Ingjald illråde or Ingjaldr hinn illráði (''Ingold Illruler'' or ''Illready'') was a semi-legendary Swedish king of the House of Ynglings, son and successor of King

Anund Anund (, meaning ''trail-blazer Anund'' or ''Anund the Land Clearer''), also called ''Brøt-Anundr'' ( Old East Norse) or ''Braut-Önundr'' ( Old West Norse) was a semi-legendary Swedish king of the House of Yngling who reigned in the mid-seve ...

, and the father and predecessor of King Olof Trätälja. As with many of the 5th-7th century Yngling Kings of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, his historicity is contested. Ingjald is mentioned in medieval historiographical sources including the ''

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

'', '' Historia Norvegiæ'', '' Hervarar saga'', '' Upplendinga Konungum'', '' Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar'' and '' Íslendingabók''. The setting of ''Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar'' is roughly the 7th century.

Johannes Magnus Johannes Magnus (a modified form of Ioannes Magnus, a Latin translation of his birth name Johan Månsson; 19 March 1488 – 22 March 1544) was the last functioning Catholic Archbishop in Sweden, and also a theologian, genealogist, and histor ...

in his 16th-century list of kings places Ingjald (''Ingevallus, Ingellus'') in AD 883.

''Ynglinga saga''

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 ...

gave an extensive account on the life of Ingjald in the ''

'' which is part of the ''

Heimskringla () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland. While authorship of ''Heimskringla'' is nowhere attributed, some scholars assume it is written by the Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson (117 ...

''.

Youth

The ''Ynglinga saga'', a part of the ''

'' relates that the

viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the Anglo-Norman ''roy'' (Old Frenc ...

of Fjärdhundraland was named Ingvar and he had two sons, Alf and Agnar, who were of the same age as Ingjald. Svipdag the Blind was the viceroy of Tiundaland, the province of

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

where the Tings and the

Yule Yule is a winter festival historically observed by the Germanic peoples that was incorporated into Christmas during the Christianisation of the Germanic peoples. In present times adherents of some new religious movements (such as Modern ...

(Midwinter) sacrifices were held (see the

Temple at Uppsala A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

). One midwinter, when Ingjald and Alf were six years old, many people had assembled at

for the sacrifices. Alf and Ingjald played, but Ingjald found that he was the weaker boy and became so angry that he almost started to cry (which was strange because people named Ingjald were known to be stronger than average). His foster-brother Gautvid led him to his foster-father Svipdag the Blind and told Svipdag about Ingjald's lack of manliness and strength. Svipdag said that it was a shame and the next day he gave Ingjald a roasted wolf's heart to eat. From that day, Ingjald became a very ferocious person and had a bad disposition and breath.

arranged a marriage for his son Ingjald with Gauthild, the daughter of the Geatish king Algaut, who was the son of Gautrek the Mild and the grandson of

Gaut is an early Germanic name, from a Proto-Germanic ''gautaz'', which represents a mythical ancestor or national god in the origin myth of the Geats. Etymology ''Gautaz'' may be connected to the name of the Swedish river Göta älv at the city ...

. Gautrek consented as he believed that Ingjald had inherited his father's disposition. Gauthild's maternal grandfather was Olof the Sharp-sighted, the king of

Närke Närke () is a Swedish traditional province, or ''landskap'', situated in Svealand in south central Sweden. It is bordered by Västmanland to the north, Södermanland to the east, Östergötland to the southeast, Västergötland to the sou ...

The deceit

relates that when his father Anund had died, Ingjald became the king of Sweden. The kings at

were the foremost among the kings of the various provinces since

Odin Odin (; from ) is a widely revered god in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Most surviving information on Odin comes from Norse mythology, but he figures prominently in the recorded history of Northern Europe. This includes the Roman Em ...

ruled the country, and they were the supreme chiefs of the other kingdoms since the death of Agne and Sweden was divided between Erik and Alrik. The descendants of these two kings had spread, cleared land and settled new territories, until there were several petty kings. In honour of his own ascendance to the throne, Ingjald invited the kings, the jarls and other important men to a grand feast in a newly built

hall In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and the Early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the gre ...

