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Birth:          ABT  950 

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigrid_the_Haughty
Sigrid the Haughty, also known as Sigríð Storråda, is a queen appearing in Norse 
sagas as wife, first of Eric the Victorious of Sweden, then Sweyn Forkbeard of 
Denmark. Sigrid appears in many sagas composed generations after the events they 
describe, but there is no reliable evidence as to her existence as they describe her. 
The figure of Sigrid appears mainly in late Icelandic sagas, while more contemporary 
sources such as Thietmar of Merseburg and Adam of Bremen instead claim that Sweyn 
was married to a Polish princess, identified as Swietoslawa.[2] Snorri Sturlason gives 
conflicting information and in one place says that Sweyn was married to Sigrid and in 
another that he was married to a Gunhild of Wenden.

It is unclear if the figure of Sigrid was a real person, if the saga account of her is an 
amalgamation of the lives and deeds of several women, or if she is a completely 
fictional character. The latter view is held by some modern scholars such as Birgitta 
Fritz, who does not give much credibility to the Nordic sources, and thus considers 
Sigrid a mere myth.[3]
Account given in the Heimskringla[edit]

Heimskringla describes Sigrid as the beautiful but vengeful daughter of Skogul-Tosti, 
a powerful Swedish nobleman. As widow of Eric the Victorious, she held many great 
estates, and was living with her son Olav the Swede, when her foster-brother Harald 
Grenske, a king in Vestfold, sought her hand. She had him and another royal wooer, 
Vissavald of Gardarik, burned to death in a great hall following a feast to discourage 
other suitors. This episode earned her her byname.[3]

Her hand was next sought by Olaf Tryggvasson, the king of Norway, but he would 
have required that she convert to Christianity. She told him to his face, "I will not part 
from the faith which my forefathers have kept before me". In a rage, Olaf struck her 
with a glove, and Sigrid calmly told him, "This may some day be thy death". Sigrid 
then proceeded to create a coalition of his enemies to bring about his downfall. She 
allied Sweden with Denmark, marrying the widower Sweyn Forkbeard who had already 
been feuding with Olaf. Sweyn had sent his sister Tyri to marry the Wendish king 
Burislav, who had been the father of Sweyn's first wife, Gunhild. Tyri fled and married 
Olaf, goading him into conflict with her brother, while Sigrid inflamed Sweyn against 
her former suitor. This shared animosity would lead to the Battle of Swold, in which 
Olaf fell. Snorri also claims that Estrid Svendsdatter was a paternal sister of Cnut the 
Great, and as a daughter of Sigrid was maternal sister to Olav the Swede, but in 
another place says that Estrid was a daughter of Gunhild of Wenden.[3]

The Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus would repeat this information, writing that Eric 
the Victorious' widow Syritha had married Sweyn Forkbeard after having spurned Olaf 
Trygvasson.[3]

One further point that has been cited in favor of Sigrid's historical existence is that the 
holdings of the Danish kings in medieval Sweden were known as "Syghridslef" - 'the 
legacy of Sigrid'.[3]

Contemporary chroniclers[edit]

There is scant material in medieval chronicles to provide details regarding the 
marriages of Sweyn of Denmark and Erik of Sweden:
Thietmar of Merseburg mentions that the daughter of Mieszko I of Poland and sister of 
Boleslaw I Chrobry of Poland married Sweyn Forkbeard and gave him two sons, Cnut 
the Great and Harold II of Denmark, but he does not mention her name.[3] Thietmar is 
probably the best informed of the medieval chroniclers addressing the question, since 
he was contemporary with the events described and well-informed about the events in 
Poland and Denmark. The assertion that Harald's and Canute's mother was Boleslaw's 
sister may explain some mysterious statements which appear in medieval chronicles, 
such as the involvement of Polish troops in invasions of England.
Adam of Bremen writes almost a century later that a Polish princess—the sister or 
daughter of Boleslaw I Chrobry of Poland—was the wife of Eric the Victorious and by 
this marriage the mother of Olof Skötkonung of Sweden, before she became mother of 
Cnut the Great and Harold II of Denmark in her second marriage with Sweyn.[3] 
Adam's claims about the marriage to Eric are considered unreliable by many historians, 
since he is the only source to state this relationship and because he is writing several 
generations later. The scholia of Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum 
mentions that it was the Polish king Boleslaw who gave the princess' hand in 
marriage.[3] One problem is that Olof was born at latest in the early 980´s, before 
Boleslaw Chrobry came to power, and therefore was too old to be the unnamed 
princess´s son.

During this time, marriages between Nordic monarchs and Vendic nobles was 
reoccurring for political reasons. For instance, Tove of the Obotrites, daughter of the 
Vendic lord Mistivoj, married King Harald Bluetooth of Denmark in the 960's.
Gesta Cnutonis regis mentions in one short passage that Canute and his brother went 
to the land of the Slavs, and brought back their mother, who was living there. This 
does not necessarily mean that his mother was Slavic, but nevertheless this chronicle 
strongly suggests that she was.

Modern reconstructions[edit]

These data have been used for alternative reconstructions. One would interpret the 
saga account of Sigrid as a confused rendering of a princess, Swietoslawa, daughter 
of first duke of the Polans Mieszko I, who married in succession Erik and Sweyn, 
being mother of Olaf (by Erik), Harald and Cnut (both by Sweyn). Sigrid would be 
either a contemporary name adopted by the Princess to conform to her new linguistic 
context, or else simply a name invented by saga writers who did not know or could not 
comprehend her Slavic name. This solution may further make her identical to Sweyn's 
first queen in the saga, 'Gunhild', daughter of Burislav, suggested to be a confused 
rendering of the same historical marriage to the sister of Boleslav of Poland. 
Alternatively, the attributed Polish marriages of Sweyn and Eric may have been to 
different women, with Gunhild being the daughter of Mieszko, while Eric's widow, a 
distinct princess and the model for Sigrid, married Sweyn after her. Finally, some 
consider Sigrid to be a fantasy created by Scandinavian saga writers.

Archaeology[edit]

Further confusion has been introduced by dated interpretations of an archaeological 
discovery. In 1835, the Haraldskær Woman was discovered in a peat bog in Jutland. 
This body of a woman was dated to the 11th century, and it was identified with Sigrid 
(or Gunhild). Radiocarbon dating later proved this dating incorrect. However, the 
erroneous dating became intertwined with numerous episodes of Scandinavian 
intrigue, as the theory was elaborated to serve a variety of agendas of kings and 
nobles prior to its redating.

In literature[edit]

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow composed a poem with the title "Queen Sigrid the 
Haughty" of which this is the first verse:
Queen Sigrid the Haughty sat proud and aloftIn her chamber, that looked over 
meadow and croft.Heart's dearest,Why dost thou sorrow so?
Karen Blixen, in the short story "The Deluge at Norderney" in Seven Gothic Tales, 
refers to Sigrid, claiming that she invited all her suitors to her house and burned them 
in order to discourage other suitors.

Parents
____ Skoglar-Toste ()
----- ----- ()

Siblings
____ Sigrid (Starrade) ("the Proud") (ABT  950 - )

Marriage To BJORNSSON Erik VIII "Segersall" "Victorious" (ABT  930 - ABT  995)
    m.  

Notes

Parents
ERIKSSON Bjorn "a Haugi" ("the Old") ( 868 - ABT  932)
----- ----- ()

Children by BJORNSSON Erik VIII "Segersall" "Victorious" ABT  930 - ABT  995
ERIKSSON Olaf III "Skotkonung" (ABT  970 - 1022)

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