Princess Świętosława z Polski/Gunhilda von Wenden/Sigrid den Högmodiga

Sigrid den Högmodiga

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The final possibility for this particular Queen of England is Sigrid den Högmodiga, or Sigrid "the Haughty", also known as Sigrid Storråda, who appears as a character in the Norse sagas. Each of her appearances in these sagas seem to contradict one another and they were all recorded long after the events they detail. In addition, the Norse sagas contained a heavy amount of fiction and mythology within their tales. Thus, we cannot rely on this as a credible historical source, so take this option with a grain of salt.

 

Sigrid is mostly known as "Sigrid the Haughty", but has also been named as "Sigrid the Proud" in the 12th century saga, Yngvars saga Víòförla, and "Sigrid the Ambitious" in the genealogical appendix to Hervarar Saga ok Heiõreks, though this specific appendix was not found contained within earlier surviving copies of this manuscript, so this may have been a later addition.

 

As with the previous two offerings, Sigrid was said to be the wife first of King Eric "the Victorious," however her story differs a little at this point. Some stories suggest that after King Eric's death, Sigrid was sought after by Olaf Tryggvason, as a wife, prior to her second marriage to King Sweyn. Olaf was the King of Norway until his death at the end of the 10th century, when Sweyn added Norway to his Kingdoms. Other stories, such as the 12th century saga, Yngvars saga Víòförla, suggest that Sigrid's marriage to King Eric did not end at his death, but earlier. This source states that King Eric chose to separate from his wife due to her undesirable moods. The saga claims that Sigrid was the "most quarrelsome woman there ever was." In this version of events Sigrid was given the region of Götaland, in the South of Sweden, as part of the separation settlement.

The Sigrid of this tale was said to have given Eric one son, known as Olaf the Swede, though there is no mention of Holmfrid or Emund that I could find.

 

Sigrid also makes several appearances in Snorri Sturluson's later sagas of the 13th century. In these sagas Sigrid was said to be the daughter of a rich Swede named Skolgar Toste. In keeping with previous appearances she was said to be young, fair and haughty. This Sigrid married King Eric of Sweden and bore a son, Olaf the Swede.

 

Snorri's next tale of Sigrid jumps forward in her story and places her as the wealthy widow of Eric "the Victorious." In opposition to her other appearances however, in this tale the Queen Dowager Sigrid is described as the "wisest of women and prophetic about many things." As well as her character, Sigrid's suitors are also different in this tale. She was again offered an alternate proposal between her two marriages, but the one in this saga came from Harald Grenske, a man said to have been a Norwegian Prince, and Sigrid's foster brother. The story goes that as Queen Dowager and mother to King Olaf, Sigrid entertained Prince Harald when he visited her in Sweden. During his visit, Harald proposed a marriage between the two of them, but Sigrid refused as Harald already had a wife. - Please bear in mind that in medieval Scandinavian cultures, marriage was not formalised in the same way as it would become in Western Europe and taking two wives was not uncommon. -  Harald pressured Sigrid and in doing so found that she had another suitor, this time King Vissavaldr of Garðaríki, a region in modern-day Russia. However, the Sigrid of this tale appears to have been rather exhausted with the idea of marriage, as her suitors would learn to their great misfortune.

Sigrid became known by a different name at this point; she became known as "Sigrid of the Great Undertaking." This was due to the fact that she entertained both of her suitors, Harald and Vissavaldr, at the same time and had them housed together in the same building. In the night, she had their quarters set ablaze and ordered her guards to kill anyone who managed to escape the flames. In this way, she hoped to deter any further proposals of marriage from any man.

 

However, later in that very same tale, Sigrid did receive another suitor, one from a previous saga, King Olaf Tryggvason of Norway. He must have been quite the charmer for she agreed to marry him. In spite of the successful wooing of Sigrid, the relationship was not a successful one. Sigrid received from her new husband a golden ring but upon passing it to her goldsmiths, she discovered that it was actually gold-plated brass, which angered her. This alone was not enough to demand the couple's separation, however.

Scandinavia had slowly converted to Christianity over the course of a few centuries, due to a number of Catholic missionaries. Denmark was first to be officially converted by 1104,  Norway second by 1154 and Sweden was the last country to officially convert a decade later. According to the saga, Sigrid was commanded by her new Norwegian husband to convert to Christianity but she refused. For her refusal she was struck by King Olaf with a glove. Ever the fighter, Sigrid told him that this act could well cost him his life.

After this, Sigrid and Olaf parted ways.

 

The next time we see Sigrid in this same saga is when Olaf returned to her, only to find that Sigrid had married King Sweyn "Forkbeard," following the death of the latter's first wife, Gunhilda. This story ties in with the tale of Gundhilda von Wenden, as Sweyn's sister, Tyri, who was given to Gunhilda's father to wed in both tales, fled to Norway following her marriage and ended up marrying King Olaf Tryggvason. Both Queen Sigrid and Queen Tryi were said to have incited their respective husbands to wage war against each other, with this war resulting in the death of King Olaf.

 

Sigrid's varying inclusions in the Norse sagas are very interesting and the Sigrid featured in the sagas is thought to possibly be an amalgamation of several historical women and not a singular person. Regardless of whether she was based on historic fact or entirely a work of fiction, Sigrid left a mark on her Sweden; in medieval Sweden the holdings of the Kings were known as "Syghridslef," or "the Legacy of Sigrid."