut, in the
Old Minster, Winchester
The Old Minster was the Anglo-Saxon cathedral for the diocese of Wessex and then Winchester from 660 to 1093. It stood on a site immediately north of and partially beneath its successor, Winchester Cathedral.
Some sources say that the minster ...
.
Siward, Earl of Northumbria
Siward ( or more recently ) or Sigurd ( ang, Sigeweard, non, Sigurðr digri) was an important earl of 11th-century northern England. The Old Norse nickname ''Digri'' and its Latin translation ''Grossus'' ("the stout") are given to him by near-c ...
, has been conjectured to be Beorn's son.
Beorn may have had a son. ''
Morkinskinna
''Morkinskinna'' is an Old Norse kings' saga, relating the history of Norwegian kings from approximately 1025 to 1157. The saga was written in Iceland around 1220, and has been preserved in a manuscript from around 1275.
The name ''Morkinskinn ...
'' recounts an Åsmund, nephew of king
Sweyn Estrithson of Denmark, explicitly describing him as son of the king's brother Beorn, yet ''Harald Hardrådes saga'', part of ''
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 ...
'', calls the same Åsmund the sister's son of Sweyn.
[P. A. Munch (1855), ''Det Norske Folks Historie'', vol. 5, no. 5, p. 287]
Ancestry
References
External links
*
1049 deaths
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