Bjorn (Ursus)

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Bjørn ( Latin Ursus , bear) was probably a Danish chief who lived in the 10th century. He is the oldest known male ancestor of the Danish royal family, father of Thorgils Sprakalägg , grandfather of Ulf Jarl († 1026) and great-grandfather of Sven Estridsson and others.

Surname

The name Bjørn means "bear" in Old Norse , in Latin Ursus , as he is called by Florentius von Worcester († 1118): "Comitis Ulfi, filii Spracling, filii Ursi". That his real name was Bjørn can be deduced from the fact that he has two documented great-grandchildren with this name: " Bjørn " († 1049) and his brother "Asbjørn".

A genealogy parallel to Florentius can also be found in the Vita Waldevi , which is dedicated to the cult of saints around Waltheof von Melrose († 1159):

"The stories of the ancients tell us that Ursus (a certain nobleman whom the Lord allowed to create from a white bear as father and a noblewoman as mother, contrary to what normally happens when humans are procreated) fathered Spratlingus , Spratlingus begat Ulfius and Ulfius begat Beorn , surnamed Beresune wore, that is, bears son '. This Beorn was of Danish origin, a respected count and famous soldier. As a sign that due to part of his lineage he belonged to a different species, nature had given him the ears of his father's lineage, namely those of a bear. In all other marks he was of his mother's appearance. And after many male deeds and military adventures, he fathered a son, a proven imitator of his father's strength and military prowess. His name was Siward, nicknamed 'Diere', which means 'the fat one' ”.

son

Aside from the name, not much more is learned about Bjørn, except that he had a son, Thorgils Sprakalägg , and it is based on the knowledge of the son as a Danish chief that the father is given the same nationality and status: Saxo Grammaticus († after 1208) indicates in his work Gesta Danorum a common feature of father and son when he writes about Thorgils (and thus Bjørn) that he “never deviated from the courage and manhood of his father”.

Progenitor of the royal dynasty

Bjørn is the first known ancestor of the paternal side of the ruling dynasty that provided the kings (or regents) of the Kingdom of Denmark from 1047 to 1412. The special importance that Bjørn has is based on this fact, in particular that he was the grandfather of Ulf Jarl and thus the great-grandfather of Sven Estridsson , who became King of Denmark in 1047. Even the Danish kings after 1412 almost all descend from Bjørn, only not in the male line. Only the kings Erick Lam (ruled 1137–1146) and Olav II. Håkonsson (ruled 1376–1387) are no agnatic descendants of Bjørn.

Bjørn is also an agnatic progenitor of individual Swedish regents, such as Magnus the Strong (ruled around 1123/25 - around 1132), Magnus Henriksson (ruled 1160–1161) and Margaret I (ruled 1389–1412).

Bjørn's descent (legend and theory)

In Saxos Gesta Danorum one finds the legend that Bjørn is the fruit of a connection between a bear and an unnamed Swedish virgin. Speculations by Peter Frederik Suhm (1728–1798) and Jacob Langebek (1710–1775), according to which Bjørn should or could be identical with the Swedish king's son Styrbjørn the Strong († 984), who was the son of the Swedish King Olof II. Björnsson († 975) and was married to Harald Blauzahn's daughter Tyra Haraldsdatter cannot be supported by the available sources, it is also strongly questioned by the chronology, which makes it more than difficult to plausibly bring together individual members of this alleged family structure.

literature

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Lawætz
  2. ↑ Arthur
  3. ↑ " cui Beorn comes, filius avunculi sui Danici comitis Ulfi, filii Spraclingi, filii Ursi, ac frater Suani Danorum regis ... " (Benjamin Thorpe (Ed.) Florentius Wigorniensis, Chronicon ex chronicis ... , Volume 1, London 1848, p . 202); Thomas Forester (ed. And transl.), The Chronicle of Florentius of Worcester , AD 1049, p. 148: " Earl Beorn, son of his uncle Ulf, a Danish Earl, who was son of Spracing, who was son of Urso, and brother of Sweyn, king of Denmark, ... “; Beorn = Björn Estridsson , "his" = "Earl Sweyn", which is mentioned in the previous sentence, d. H. Sweyn Godwinson , Ulf = Ulf Jarl , Spracing = Thorgils Sprakalägg , King Sweyn = Sven Estridsson
  4. ↑ "Tradunt relaciones antiquorum quod vir quidam nobilis, quem Dominus pemisit, contra solitum ordinem humanae propaginis, es quodam albo urso patre, muliere generosa matre, procreari, Ursus genuit Spratlingum; Spratlingus ulsium; Ulsius Beorn, cognomento, Beresune, hoc est 'filius ursi'. Hic Beorn Dacus fuit natione, comes egregius et miles illustris. In signum autem illius diversitatis speciei ex parte generantium, produxerat ei natura paternas auriculas, sive ursi. In aliis autem, post multas virtutis ac milicieexperiencias, filium genuit fortitudinis et milicie paterne probum imitatorem. Nomen autem huic Siuuardius. "(In the margin:" cognomen Diere, id est grossus ")
  5. ↑ "Cuius filius Thrugillus, cognomine Sprakeleg, nullo probitatis vestigio a paternae virtutis imitatione defecit." (Saxo, Book X, Chapter 15, Section 4, Sentence 4 online )
  6. ↑ Cuiusdam patrisfamilias in agro Suetico filiam, liberalis formae, cum ancillulis lusum egressam, eximiae granditatis ursus ... , (Saxo, Book X, Chapter 15, Section 2, Sentence 1 online )