Harthacanute I of Denmark
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Harthacnut or Cnut I ( da, Hardeknud) was a semi-legendary
King of Denmark The monarchy of Denmark is a constitutional political system, institution and a historic office of the Kingdom of Denmark. The Kingdom includes Denmark proper and the autonomous administrative division, autonomous territories of the Faroe ...
. The old Norse story ''
Ragnarssona þáttr The ''Tale of Ragnar's sons'' ( non, Ragnarssona þáttr) is an Old Norse story about Ragnar Lodbrok and his sons. Summary Ragnar Lodbrok When Sigurd Ring dies, Ragnar Lodbrok succeeds him as the king of Sweden and Denmark. Many foreign kings c ...
'' makes Harthacnut son of the semi-mythic viking chieftain
Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye Sigurd Snake-in-the-eye ( non, Sigurðr ormr í auga) or Sigurd Áslaugsson was a semi-legendary Viking warrior and Danish king active from the mid to late 9th century. According to multiple saga sources and Scandinavian histories from the 12th c ...
, himself one of the sons of the legendary Ragnar Lodbrok. The saga in turn makes Harthacnut the father of the historical king,
Gorm Gorm may refer to: Computing * Gorm (computing), a rapid application development tool * GORM, the "fantastic ORM library" for the Go programming language * Grails Object-Relational Mapping, see People * Gorm the Old (died 958), Danish king * Gor ...
. It has been suggested he is to be identified with the Hardegon of ''Northmannia'' whose early-10th century conquest of Denmark was related by Adam of Bremen.


''Ragnarssona þáttr''

The saga ''Ragnarssona þáttr'' relates the acts of the sons of Ragnar Lodbrok, and proceeds to link them genealogically to the later rulers of the Scandinavian kingdoms. For Denmark, it relates that by Blaeja, the daughter of King Ælla of Northumbria, Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye became father of Harthacnut (''Hörða-Knútr''). Harthacnut is said to have been his father's successor in Zealand, Scania and Halland, but not the break-away Viken, and he was father of Gorm. Scholarly opinion is divided as to the degree to which the material found in such heroic sources is to be taken as authentic history and genealogy.


''Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum'' of Adam of Bremen

Two possible references to Harthacnut appear in the work of clergyman Adam of Bremen, who came from Germany to record the history of the
Archbishops of Bremen This list records the bishops of the Roman Catholic diocese of Bremen (german: link=no, Bistum Bremen), supposedly a suffragan of the Archbishopric of Cologne, then of the bishops of Bremen, who were in personal union archbishops of Hamburg (si ...
(''Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum''), partly based on information from Gorm's descendant, Sweyn II of Denmark. Adam states that a king Helge was deposed and Denmark was conquered by
Olof the Brash Olof was a king who, according to a late source, ruled in Denmark in about 900 after usurping power. Evidence for his historicity is only circumstantial, since he belongs to a period of Danish history when very little is known from textual source ...
who came from
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
(Sueonia). Along with two of his sons,
Gyrd and Gnupa Gyrd and Gnupa were kings of Denmark in the 10th century according to Sweyn II of Denmark and Adam of Bremen. They were the sons of the Swedish chieftain Olof (or Olaf) the Brash who had conquered Denmark and they ruled together according to Swedi ...
, Olof took the realm "by force of arms," and they ruled it together, thus founding the
House of Olaf The House of Olaf was a dynasty which ruled Denmark or part of Denmark in the late 9th century and early 10th century. *Olof the Brash *Gyrd and Gnupa (sons of Olof) *Sigtrygg Gnupasson (son of Gnupa and Asfrid, Odinkar's daughter) The existence ...
in Denmark. Adam reports that they were followed by a
Sigtrygg Sigtrygg (''Sigtryggr'') is an Old Norse given name, composed of the elements ''sig'' "victory" and ''trygg'' "trusty, true". It is cognate with the Anglo-Saxon Sihtric. In Norse-Gaelic Ireland (9th to 11th centuries) rendered as ''Sitric'' or ' ...
. That Sigtrygg was the son of Gnupa by a Danish noblewoman named Asfrid, and is shown on two runestones near Schleswig, erected by his mother after his death. Adam then relates that after Sigtrygg reigned a short time, during the tenure of Archbishop Hoger of Bremen (909–915/917), Hardegon, son of Sweyn, came from "Northmannia" the "land of the Northmen," by which he may have meant Norway, Northumbria, Normandy, which had recently been colonized by Danish Vikings, or even northern Jutland. Hardegon immediately deposed the young king Sigtrygg, and then ruled unopposed for approximately thirty years. Hardegon is often equated with the ''Harthacnut'' of legend, but some historians, such as
Lis Jacobsen Elisabeth (Lis) Jacobsen, née Rubin, (29 January 1882 - 18 June 1961) was a Danish philologist, archaeologist and writer. She is remembered first and foremost for her research and publications on the history of the Danish language but she was al ...
, instead have concluded that ''Hardegon'' is distinct. Adam later refers to an attack on Denmark by
Henry I of Germany Henry the Fowler (german: Heinrich der Vogler or '; la, Henricus Auceps) (c. 876 – 2 July 936) was the Duke of Saxony from 912 and the King of East Francia from 919 until his death in 936. As the first non-Frankish king of East Francia, he ...
, naming the defending king as ''Hardecnudth Vurm'' in some manuscripts, ''filius Hardecnudth Vurm'' in others. Historians generally agree that ''Vurm'' (English: ''worm'' or ''serpent'') is a German rendering of the Danish name
Gorm Gorm may refer to: Computing * Gorm (computing), a rapid application development tool * GORM, the "fantastic ORM library" for the Go programming language * Grails Object-Relational Mapping, see People * Gorm the Old (died 958), Danish king * Gor ...
, and this leads to alternative interpretations, that this is reference to Gorm, son (''filius'') of Harthacnut, or that it is a double-name indicating that Harthacnut and Gorm were the same person. The
Saxon chronicles The ''Deeds of the Saxons, or Three Books of Annals'' ( la, Res gestae Saxonicae sive annalium libri tres) is a three-volume chronicle of 10th century Germany written by Widukind of Corvey. Widukind, proud of his people and history, begins his chr ...
of Widukind of Corvey report the defeat and forced baptism of the Danish king ''Chnuba'' (Gnupa), in 934 at the hands of Henry I. Likewise, Olav Tryggvasson's Saga tells of Gnupa's defeat by Gorm the Old. Some historians (e.g. Storm) have taken these as indications that Sigtrygg's father Gnupa still ruled at least part of Denmark much later than credited by Adam of Bremen, and his dynasty was only displaced by Harthacnut's son, Gorm.


