Skoglar Toste

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The rune stone from Yttergärde U 344 in Orkesta from the 11th century, which mentions Skoglar Toste

Skoglar Toste , also called Skoglar Tosti , (* around 940; † after 1003) was a powerful Swedish chief from the historic province of Västergötland , who undertook numerous Viking trips and was the first in England to raise the protection money later known as " Danegeld ". Through his children, he became the ancestor of the two sexes who vied for the throne of Sweden for around a hundred years from the middle of the twelfth century, because his son Ulf Tostesson was the progenitor of the Sverker family and his daughter Sigrid the Proud was the ancestor of the Erik family.

origin

Nothing is known about the origin of Toste, not even the first name of his father, which is usually given in the Nordic countries. Since he is referred to in the sagas as "one of the noblest and most powerful Swedes who did not have a high title", he probably came from a respected Swedish magnate family. This is also underlined by the fact that he was able to equip a number of Viking expeditions from his own resources, was the foster father of Harald Grenske - the later King of Vestfold in Norway - and the father-in-law of Erik VIII. Segersäll (the Victorious) , who was from 970 to Ruled as King of Sweden in 995.

The family's power-political focus was in Västergötland , a historic province in southwest Sweden, which was located on the Kattegat , south of Värmland and Närke , and west of Östergötland and Småland and at that time bordered Denmark to the south and west . Since the early Middle Ages was there a separate kingdom of Geten / Gautar / Götar (but the "Goths" not) whose berühmtester king was the mythical Beowulf, the protagonist of the eponymous, in old English drafted language heroic poem Beowulf is that of the turn of the 5th to the 6th century in Sweden and Denmark.

Toste was born as a heathen and probably died as such, because his own grandson, Olaf Schoßkönig, was the first Swedish king to be baptized in Husaby (near the town of Skara and Lake Vänern in the province of Västergötland ) in 1000 and was the first there Swedish diocese founded.

The additional name “Skoglar”, also “Skagul”, identifies him as a successful fighter, as “skagul” is one of the many old Norwegian names for battle.

background

Danish Vikings invading England, illustration from the 11th century.

During the " Viking Age " - which began with the sacking of Lindisfarne Monastery (in northeast England) in June 793 and ended around 1050 - Scandinavia experienced military, demographic and economic expansion. This was also evident in the increasing presence of armed Viking fleets, which - in addition to occasional peaceful trade - devastated the coastal regions within reach of their longships with raids and raids.

These journeys were not limited to regional destinations, but extended beyond the British Isles to France, Spain, the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea to Constantinople and led in the east to the vastness of Russia - with England, Ireland, Normandy and Sicily and established permanent establishments or state foundations in Russia.

As the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle shows, the British Isles were a regular destination for Viking expeditions by Danish kings and magnates from around 990 onwards. In order to avert the devastation of entire regions, large sums of money were paid by the English kings to the Viking leaders, which were known as Danegeld .

In England there were payments of “tributes” or “grants” to plundering Viking groups at local level in 867, 872 and 876, but from the year 991 these were made nationwide under King Æthelred, given the magnitude of the devastation. In 991, for example, over 10,000 pounds of silver were paid, in 994 came Olav I. Tryggvason († around 1000) King of Norway and his brother-in-law Sven Gabelbart († n. 1014) King of Denmark with 94 ships, besieged London (in vain), looted Essex, Kent, Sussex and Hampshire and finally collected 16,000 pounds in silver, in 1002 24,000 pounds of silver (nearly 9,000 kg paid) and in 1004 about 30,000 pounds of silver were given to King Swein Gabelbart in Norwich. It was not until 1016 that the Viking marches to England stopped, as the Danish King Canute the Great (* around 995, † 1035) had conquered England. In 1018 he took a tribute of 82,500 pounds of silver with which he rewarded his troops. It was the highest and last danegree.

