Gyda Eiriksdottir of Hordaland (''Gyða Eiríksdóttir'') was a semi-legendary Norwegian concubine during the

Viking Era 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 ...

. She appears in the

Saga of Harald Fairhair The Saga of Harald Fairhair (''Haralds saga hárfagra'') is the third of the sagas in Snorri Sturluson's ''Heimskringla'', after ''Ynglinga saga'' and the saga of Halfdan the Black. Snorri sagas were written in Iceland in the 1220s. This saga is ...

(''Harald Hårfagres saga'') in

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 ...

''. The story is not mentioned in any other source.

Biography

The

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess ...

of Gyda describes the unification of Norway as somewhat of a love story. Gyda was born ca. 852 in Hordaland. She was the daughter of Eirik, King of Hordaland, (''Eirik af Hordaland''), one of the petty kings of pre-united Norway. Gyda was proposed to by Harold Fairhair who was then the king of the petty kingdom of

Vestfold Vestfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered ...

. She answered that she refused to marry Harald "before he was king over all of Norway". Harald was therefore induced to take a

vow A vow ( Lat. ''votum'', vow, promise; see vote) is a promise or oath. A vow is used as a promise, a promise solemn rather than casual. Marriage vows Marriage vows are binding promises each partner in a couple makes to the other during a wedd ...

not to cut nor comb his hair until he was sole king of Norway. Ten years later, in 872, Harald became king of a united Norway. He was justified in trimming his hair; whereupon he exchanged the epithet "shockhead" or "tanglehair" for the one by which he is usually known. He sent for Gyda reminding her of the promise and made her his concubine. Through the late 19th and 20th centuries the passage has been translated in Norway as Harald had Gyda sent for to marry, the text only states that Harald laid with Gyda: ''hann sendi þá menn eptir henni ok lét hana hafa til sín ok lagði hana hjá sér'' (''He sent men after her and had her brought to him and he laid with her''). Most scholars today regard this story as a truthful representation of the romance stories that were popular at the time ''

'' was written in the 13th Century.

Children

* Ålov Årbot Haraldsdøtter (Rogaland, 875 – Giske, Møre og Romsdal, 935), married Tore (þórir) Teiande, "Thore/Tore den Tause" ("the Silent") Ragnvaldssøn (c. 862 – Giske, Møre og Romsdal, a. 935), Jarl av Møre, and had children who went on to become the Hordaland branch of the old Galte ''ætt'' (clan). * Rørek Haraldsson * Sigtrygg Haraldsson * Frode Haraldsson * Torgils Haraldsson

In popular culture

16-year old Gyda is featured in the 2010 game Mount and Blade: Warband's Viking Conquest expansion, and she can be found at

Hordaland Hordaland () was a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland was the third largest county, after Akershus and Oslo, by population. The county government was the Hordaland County Municipa ...

. A character broadly based on Gyda appears in season 4 of

History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

as ''Princess Ellisif'' played by Irish actress Sophie Vavasseur.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gyda Eiriksdottir 9th-century births Norwegian royal consorts Year of death unknown 9th-century Norwegian women 9th-century Norwegian people Harald Fairhair