''Gesta Danorum'' of Saxo Grammaticus

In the late and legend-influenced '' Gesta Danorum'' of Saxo Grammaticus, Harthacnut appears as Knut. He is described as a son of Erik, a descendant of Ragnar Lodbrok, by Gudorm, the granddaughter of Harald Klak. In his version of the tale, Harthacnut is raised by Ennignup (suggested to be Saxo's rendition of Gnupa), but never accepts Christianity.


''Chronicon Roskildense''

The anonymous 12th-century '' Chronicon Roskildense'' contains what appears to be a confused rendering that appears to combine aspects of Adam of Bremen's account of the conquest of Denmark by Hardegon, son of Sweyn from Norway, with the later Danish conquest of England by
Sweyn Forkbeard Sweyn Forkbeard ( non, Sveinn Haraldsson tjúguskegg ; da, Svend Tveskæg; 17 April 963 – 3 February 1014) was King of Denmark from 986 to 1014, also at times King of the English and King of Norway. He was the father of King Harald II of D ...
. It reports that king Sven went from Norway to England, where he expelled king Ethelred, and that his sons Harthacnut and Gorm conquered Denmark, killing king Haraldus. Denmark was then taken by Gorm and England by Harthacnut.Alan Mawer, "The Scandinavian Kingdom of Northumbria", ''The Saga-Book of the Viking Society''
vol. VII
(1911-1912), pp. 38-64 at p. 46


Silverdale treasure

In the
Silverdale Hoard The Silverdale Hoard is a collection of over 200 pieces of silver jewellery and coins discovered near Silverdale, Lancashire, England, in September 2011. The items were deposited together in and under a lead container buried about underground ...
is a silver coin impressed with the name "
Airdeconut Airdeconut ( non, Harðaknútr) was a Norse King of Northumbria. Numismatic evidence suggests he was a Christian and he probably ruled in Northern England around the year 900. Discovery In 2011 a hoard of coins and jewellery was discovered near ...
" an Anglicized or RomanizedThijs Porck and Jodie Mann,
How Cnut became Canute (and how Harthacnut became Airdeconut)
, ''NOWELE: North-Western European Language Evolution'' 67 (2014), 237–243.
variant of Harthacnut. The hoard dates to the early 10th century, but the style is similar to coins of other viking kings of Northumbria. The coin of Airdeconut could relate to an otherwise unknown Northumbrian viking king, or it could relate to an already known Harthacnut such as the Harthacnut of Denmark. It's thus not inconceivable that the same person could have ruled in both Northumbria and in Denmark, perhaps not at the same time? However, some have suggested that the Northmannia from which Adam's Danish conqueror Hardegon came may be Northumbria, or that it may be Normandy, with which one recent linguistic analysis would connect the spelling of the name ''Airdeconut''.


Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harthacnut 01 of Denmark 10th-century kings of Denmark 880s births Year of birth uncertain Year of death unknown