Gunnhild Gormsdottir

Gunnhild on the Orkneys

Gunnhild Gormsdottir was according to the Historia Norvegiae a daughter of Gorms the Old of Denmark with Thyra Danebod . After the Heimskringla she was a daughter of the otherwise unknown Ossur Tote and was raised in Finnmark . The saga tells legend that she was found by the men of King Erik the Bloodaxe in an earth hut in Finnmark, where she learned magic.

Her marriage to Erik made her Queen of Norway. She is described in the sagas as cruel, treacherous, treacherous, power-hungry, domineering, greedy for money, inciting and enchanting. Much of this is to be viewed critically, as the reports come from their opponents, especially the skald Egill Skallagrímsson . She is said to have been of short stature, but good and elegant appearance.

One of the main features of Gunnhild is said to have been able to use magic. This is related to Snorri's statement that she came from Hålogaland and that her father was Ossur dead. When she met King Erik, she was in Finnmarken with two of the worst wizards, whom she then killed. Other Icelandic sources name the father Ossur Lavskjegg, a name that Gunnhild emphasizes in connection with Finns and sorcery. One of the oldest historical works about Norway, which is also partly independent of Icelandic traditions, the Histora Norvegiæ , writes that she was the daughter of the Danish king Gorm and thus the sister of Harald Blauzahn . Almost all recent historians assume that this is arguably correct.

After Erik's death in Jórvík (today's York ) in 954, she was the guardian of Harald Gråfell and the other sons. She moved to Denmark and got her brother Harald Blauzahn to support her against Håkon the Good . When he was defeated and killed, her sons took power and she could wield power over her sons. She became the "king mother", so that the sons were called "Gunnhilds sons". When several of them were killed, she had to leave the country again and moved to the Orkneys , where one of her daughters was married to the Jarl Arnfinn Thorfinnsson.

How old Gunnhild was and where she died is unknown. But she is said to have been alive in 970.

What little we know of Erik Blutaxt and his sons suggests that she was probably born at the beginning of the 10th century. She probably followed Erik when he was expelled from Norway abroad and also returned with the Erik sons. After the Ágrip and after Theodricus Monachus in the Historia de antiquitate regum Norwagiensium , she was killed by the men of the Danish king and sunk as a sorceress in a moor. It is unlikely. It is not known where she died, but it was probably in the Orkneys , because she had a daughter who was married to the son of the then Orkney Jarl . After the defeat of the sons of Erik, she probably traveled there in 970 and died there too.

Remarks

1. ↑ "Finns" was the name given to the Sami living in Finnmarken, to whom magic was traditionally attributed.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Krag.

literature

• Claus Krag: Gunnhild. In: Norsk biografisk leksikon , accessed on June 14, 2012.
• Nils Petter Thuesen: Gunnhild Gormsdatter. In: Nils Petter Thuesen: Norges dronninger gjennom tusen år. Tiden Norsk Forlag, Oslo 1991, ISBN 82-10-03458-8 , pp. 16-17.