{{For, the name Estrid, Astrid (name) Jarlabankes ätt teori 2

Estrid (

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is 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 of Scandinavia and t ...

: ''Æstriðr'', ''Ástríðr'') was a rich and powerful 11th-century Swedish woman whose long family

saga is a series of science fantasy role-playing video games by Square Enix. The series originated on the Game Boy in 1989 as the creation of Akitoshi Kawazu at Square. It has since continued across multiple platforms, from the Super NES to the Pl ...

has been recorded on five or six

runestone A runestone is typically a raised stone with a runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition began in the 4th century and lasted into the 12th century, but most of the runestones da ...

s in

Uppland Uppland () is a historical province or ' on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. On the small un ...

, Sweden. This Estrid was the maternal grandmother of the chieftain Jarlabanke of the Jarlabanke clan. The family were rich landowners and belonged to the higher echelons of Swedish society, and she was probably named after

Estrid of the Obotrites Estrid of the Obotrites (c. 979 – 1035) was Queen of Sweden in the Viking age, a West Slavic princess married to Olof Skötkonung, King of Sweden c. 1000–1022. She was the mother of King Anund Jacob of Sweden and the Kievan Rus' saint a ...

, who was the queen of Sweden, and the consort of

Olof Skötkonung Olof Skötkonung, (Old Norse: ''Óláfr skautkonungr'') sometimes stylized as ''Olaf the Swede'' (c. 980–1022), was King of Sweden, son of Eric the Victorious and, according to Icelandic sources, Sigrid the Haughty. He succeeded his father in ...

, at the time Estrid was born. Her family saga has been the centre of a dramatisation at the Stockholm County Museum. It is safe to assume that five of the 11 runestones that mention an Estrid in eastern

Svealand Svealand (), or Swealand, is the historical core region of Sweden. It is located in south central Sweden and is one of three historical lands of Sweden, bounded to the north by Norrland and to the south by Götaland. Deep forests, Tiveden, ...

refer to this Estrid because of the locations of the runestones and the people who are mentioned on them. A sixth runestone, U 329, U 329: ''Inga had these stones raised in memory of Ragnfastr, her husbandman. He was Gyríðr's and Ástríðr's brother''. Translation provided by

Rundata The Scandinavian Runic-text Data Base ( sv, Samnordisk runtextdatabas) is a project involving the creation and maintenance of a database of runic inscriptions. The project's goal is to comprehensively catalog runestones in a machine-readable way f ...

. deals with an Estrid who is only mentioned as the sister of a Ragnfast and a Gyrid. This Ragnfast appears on the

Hillersjö stone The Hillersjö stone, listed in the Rundata catalog as U 29 and located at Hillersjö, which is about four kilometers north of Stenhamra on Färingsö, is a runic Younger Futhark inscription that tells, in Old Norse, the tragic real life family ...

and the

Snottsta and Vreta stones The Snottsta and Vreta stones are individual runestones known as U 329, U 330, U 331 and U 332. They are found on the homesteads of Snottsta (also spelled Snåttsta) and Vreta, and they tell in Old Norse with the younger futhark about the family s ...

as the husband of

Inga ''Inga'' is a genus of small tropical, tough-leaved, nitrogen-fixing treesElkan, Daniel. "Slash-and-burn farming has become a major threat to the world's rainforest" ''The Guardian'' 21 April 2004 and shrubs, subfamily Mimosoideae. ''Inga''s ...

and the son-in-law of Gerlög. Since

Fot Fot (Old Norse: ''Fotr'') was a runemaster who flourished in mid-11th century Sweden. Career Most early medieval Scandinavians were probably literate in runes, and most people probably carved messages on pieces of bone and wood.Vilka kunde ris ...

