Toke Gormsson (also known as Valtoke) was a Danish

warlord Warlords are individuals who exercise military, Economy, economic, and Politics, political control over a region, often one State collapse, without a strong central or national government, typically through informal control over Militia, local ...

petty king A petty kingdom is a kingdom described as minor or "petty" (from the French 'petit' meaning small) by contrast to an empire or unified kingdom that either preceded or succeeded it (e.g. the numerous kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England unified into t ...

, known from several runestones. Toke is mentioned on two runestones that note a battle at Uppsala, interpreted as the

Battle of Fýrisvellir The Battle of Fýrisvellir was fought in the 980s on the plain called Fýrisvellir, where modern Uppsala is situated, between King Eric the Victorious and an invading force. According to Norse sagas, this force was led by his nephew Styrbjörn ...

, as well as two more that mention people part of Tokis ''

hird The hird (also named "De Håndgangne Menn" in Norwegian), in Scandinavian history, was originally an informal retinue of personal armed companions, hirdmen or housecarls. Over time, it came to mean not only the nucleus ('Guards') of the royal arm ...

''. These stones also mention that he was the son of Gorm, which could be the Danish king

Gorm the Old Gorm the Old (; ; ), also called Gorm the Languid (), was List of Danish monarchs, ruler of Denmark, reigning from to his death or a few years later.Lund, N. (2020), p. 147

, and an Asbjørn who had a father named Toki. There is also a runestone at

Aars Aars or Års, () is a Denmark, Danish town with a population of 8,708 (1 January 2025)cairn A cairn is a human-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehistory, t ...

of "Valtóki".

Attestations

*The

Hällestad Runestones The Hällestad Runestones are three runestones located in the walls of Hällestad Church in Torna-Hällestad, about 20 kilometers east of Lund in Skåne, southern Sweden. Their Rundata identifiers are DR 295, 296, and 297. DR 295 is notable becau ...

: **DR 295 is raised by Áskell, a retainer of Toki in his memory, and describes how Áskell did not flee at Uppsala. **DR 296 is raised in memory of Erra, a retainer of Toki. **DR 297 is raised by "Ásbjôrn, Tóki's retainer", in memory of "Tóki, his brother". *The

Sjörup Runestone The Sjörup Runestone is a runestone in Scania, Sweden, from approximately 1000 AD that is classified as being in runestone style RAK. The Karlevi Runestone, the Egtved Runestone and the Hällestad Runestones may be connected to it. History Th ...

was raised by Saxi, in memory of Ásbjôrn, son of Toki or Tofi (the rune is damaged), and also mentions the battle at Uppsala. * The

Aars stone The Aars stone () or DR 131 is a late Viking Age runestone located on a mound in the churchyard at Aars in Himmerland, Denmark. Dated to the late 10th to early 11th century, it bears an inscription in the Younger Fuþark in memory of Toke Gormsson, ...

is raised in memory of Valtoki, and says that it marks his cairn.

References

10th-century Danish people Norse monarchs 986 deaths House of Knýtlinga 10th-century counts in Europe 10th-century Vikings Sons of kings Gorm the Old {{Denmark-bio-stub