Gyða was a legendary noblewoman from the

British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...

who, according to Old Norse

kings' sagas Kings' sagas (, , ) are Old Norse sagas which principally tell of the lives of semi-legendary and legendary (mythological, fictional) Nordic kings, also known as saga kings. They were composed during the twelfth through the fourteenth centuries, ...

, selected

Óláfr Tryggvason 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 ...

as a husband during his time in England in the 990s.

In the sagas

According to

Oddr Snorrason Oddr Snorrason whose name is also sometimes Anglicized as Odd Snorrason was a 12th-century Icelandic Benedictine monk at the Þingeyraklaustur monastery (''Þingeyrarklaustur''). The monastery was founded in 1133 and was the first in Iceland. Wor ...

's ''

Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar ''Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar'' is the name of several kings' sagas on the life of Óláfr Tryggvason, a 10th-century Norwegian king. Latin lives of Óláfr Tryggvason were written by Oddr Snorrason and by Gunnlaugr Leifsson; both are now lost, b ...

'' and

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 ...

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 (117 ...

, Gyða was the sister of Óláfr kvaran ( Amlaíb Cuarán) of Ireland). She was a wealthy and landed

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has Death, died and has usually not remarried. The male form, "widower", is first attested in the 14th century, by the 19th century supplanting "widow" with reference to men. The adjecti ...

. When a nobleman called Alpin/Alvini sought her in marriage, she called an assembly where she instead selected a disguised

as a husband. After he had defeated Alvini in single combat, they married and he subdued her lands for her before returning to Norway. In this account she was the second wife of Óláfr after

Geira Geira (ca. 965 – 985) was a Wends, Wendish princess attested by Old Norse sagas who allegedly ruled over territory near the border of Germania before marrying a young Olaf Tryggvason, Óláfr Tryggvasonr. Family According to Oddr Snorrason ...

, but she disappears from the narrative by the time Óláfr courts Sigríðr the Haughty.

Historical difficulties

The saga episode is difficult to reconcile with historical chronology. Óláfr Tryggvason was present in the British Isles in the 990s, at which time it is unlikely that Amlaíb Cuarán could have had a sister of marriageable age. It has been suggested that Gyða could instead have been a daughter of Amlaíb or a sister of Olof Skotkönung of Sweden. She does not appear in the earliest written sources about Óláfr, that is, the works of

Theodoricus monachus Theodoric the Monk (; also ''Tjodrik munk''; in Old Norse his name was most likely ''Þórir'') was a 12th-century Norwegian Benedictine monk, perhaps at the Nidarholm Abbey. He may be identical with either Bishop Tore of the Diocese of Hamar ...

. The sources are also inconsistent as to whether Gyða was from Ireland or England.

Issue

According to the kings' sagas, Tryggvi the Pretender, who arrived in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

in the 1030s, claimed to be the son of

and Gyða.

References

{{reflist European people whose existence is disputed Irish people whose existence is disputed Legendary British people Norwegian royal consorts