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Jarl Ottar
Jarl Ottar or Ottar Jarl (?-970s) was a jarl of Götaland who appears in the ''Heimskringla'' (the ''Saga of Olaf Tryggvasson'') and in the ''Jomsvikinga Saga''. The ''Jomsvikinga Saga'' tells that Ottar was the maternal grandfather of Palnetoke, the Jomsviking. In the ''Heimskringla'', Snorri Sturluson relates that Haakon Sigurdsson killed Jarl Ottar during an attack on Götaland for Harald Bluetooth Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson (; , died c. 985/86) was a king of Denmark and Norway. The son of King Gorm the Old and Thyra Dannebod, Harald ruled as king of Denmark from c. 958 – c. 986, introduced Christianization of Denmark, Christianity to D .... Ottar {{Sweden-noble-stub Jomsvikings ...
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Jarl (title)
Jarl was a rank of the nobility in Scandinavia during the Viking Age and Early Middle Ages. The institution evolved over time and varied by region. In Old Norse, it meant "chieftain", specifically one appointed to rule a territory in a king's stead. It could also denote a sovereign prince. For example, during the Viking age, the rulers of several of the petty kingdoms of Norway held the title of ''jarl'', often wielding no less power than their neighboring kings. In later medieval Sweden and Norway, there was typically only one jarl in the kingdom, second in authority only to the king. The title became obsolete in the Middle Ages and was replaced by the rank of duke (''hertig''/''hertug''/''hertog''). The word is etymologically related to the English ''earl''. Etymology The term ''jarl'' (, Old Swedish: ''iarl'', ''iærl'', Old Danish: ''jærl'') has been connected to various similar words across Germanic languages, such as Proto-Norse ''eril,'' Old English ''eorl'' (meaning warr ...
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Götaland
Götaland (; also '' Gothia'', ''Gothland'', ''Gothenland'' or ''Gautland'') is one of three lands of Sweden and comprises ten provinces. Geographically it is located in the south of Sweden, bounded to the north by Svealand, with the deep woods of Tiveden, Tylöskog and Kolmården marking the border. Götaland once consisted of petty kingdoms, and their inhabitants were called ''Gautar'' in Old Norse. However, the term mainly referred to the population of modern Västergötland. It is agreed that these were the same as the ''Geats'', the people of the hero Beowulf in England's national epic, ''Beowulf''. The modern state of Sweden started forming when some provinces of Götaland gradually became more and more politically intertwined with those of Svealand. This process can be traced back to at least the 10th century, and would continue for several hundred years. Other parts of modern Götaland were at that time either Danish or Norwegian. The province of Småland, with ...
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Heimskringla
() is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland. While authorship of ''Heimskringla'' is nowhere attributed, some scholars assume it is written by the Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson (1178/79–1241) 1230. The title was first used in the 17th century, derived from the first two words of one of the manuscripts (''kringla heimsins'', "the circle of the world"). is a collection of sagas about Swedish and Norwegian kings, beginning with the saga of the legendary Swedish dynasty of the Ynglings, followed by accounts of historical Norwegian rulers from Harald Fairhair of the 9th century up to the death of the pretender Eystein Meyla in 1177. Some of the exact sources of ''Heimskringla'' are disputed, but they include earlier kings' sagas, such as Morkinskinna, Fagrskinna and the 12th-century Norwegian synoptic histories and oral traditions, notably many skaldic poems. The author or authors explicitly name the now lost w ...
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Olaf Tryggvasson
Olaf Tryggvason (960s – 9 September 1000) was King of Norway from 995 to 1000. He was the son of Tryggvi Olafsson, king of Viken (Vingulmark, and Rånrike), and, according to later sagas, the great-grandson of Harald Fairhair, first King of Norway. He is numbered as Olaf I. Olaf was important in the conversion of the Norse to Christianity, but he did so forcibly within his own kingdom. He is said to have built the first Christian church in Norway in 995, and to have founded the city of Trondheim in 997. A statue dedicated to him is located in the city's central plaza. Historical information on Olaf is sparse. He is mentioned in some contemporary English sources, and some skaldic poems. The oldest narrative source mentioning him briefly is Adam of Bremen's ''Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum'' of ''circa'' 1070. In the 1190s, two Latin versions of ''"Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar"'' were written in Iceland, by Oddr Snorrason and Gunnlaugr Leifsson – these are now lost ...
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Jomsvikinga Saga
The Jomsvikings were a legendary order of Viking mercenaries or Conquest (military), conquerors of the 10th and 11th centuries. Though reputed to be staunchly dedicated to the worship of the Old Norse religion, Old Norse gods, they would allegedly fight for any lord who could pay their substantial fees, even if he were Christianization of Scandinavia, Christian. The institution of the Jomsvikings would itself foreshadow those of the later Military order (religious society), religious and Order of chivalry, chivalric orders of the Middle Ages. The legend of the Jomsvikings appears in some of the Icelandic sagas from the 12th and 13th centuries. According to the sagas (particularly the ''Jómsvíkinga saga'', ''King Olaf Tryggvasson’s Saga'', and stories found in the Flatey Book), their stronghold of Jomsborg was located on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea, but its exact location has been disputed by modern historians and archeologists. Jomsborg is also thought by some resea ...