, the

runemaster A runemaster or runecarver is a specialist in making runestones. Description More than 100 names of runemasters are known from Viking Age Sweden with most of them from 11th-century eastern Svealand.The article ''Runristare'' in ''Nationalencykl ...

of U 329, also made runestones for the Jarlabanke clan, and Gerlög and Inga also belonged to the same regional elite, it is probable that U 329 refers to the same Estrid as the five other runestones. This would mean that Estrid was born in Snottsta (also spelled Snåttsta) as the daughter of the rich landowner Sigfast. The Broby bro Runestones tell that Estrid and her husband Östen had a son by the name Gag, who died while Östen still was alive, U 137: ''Eysteinn and Ástríðr raised the stones in memory of Kagr(?)/Gagr(?), their son''. Translation provided by

. and three other sons named Ingefast, Östen and Sven. U 135: ''Ingifastr and Eysteinn and Sveinn had these stones raised in memory of Eysteinn, their father, and made this bridge and this mound''. Translation provided by

. The runestones further tell that a barrow and a bridge were built and that two of the runestones were raised by the brothers Ingefast, Östen and Sven in memory of their father Östen, who had gone to

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

and died in the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...

. U 136: ''Ástríðr had these stones raised in memory of Eysteinn, her husbandman, who went to Jerusalem and met his end up in Greece''. The story of her life is continued on the

Hargs bro runic inscriptions {{main article, Jarlabanke Runestones The Hargs bro runic inscriptions, or U 309, U 310 and U 311, are 11th century Younger Futhark inscriptions in Old Norse on bedrock in Skånela Parish, Uppland, Sweden. U 309 and U 310 constitute a twin mon ...

, where we learn that Estrid had married a man named Ingvar, and this Ingvar had a son prior to marrying Estrid whose name was

Ragnvald Ragnvald, Rögnvald or Rognvald or Rægnald is an Old Norse name (Old Norse ''Rǫgnvaldr'', modern Icelandic ''Rögnvaldur''; in Old English ''Regenweald'' and in Old Irish, Middle Irish '' Ragnall''). Notable people with the name include: * Ragn ...

. U 310: ''Ástríðr had the bridge made in memory of Ingvarr, her husbandman, and in memory of Ragnvaldr, his son''. Translation provided by

. U 309: ''Sigviðr and Ingvarr and Jarlabanki had the runes carved in memory of Ingvarr, their father, and in memory of Ragnvaldr, their brother''. Translation provided by

. It also appears that Estrid and Ingvar had three sons named Sigvid, Ingvar and Jarlabanke. We further learn that Estrid had a bridge constructed, which apparently was a tradition in her family. She appears to have become quite old and moved back to Täby where she had family, because the last chapter of her life is documented on two runestones in south-western Täby.The runestones U 101 and U 143. They tell that Estrid cleared a road and built bridges together with her grandson Jarlabanke (by her son Ingefast) and his family, and she dedicated the constructions to her sons Ingvar U 143: ''Jórunnr had the bridges made in memory of her husbandman; and Hemingr and Jarlabanki in memory of Ingifastr; Ástríðr in memory of Ingvarr, an excellent valiant man''. Translation provided by

. U 101: ''Hemingr and Jarlabanki, they had the path cleared and the bridges made in memory of their father; and Ástríðr in memory of her sons Ingifastr and Ingvarr. May God help their spirits''. Translation provided by

. (her son with Ingvarr at Harg) and Ingefast (her son with Östen at Broby bro). When Stockholm County Museum made an archaeological excavation at Broby bro, in 1995, they found three graves. The three were buried in Christian manner, i.e. with the head towards the west, they were not burned and there were few gifts. Some coins that were found helped to date the graves to the 11th century. One of the graves was located just beside Östen's barrow and it was for a rich and very old woman. The buried woman was probably Estrid.

Notes

Sources and external links

''Inga och Estrid — en såpa för tusen år sedan: Människor, händelser och platser i Ingas och Estrids liv, Människor, händelser och platser i Ingas och Estrids liv''
Stockholm County Museum.

Stockholm County Museum.

Stockholm County Museum.

Stockholm County Museum.

Bibliography

*Andersson, Lars. "Jarlabankes farmor Estrid: Fick hon sin sista vila vid Broby bro?" Populär arkeologi 17.2 (1999), 19–22. *Hagerman, Maja, and Claes Gabrielsson (photos). Tusenårsresan. Stockholm: Prisma, 1999. pp. 147–157: "Estrid: Tiden är 1000-tal", the Jarlabanke family. 11th-century Swedish women 11th-century deaths 11th-century Swedish people Year of birth unknown 11th-century landowners