, just as large and sumptuous as the one in Uppsala. It was called the hall of the seven kings and had seven high seats. Algaut the Geatish king of West Götaland, King Ingvar of Fjädrundaland with his two sons Agnar and Alf, King Sporsnjall of Nerike and King Sigvat of Attundaland came, but not King Granmar of

Södermanland Södermanland ( ), locally Sörmland, sometimes referred to under its Latinisation of names, Latinized form Sudermannia or Sudermania, is a Provinces of Sweden, historical province (or ) on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Österg� ...

. The kings filled all seven seats but one. All the prominent people of Sweden had seats, except for Ingjald's own court whom he had sent to his old hall in Uppsala. According to the custom of the time, for those who inherited kings and jarls, Ingjald rested at the footstool until the Bragebeaker was brought in. Then he was supposed to stand up, take the beaker and make solemn vows, after which he would ascend his father's high seat. However, when the beaker was brought in, he took a bull's horn and made the solemn vow that he would enlarge his own kingdom by half towards all the four-quarters, towards which he pointed his horn, or die. When all the prominent guests were drunk, he ordered Svipdag's sons, Gautvid and Hylvid, to arm themselves and their men and to leave the building. Outside, they set fire to the building which burnt down and those who tried to escape were killed. Thus Ingjald made himself the sole ruler of the domains of the murdered kings.

Wars

Granmar won allies in his son-in-law the sea-king Hjörvard of the

Ylfing The Wulfings, Wylfings or Ylfings (the name means the "wolf clan") was a powerful clan in ''Beowulf'', '' Widsith'' and in the Norse sagas. While the poet of ''Beowulf'' does not locate the Wulfings geographically, Scandinavian sources define the Y ...

s and his father-in-law Högne the Geatish king of East Götaland. They successfully withstood Ingjald's invasion where Ingjald realised that the men from the provinces he had conquered were not loyal to him. After a long standstill there was peace for ''as long as the three kings lived''. However, one night Ingjald and his men surrounded a farm where Granmar and Hjörvard were at a feast and burnt the house down. He later disposed of five more kings, and he thus earned the name ''Illråde'' (ill-ruler) as he fulfilled his promise.

tells that it was a common saying that Ingjald killed twelve kings by deceiving them that he only wished for peace, and that he thus earned his cognomen ''Illråde'' (''ill-ruler'' or ''ill-adviser'').

Downfall

Ingjald had two children, a son Olof Trätälja and a daughter Åsa. His daughter had inherited her father's psychopathic disposition. She married King Guðröðr of Skåne. Before she murdered her husband she managed to make him kill his own brother Halfdan the Valiant, the father of the great Ivar Vidfamne. In order to avenge his father, Ivar Vidfamne gathered a vast host and departed for Sweden, where he found Ingjald at Ræning. When Ingjald and his daughter realized that it was futile to resist, they set the hall on fire and succumbed in the flames.

''Ynglingatal'' and ''Historia Norwegiae''

The citation from '' Ynglingatal'' does not appear to describe Ingjald as an evil king. It calls his life a brave life ''frœknu fjörvi'': The '' Historia Norwegiæ'' presents a Latin summary of ''Ynglingatal'', older than Snorri's quotation (continuing after

Archaeological Evidence

Rällinge is hill fort in Raä Helgarö 32:1, Helgarö parish,

that has small ramparts near Lake Mälaren that is thought to be a misinterpretation or incorrect spelling for the hill fort Ræning of the sagas. According to Nordic legends, Ræning was the place where Ingjald and his daughter Åsa had both met their ends at the hands of the semi-legendary Ivar Vidfamne. Throughout the last century thermoluminescence dating has found evidence of a burning that happened at the Rällinge hill fort from the supposed time of Ingjald's demise (600-650 A.D.). Moreover, the dating of the fort burning and heating does not contradict assumptions about where and when Ingjald was burned to death.Kresten, P (editor) and Kresten, P (Translator) (2001) ''Fornvännen''

Notes

Primary sources

"The Burning at Upsal"
in the ''Ynglinga saga'' at the Northvegr website.
N. Kershaw's English translation of the Hervarar saga

English translation at Northvegr "Of The Kings of the Uplands"

A translation in English of Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar

Secondary sources

*Nerman, B. ''Det svenska rikets uppkomst''. Stockholm, 1925.
A thermoluminescence date for the Rällinge hill fort, Raä 32, Helgarö parish, Södermanland : possible evidence of Ingjald's fiery demise?
{{authority control 7th-century monarchs in Europe Semi-legendary kings of Sweden Year of birth unknown