Estrid (

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 ...

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

saga Sagas are prose stories and histories, composed in Iceland and to a lesser extent elsewhere in Scandinavia. The most famous saga-genre is the (sagas concerning Icelanders), which feature Viking voyages, migration to Iceland, and feuds between ...

has been recorded on five or six

runestone A runestone is typically a raised stone with a runic alphabet, runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition of erecting runestones as a memorial to dead men began in the 4th centur ...

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. The name literally ...

, Sweden. This Estrid was the maternal grandmother of the chieftain Jarlabanke of the

Jarlabanke clan The Jarlabanke Runestones () is the name of about 20 runestones written in Old Norse with the Younger Futhark rune script in the 11th century, in Uppland, Sweden. They were ordered by what appears to have been a Germanic chieftain, chieftain ...

. The family were rich landowners and belonged to the higher echelons of Swedish society. 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 the three historical lands of Sweden, bounded to the north by Norrland and to the south by Götaland. Deep forests, Tive ...

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 Database () is a project involving the creation and maintenance of a database of transliterated runic inscriptions. The project's goal is to comprehensively catalog runestones in a machine-readable way for future resea ...

. deals with an Estrid who is only mentioned as the sister of a Ragnfast and a Gyrid. This Ragnfast appears on the Hillersjö stone and the Snottsta and Vreta stones 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 l ...

and the son-in-law of Gerlög. Since Fot, 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 ''Nationalencyklo ...

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 is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

and died in the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

U 136 ''U-136'' may refer to one of the following German submarines: * , a Type U 127 submarine launched in 1917 and that served in the First World War until surrendered on 23 February 1919; broken up at Cherbourg in 1921 ** During the First World War ...

: ''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, 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: * Ragnval ...

. 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.

Family tree

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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 11th-century women landowners

Family tree

See also

Notes

Sources and external links

Bibliography