Agnafit (

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

: ) or ''Agnefit'' was the name of a location where Lake

Mälaren Mälaren ( , , or ), historically referred to as Lake Malar in English, is the third-largest freshwater lake in Sweden (after Vänern and Vättern). Its area is and its greatest depth is 64 m (210 ft). Mälaren spans from east to west. The l ...

met the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

. In the 14th century, an addition to the '' Historia Norwegiae'' described Agnafit as being where Stockholm had been founded. Some say that it was a fishing village located on the island Stadsholmen, before

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

was founded in 1252. It is moreover mentioned by

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 th ...

in the '' Heimskringla'' (''

Ynglinga saga ''Ynglinga saga'' ( ) is a Kings' sagas, Kings' saga, originally written in Old Norse by the Icelanders, Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson about 1225. It is the first section of his ''Heimskringla''. It was first translated into Engl ...

'') as the location where the Swedish king Agne was hanged by his captive bride Skjalf in his golden

torc A torc, also spelled torq or torque, is a large rigid or stiff neck ring in metal, made either as a single piece or from strands twisted together. The great majority are open at the front, although some have hook and ring closures and a few hav ...

. She had been captured by Agne in Finland, and after Agne's execution she escaped with her thralls. Later in the ''Heimskringla'' (the ''Saga of Olaf Haraldsson''), Snorri writes that king Olaf Haraldsson was captured by the Swedes in Mälaren and had to dig a channel at Agnafit to escape into the Baltic Sea. Snorri attributes the name to king Agne and ''fit'' ("

wet meadow A wet meadow is a type of wetland with soils that are Solubility, saturated for part or all of the growing season which prevents the growth of trees and brush. Debate exists whether a wet meadow is a type of marsh or a completely separate type of ...

"), but toponymists have suggested that ''Agne''- can be derived from the practice of baiting fishing tools at the location. The location is also mentioned in '' Ásmundar saga kappabana'' and in '' Orvar-Odd's saga''. In the latter saga, it is mentioned in the Swedish hero Hjalmar's deathsong. He sang that he would never more see his beloved princess whom he bid farewell at Agnafit: {, , :Leiddi mik en hvíta :hilmis dóttir :á Agnafit :útanverða ; : ??eða: Hvarfk frá hvítri :hlaðs beðgunni :á Agnafit :útanverðri ; :saga mun sannask, :er sagði mér, :at aptr koma :eigi mynda

, :She led me out, :the lord's daughter, :to Agnafit :on the ocean side; : .. :... :... :...:all too true :what she told me then, :that never after :would I be back
Tunstall's translation
, When Orvar-Odd returned to

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

, the princess committed suicide and was buried with Hjalmar in the same barrow.

Sources

Nationalencyklopedin (; "The National Encyclopedia" in English), abbreviated NE, is a comprehensive contemporary Swedish-language encyclopedia with several hundred thousand articles. It is available both online and via a printed version. History The project was ...

A Swedish language article
in

Dagens Nyheter (, ), abbreviated ''DN'', is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It is published in Stockholm and aspires to full national and international coverage, and is widely considered Sweden's newspaper of record A newspaper of record is a major nationa ...

*'' Heimskringla'' *'' Orvar-Odd's saga'' Saga locations