Tora Torbergsdatter (, born 1025 – year of death unknown:

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

1066) was a Norwegian royal consort. She was the mother of two kings of Norway. It is possible, but unconfirmed, that she was also queen of Denmark or Sweden.

Biography

Tora Torbergsdatter was born on

Giske Giske may refer to: Places *Giske Municipality, a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway *Giske (island), a island within Giske Municpiality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway *Giske (village), a village within Giske Municpiality in Møre ...

in what is now

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in the northernmost part of Western Norway, Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the Molde (town), town of M ...

county in Norway. She belonged to the Giskeætten, a powerful family from

Sunnmøre Sunnmøre (, ) is the southernmost traditional district of the western Norwegian county of Møre og Romsdal. Its main city is Ålesund. The region comprises the municipalities () of Fjord, Giske, Hareid, Herøy, Sande, Haram, Stranda Mu ...

. She was daughter of Torberg Arnesson of

(ca. 1000–1050) and wife Ragnhild Erlingsdatter (992), maternal granddaughter of

Erling Skjalgsson Erling Skjalgsson, på Sola (Sola, Rogaland, 975 – Boknafjorden, 21 December 1028, bur. Sola, Rogaland), "Rygekongen", Herse/Høvding i Rogaland, was a Norwegian political leader of the late 10th and early 11th centuries. He has been commonly ...

and wife Astrid Eiriksdatter and paternal niece of

Finn Arnesson The word Finn (''pl.'' Finns) usually refers to Finnish people, a Finnic ethnic group. Finn or Finns may also refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Finnic peoples, various ethnic groups who speak Finnic languages * Baltic Finnic peoples, va ...

and Kalv Arnesson. Tora married King

Harald Hardrada Harald Sigurdsson (; – 25 September 1066), also known as Harald III of Norway and given the epithet ''Hardrada'' in the sagas, was List of Norwegian monarchs, King of Norway from 1046 to 1066. He unsuccessfully claimed the Monarchy of Denma ...

of Norway in 1048. The marriage can largely be explained by politics and alliance building. The chiefs of the Giske family played a key role in Norwegian power politics. The relationship between Tora and Harald Hardrada created strong ties with the royal family. Tora became the mother of both King

Olav Kyrre Olaf III or Olaf Haraldsson (Old Norse: ''Óláfr Haraldsson'', Norwegian: ''Olav Haraldsson''; – 22 September 1093), known as Olaf the Peaceful (Old Norse: ''Óláfr kyrri'', Norwegian: ''Olav Kyrre''), was King of Norway from 1067 until hi ...

and King Magnus II Haraldsson. King Harald had previously married Elisaveta Yaroslavna during the winter of 1043–44. The prior marriage between Harald and Elisaveta is only documented by the court poet Stuv den Blinde (''Stúfr inn Blindi Þórðarson Kattar''). There are no other remaining documentation about her stay in Norway. It is therefore possible that Elisaveta stayed in Rus', or that she may have died on her way to Norway. However, that would mean that the daughters of Harald, Ingegerd and

Maria Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

, who are attributed to her, must have been Tora's. This is not considered likely, as Maria was engaged to Eystein Orre, who would have been her uncle had she been the daughter of Tora. It is therefore possible that Tora was Harald's concubine. In 1066, Harald invaded England, where he died. Tradition says that Elisaveta and her daughters followed Harald to England, where Maria died, as it was said, at the news of her father's death. Afterward, Elisaveta and her second daughter Ingegerd returned to Norway with the Norwegian fleet. Elisaveta was to have stayed at the

Orkney islands Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland ...

during this trip. However, the oldest of the sagas claim that it was Tora and not Elisaveta who accompanied Harald on the trip, which is considered more likely, as she was the cousin of

Thorfinn Sigurdsson Thorfinn Sigurdsson (1009? – 1058?), also known as Thorfinn the Mighty (Old Norse: ''Þorfinnr inn riki''), was an 11th-century Jarl of Orkney. He was the youngest of five sons of Jarl Sigurd Hlodvirsson and the only one resulting from Sig ...

Jarl Jarl was a rank of the nobility in Scandinavia during the Viking Age and Early Middle Ages. The institution evolved over time and varied by region. In Old Norse, it meant "chieftain", specifically one appointed to rule a territory in a king's stea ...

of Orkney. According to

Adam of Bremen Adam of Bremen (; ; before 1050 – 12 October 1081/1085) was a German medieval chronicler. He lived and worked in the second half of the eleventh century. Adam is most famous for his chronicle '' Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum'' ('' ...

, the mother of King

remarried either King

Sweyn II of Denmark Sweyn II ( – 28 April 1076), also known as Sweyn Estridsson (, ) and Sweyn Ulfsson, was King of Denmark from 1047 until his death in 1076. He was the son of Ulf Thorgilsson and Estrid Svendsdatter, and the grandson of Sweyn Forkbeard through ...

or an unnamed Swedish king (possibly King Haakon of Sweden) as a widow, but this is unconfirmed. It is also unknown whether this refers to the actual mother of Olav Kyrre, which would mean Tora Torbergsdatter, or his stepmother, which would mean Elisiv.

References

Other sources

* Magnusson, Magnus; Pálsson, Hermann (1976) ''King Harald's Saga: Harald Hardradi of Norway: From Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla'' (Penguin Classics) {{DEFAULTSORT:Tora Torbergsdatter 1025 births 11th-century deaths Norwegian royal consorts Danish royal consorts Swedish queens 11th-century Norwegian women 11th-century Swedish women 11th-century Swedish people 11th-century Danish women People from Giske Harald Hardrada Mothers of Norwegian monarchs