Life

Not much is known about the life of Skoglar Toste. Not least because the oldest Swedish documents were only issued in the 12th century. There are, however, some clues that shed some light on his life: A “documented” clue is given because his name appears on a rune stone which, based on the writing style, is dated to the 11th century. It is mentioned in more detail in the " Heimskringla ", the history of the Nordic kings recorded around 1230 by the important Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson (* 1178/79; † 1241). Also in the Chronicle of Symeon of Durham (* around 1060, † 1130), the "Historia regum Anglorum et Dacorum" he is probably mentioned.

The runestone of Yttergärde

The rune stone from Yttergärde U 344 pictured above was found in Yttergärde in 1868, but is now located outside Orkesta Church in Vallentuna municipality northeast of Stockholm in Sweden . It consists of white granite and is dated to around 1020 AD based on the typeface. This rune stone was erected in honor of Ulf von Borresta, who was himself a Viking and at the same time a " rune master " who made several rune stones for relatives and companions in arms. The rune stone in question was made in his memory and set up in Yttergerde. The transcription of the rune text is as follows:

“In ulfr hafiR o | | onklati 'þru kialt | | takat þit uas fursta þis tusti ka-t 'þ (a) ---- (þ) urktil' þa cold knutr "

In English translation: “And Ulfr has taken three payments in England. That was the first that Tosti paid. Then Þorketill paid. Then Knútr paid. "

Translated for example: “And Ulv received three payments in England. The first was what Toste paid. Then Torkel paid. Then Knut paid. "

First of all, this means that Ulf von Borresta took part in Viking expeditions to England three times and, as one of the subordinates of the expedition, each received part of the Danegeld. Of particular interest, however, are the names of those who paid Ulf and thus were the leaders of the respective expeditions.

The Tosti named first is, according to the consensus, none other than Skoglar Toste.

Skoglar Toste was therefore the leader of the first of the three named Viking expeditions, who passed on part of the collected "Danegeldes" to his comrade in arms Ulf von Borresta. The question of when this expedition took place remains open, but it could be answered on the basis of entries in contemporary chronicles and the time can be determined as the year 991.

The two other leaders of Ulf von Borresta's Viking expeditions could also be identified:

The second leader, Torkel, is probably "Torkjell Høge" (Torkel the Tall One), who undertook a large Viking expedition to England in 1010/1011. He was a brother of Jarl Sigvaldi, the commander of the Jomsvikings and their capital Jomsburg , and himself a leader of the Jomsvikings, who was appointed Jarl of East Anglia by King Canute the Great in 1017 .

The third leader mentioned on the runestone of Yttergärde U 344 is Knut the Great, King of Denmark who invaded England in 1018 with a huge fleet of longships.

While the rune stone shows that Ulf von Borresta took part in all three Viking expeditions, one can at best assume this from Skoglar Toste - with regard to the second and third expeditions.

The sagas

A reference to Skoglar Toste can also be found in the Heimskringla , namely in the story of Harald Graumantel - who ruled as King of Norway from 960 to 970 - in Chapter 11 on "Harald den Grenländer".

“A man in Sweden was called Tosti. He was the most powerful and respected of the men in this country who did not hold a high title. He was a formidable warrior and always spent a long time on Viking journeys. He was called Skogul-Tosti. It was with this man that Harald the Grenlander allied himself, and he and his band went on Viking trips in the summer and all of his men held Harald in high regard. Harald stayed with Tosti that winter. His daughter was called Sigrid, was young, beautiful and very stately. She was later married to King Eric the Victorious of Sweden. Both son was Olaf the Swedish, who later was king in Sweden. Erich died in his bed at Upsala, ten years after Styrbjörn's death. "

Tosti acts as the host and foster father of the refugee Harald Grenske (Harald der Grenländer) - the son of King Gudröd Björnsson - who had previously grown up with a foster father in the province of Grenland, but after the killing of his father by King Harald Graumantel fled to Sweden to Skoglar Toste. There he took part in his Viking trips, got to know his daughter Sigrid the proud , which would later have fatal consequences for him.