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Palnetoke
Palnatoke or Palnatoki, sometimes written Palna-Toki or Palna Toki (Old Norse: or ), was a legendary Danish hero and chieftain of the island of Fyn. According to the '' Jómsvíkinga saga'', Palnatoki founded the brotherhood of Jomsvikings and established its laws. According to the Jómsvíkinga saga, he was the son of Palner Tokesen and his wife Ingeborg who was the daughter of the Geatish earl Ottar Jarl. Palnatoke raised king Harald Bluetooth's son Sweyn Forkbeard and was a staunch supporter of the old pagan faith. Harald Bluetooth had allowed Christian missionaries from the Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen missionary in Denmark and the king himself was baptized once between 960 and 965. Palnatoke convinced Sweyn to wage war on his father. In the mid-980s, Sweyn revolted against his father and seized the throne. Harald was driven into exile and died shortly afterwards. According to some accounts, Palnatoki himself slew Harald. In addition to religious motives, he may have bee ...
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Jomsviking
The Jomsvikings were a legendary order of Viking mercenaries or conquerors of the 10th and 11th centuries. Though reputed to be staunchly dedicated to the worship of the Old Norse gods, they would allegedly fight for any lord who could pay their substantial fees, even if he were Christian. The institution of the Jomsvikings would itself foreshadow those of the later religious and chivalric orders of the Middle Ages. The legend of the Jomsvikings appears in some of the Icelandic sagas from the 12th and 13th centuries. According to the sagas (particularly the ''Jómsvíkinga saga'', ''King Olaf Tryggvasson’s Saga'', and stories found in the Flatey Book), their stronghold of Jomsborg was located on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea, but its exact location has been disputed by modern historians and archeologists. Jomsborg is also thought by some researchers to be identical with Jumne, Julin and Vineta, which are mentioned in both Danish and German records from the Middle Age ...
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Snorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of the ''Prose Edda'', which is a major source for what is today known about Norse mythology and alliterative verse, and , a history of the Norsemen, Norse kings that begins with legendary material in ''Ynglinga saga'' and moves through to early medieval History of Scandinavia, Scandinavian history. For stylistic and methodological reasons, Snorri is often taken to be the author of ''Egil's Saga''. He was assassinated in 1241 by men claiming to be agents of the King of Norway. Biography Early life Snorri Sturluson was born in (commonly transliterated as Hvamm or Hvammr) as a member of the wealthy and powerful Sturlungar family clan, Sturlungar clan of the Icelandic Commonwealth, in AD 1179. His parents were Sturla Þórðarson the Elder o ...
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Haakon Sigurdsson
Haakon Sigurdsson ( , ; 937–995), known as Haakon Jarl (Old Norse: ''Hákon jarl''), was the '' de facto'' ruler of Norway from about 975 to 995. Sometimes he is styled as Haakon the Powerful (), though the '' Ágrip'' and '' Historia Norwegiæ'' give the less flattering name ''Hákon Illi'', that is, Haakon the Bad. Background Haakon was the son of Sigurd Haakonsson, Jarl of Lade and ruler of Trøndelag and Hålogaland. His mother was Bergljot Toresdatter, daughter of Tore Ragnvaldsson, Jarl of Møre. Adam of Bremen wrote that he was "of the stock of Ivar (either Ivar the Boneless or Ivar Vidfamne) and descended from a race of giants". In the sagas, Haakon claimed descent from the divine lineage of Sæming, son of Odin. The Hakon Jarl Runestones in Sweden may refer to him. Reign Haakon became '' jarl'' after his father was killed by King Harald Greycloak's men in 961. Haakon Jarl warred with King Harald for some time, until he was forced to flee to Denmark, whe ...
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Harald Bluetooth
Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson (; , died c. 985/86) was a king of Denmark and Norway. The son of King Gorm the Old and Thyra Dannebod, Harald ruled as king of Denmark from c. 958 – c. 986, introduced Christianization of Denmark, Christianity to Denmark and consolidated his rule over most of Jutland and Zealand. Harald's rule as king of Norway following the assassination of King Harald II of Norway, Harald Greycloak of Norway was more tenuous, most likely lasting for no more than a few years in the 970s. Some sources say his son Sweyn Forkbeard forcibly deposed him from his Danish throne before his death. Name Harald's name is written as runic ''haraltr : kunukʀ'' (ᚼᛅᚱᛅᛚᛏᚱ ᛬ ᚴᚢᚾᚢᚴᛦ) in the Jelling stone inscription. In normalized Old Norse, this would correspond to ''Haraldr konungr'', i.e. "Harald Germanic king, king". The Latinized name as given in the medieval Danish chronicles is ''Haraldus Gormonis filius'' (Harald, Gorm's son). The given name ...
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Geats
The Geats ( ; ; ; ), sometimes called ''Geats#Goths, Goths'', were a large North Germanic peoples, North Germanic tribe who inhabited ("land of the Geats") in modern southern Sweden from antiquity until the Late Middle Ages. They are one of the progenitor groups of modern Swedes, along with the tribes of Swedes (tribe), Swedes and Gutes. The name of the Geats also lives on in the Provinces of Sweden, Swedish provinces of and , the western and eastern lands of the Geats, and in many other toponyms. The Swedish dialects spoken in the areas that used to be inhabited by Geats form a distinct group, ''Götamål''. Etymology The etymology of the name ''Geat'' (Old English ', from a Proto-Germanic *''Gautaz'', plural *''Gautōz'') is similar to that of ''Goths'' and ''Gutes'' (*''Gutô'', plural *''Gutaniz''). The names derive from Indo-European ablaut, ablaut grades of the Proto-Germanic word *''geutaną'', meaning "to pour". They have the literal meaning "they who pour their se ...
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