Snæfríðr Svásadóttir (or ''Snjófríðr Svásadóttir,'' Norwegian: ''Snøfrid Svåsedatter'') also called ''Snæfríðr finnska'' (''Snæfríthr the Finnish/Sami'') was, according to medieval tradition a wife of the Norwegian king

Harald Fairhair Harald Fairhair (; – ) was a Norwegian king. According to traditions current in Norway and Iceland in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, he reigned from 872 to 930 and was the first Monarchy of Norway, King of Norway. Supposedly, two ...

. The legend is described in both ''

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 ...

'' and '' Ágrip'', and she is briefly mentioned in ''

Orkneyinga saga The ''Orkneyinga saga'' (Old Norse: ; ; also called the ''History of the Earls of Orkney'' and ''Jarls' Saga'') is a narrative of the history of the Orkney and Shetland islands and their relationship with other local polities, particularly No ...

''. She is described as a

Sami Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ne ...

woman and is, according to the sagas, the ancestor of

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 ...

. With the exception of Ragnhild the Mighty, she is the only wife of Harald Fairhair mentioned by name outside of ''Heimskringla'.''

Saga account

The sagas tell of king Harald being at a yule feast in

Gudbrandsdalen Gudbrandsdalen (; ) is a valley and Districts of Norway, traditional district in the Norway, Norwegian county of Innlandet (formerly Oppland). The valley is oriented in a north-westerly direction from Lillehammer (town), Lillehammer and the lake ...

at the Tofti estate, when a giant called Svási arrived and invited him to his hut. In Svási's hut the king was presented to the giant's Finn (Sami) daughter Snæfríðr. The king was overcome with lust and wanted to bed her, but Svási would not allow his daughter to be a concubine so the two were married. Harald is said to have spent all of his time with Snæfríðr and neglected his kingdom. During their three year long marriage she gave birth to four children: ''Sigurðr hrísi, Hálfdan háleggr, Guðrøðr ljómi'' and ''Rǫgnvaldr réttilbeini.''Harald hårfagres saga'' i ''Heimskringla'', kapitel 25.'' When Snæfríðr suddenly died, Harald was beside himself with grief, but a man known as Thorleif the Wise convinced the king to leave the chamber where the queen lay and told him that it was not honorable to let the dead lie there in the same clothes she perished in. Harald agreed to have the clothes changed and the body moved but when his servants did so the body turned blue and started to smell awful. Men hurried to prepare a pyre, but before they burned her, toads, snakes and lizards crawled out of her body. When Harald realized Snæfríðr had been a witch he became furious and had all his sons by Snæfríðr sent away. Since that day Harald became ill-disposed towards magicians. When Rǫgnvaldr followed in his mother's footsteps, Harald sent his most loyal and beloved son Eirikr Bloodaxe to murder Rǫgnvaldr. ''

Flateyjarbók ''Flateyjarbók'' (; "Book of Flatey, Breiðafjörður, Flatey") is an important medieval Iceland, Icelandic manuscript. It is also known as GkS 1005 fol. and by the Latin name ''Codex Flateyensis''. It was commissioned by Jón Hákonarson and p ...

's'' ''Haralds þáttr hárfagra's'' first chapter centers around the story of Snæfríðr and Harald and credits ''Snæfríðardrápa'', a skaldic "drapa" about Snæfríðr, to Harald.Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Haraldr hárfagri Hálfdanarson, Snæfríðardrápa 1’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 68.

Popular culture

A character inspired by Snæfríðr appears in season 5 of '' History Channel's Vikings'', played by Norwegian actress Dagny Backer Johnsen.

References

{{Reflist, 2 Fairhair dynasty 9th-century Norwegian monarchs Norwegian royal consorts Norwegian Sámi people Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown Harald Fairhair