The Chronicles

The contemporary chronicles also contain direct or indirect references to Skoglar Toste and his Viking journeys.

The Historia regum Anglorum et Dacorum

In this chronicle of the Symeon of Durham there is (freely translated) the following entry for the year 991:

AD 991: Sitric succeeded Ethelgar as Archbishop of Canterbury. That year the Danes sacked Ipswich; their leaders ("dukes") were Justin and Guthmund, the son of Steytan. Soon after, the brave leader of the East Saxons, Brithnod, opened the fight. After a huge number fell on both sides, Brithnod fell too and the Danes' luck prevailed. On the advice of Siric, Archbishop of Canterbury, and the leaders Ethelward and Alfric, the Danes were first given a tribute of 10,000 pounds to keep them from the frequent pillage, pillage and slaughter with which they constantly plagued the coast and for one to make reliable peace with them. "

Aethelred the Unready, the English king who paid Toste 10,000 pounds of silver as danegeld in 991

It is now assumed that Justin mentioned in this text is an inaccurate tradition or a typographical error, and the correct name should be Tusti or Tosti. From this assumption it follows that Skoglar Toste was the leader of the Viking expedition that took place in 991.

He took part in the victorious for the Vikings Battle of Maldon , which took place on August 10, 991 on the banks of the Blackwater River in Essex , in which the British military leader Earl Brythnoth fell. On the advice of Archbishop of Canterbury Sigeric the Serious (990-994), a king of England - Aethelred the Unready (the unadvised) of Wessex (978-1013 and 1014-1016) decided to pay the enormous sum of 10,000 Roman pounds of silver (around 3,300 kg) to protect his kingdom from further devastation by the Vikings.

Statue of Tostes opponent Earl Brythnoth, in Maldon

This historical battle was also the subject of an Anglo-Saxon poem from the early 11th century: "The Battle of Maldon", which, however, is only preserved in an incomplete later copy. However, it contains the Vikings' demand for a ransom, the rejection of this demand by Earl Brithnoth and the course of the battle in which the flight of an English commander on the horse of the fallen Brithnoth led to panic and defeat. However, the text contains no reference to the name of the leader of the Vikings.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

This chronicle contains only one short note for the same year 991, which is freely translated as follows:

“AD 991. That year Ipswich was sacked; and very soon afterwards Alderman Brithnoth was slain at Maldon. That year it was also decided that tribute should be paid to the Danes for the first time because of the great terror they caused on the seashore. That was 10,000 pounds. The first to recommend this measure was Archbishop Siric. "

Additional information should be noted: According to the English Wikipedia entry, Skogul Toste would have collected protection money in England as early as 970. According to the Wiki article Runestone from Yttergärde , Toste may also have been involved in later Viking campaigns as the commander of King Sven Gabelbart's Swedish auxiliaries, such as the one in 1003.

Marriage and offspring

King Olav the Saint and Ragnvald Ulfsson

According to the sagas, Skoglar Toste had at least two children with offspring from his wife - whose name and origin are unknown:

  • Ulf Tostesson, Jarl of Västergötland and Östergötland ,
    • Ragnvald Ulfsson († after 1028), Jarl von Västergötland and since 1019 Jarl von Staraja Ladoga ∞ I. Ingeborg Tryggvasdotter, a sister of Olav I. Tryggvason King of Norway (995 - 1000) and daughter of Tryggve Olavsson († 973) King of the Norwegian landscape Viken (around the Oslofjord). According to later sagas, Ragnvald married a second time, before 1028 Astrid Njalsdotter. He had three children from his first marriage and from his second marriage to Stenkil Ragnvaldsson, who later became King of Sweden.
      • Ulf Ragnvaldsson Jarl, general of the Novgorod Republic , conquered the historic region of Jugorien in 1032
      • Eilif Ragnvaldsson Jarl
      • Ostrida (Astrid) Ragnvaldsdotter
      • Stenkil Ragnvaldsson (* around 1028, † around 1066) King of Sweden (from around 1060 to 1066), ∞ Ingamoder Emundsdotter Princess of Sweden from the house of Munsö, a daughter of Emund the Old King of Sweden and Astrid. (Stenkil is the progenitor of the Stenkil family.)
  • Sigrid "Storråda" (the proud) (* around 965, † after 1014) ∞ I. before 985 Erik VIII. Segersäll (the victorious) King of Sweden († 995). It is unclear whether Sigrid the proud was married more than once, although the sagas mention a second marriage to Sven I. Tveskaeg (fork beard) King of Denmark (* around 960; † Gainsborough February 3, 1014). This is because historical sources often refer to Slavic princesses both for the (second) wife of King Erich the Victorious and for Sven Gabelbart's marriage. The European family tables therefore see Gunhild von Polen - a daughter of Mieszko I , Duke of Poland (960–992) - both as the 2nd wife of Erik the Victorious and as the wife of Sven Gabelbart. This reduces Sigrid's descendants to:

swell

See also

literature

  • Heinrich Beck, Henry Royston Loyn: Danegeld. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 5, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1984, ISBN 3-11-009635-8
  • Jansson, Sven B. (1980). Runstenar. P. 36, STF, Stockholm. ISBN 91-7156-015-7
  • Larsson, Lars-Ove (1993, 2000). Vem är vem i svensk historia, från år 1000 till 1900. p. 33; Prism, Stockholm. ISBN 91-518-3427-8
  • Mats G. Larsson: Tre gälder i England: i vikingars kölvatten över Nordsjön 2008
  • Detlev Schwennike: European Family Tables , New Series, Volume II; Verlag JA Stargardt 1984
  • Charles Cawley: "Medlands" (Genealogy)
  • Pritsak, Omeljan . (1981). The origin of Rus'. S 392; Cambridge, Mass .: Distributed by Harvard University Press for the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. ISBN 0-674-64465-4 .
  • Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700 by Frederick Lewis Weis, Lines: 241-5, 243A-20

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Jansson, Sven B. (1980). Runstenar. P. 36, STF, Stockholm. ISBN 91-7156-015-7
  2. ^ Heinrich Beck, Henry Royston Loyn: Danegeld. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 5, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1984, ISBN 3-11-009635-8 , pp. 225-227.
  3. ↑ Pritsak, Omeljan . (1981). The origin of Rus'. S 392; Cambridge, Mass .: Distributed by Harvard University Press for the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. ISBN 0-674-64465-4
  4. ↑ Heimskringla, "The Story of Harald Graumantel", p. 189
  5. ^ The historical works of Simeon of Durham, tr., With preface and notes, by J. Stevenson, Volume 3, Part 2, Page 510 , 1855
  6. ↑ The Battle of Maldon in English translation
  7. ↑ New Northvegr Center: Part 3: AD 920-1014, Page 4. In: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. July 23, 2013, accessed March 9, 2015 .
  8. ↑ Wiki article in English Skagul Toste
  9. ↑ Article Runestone from Yttergärde
  10. ↑ Lagerquist, Lars O. (1997). Sveriges Regenter, från forntid till nutid. Norstedts, Stockholm. ISBN 91-1-963882-5
  11. ^ Larsson, Lars-Ove (1993, 2000). Vem är vem i svensk historia, från år 1000 till 1900. p. 33; Prism, Stockholm. ISBN 91-518-3427-8
  12. ↑ Heimskringla Olav Tryggvssons Saga, Chapter 48 King Halald Grenske's Death
  13. ↑ Detlev Schwennike op. Cit. Plates 114 and 97
personal data
SURNAME Skoglar Toste
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Skoglar Tosti
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swedish magnate, Viking, ancestor of the Sverker family
DATE OF BIRTH around 940
DATE OF DEATH after 1003