Osbeorn, also spelled Osbjorn and Osbert (died c. 1054), given the nickname Bulax, was the son of

Siward, Earl of Northumbria Siward ( or more recently ; ) or Sigurd (, ) was an important earl of 11th-century northern England. The Old Norse nickname ''Digri'' and its Latin translation ''Grossus'' ("the stout") are given to him by near-contemporary texts. It is possibl ...

(died 1055). He is one of two known sons of Siward, believed to be the elder.Aird, "Siward" While it is normally assumed he was the son of Siward's Bamburgh wife Ælfflæd, it has been suggested by William Kapelle that Osbeorn's mother was not Ælfflæd. The nickname "Bulax" probably represents the

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 ...

term for "

Poleaxe The poleaxe (also poleax, pollaxe and other similar spellings) is a European polearm that was used by medieval infantry. Etymology Most etymological authorities consider the ''poll''- prefix historically unrelated to "pole", instead meaning " ...

". According to the most reliable sources, he died at the Battle of the Seven Sleepers, fought somewhere in Scotland between Siward and

Mac Bethad mac Findlaích Macbethad mac Findláech (Anglicisation, anglicised as Macbeth MacFinlay; died 15 August 1057), nicknamed the Red King (), was List of Scottish monarchs, King of Scotland from 1040 until his death in 1057. He ruled during the period of Scotti ...

, King of the Scots, in 1054. Under this year, the ''

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the ninth century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of ...

'', recension D, related that:

"At this time earl Siward went with a great army into Scotland, with both fleet and a land-force; and fought against the Scots, and put to flight the king Mac Bethad, and slew all that were best in the land, and brought thence much war-spoil, such as no man obtained before; And there were slain his son Osbeorn, and his sister's son Siward, and some of his
housecarl A housecarl (; ) was a non- servile manservant or household bodyguard in medieval Northern Europe. The institution originated amongst the Norsemen of Scandinavia, and was brought to Anglo-Saxon England by the Danish conquest in the 11th centur ...
s, and also of the king's, on the day of the
Seven Sleepers The Seven Sleepers (; ), also known in Christendom as Seven Sleepers of Ephesus, and in Islam as Aṣḥāb al-Kahf (اصحاب الکهف, ''aṣḥāb al-kahf'', lit. Companions of the Cave), is a Late antiquity, late antique Christianity, ...
(July 27)."

This battle was fought somewhere in Scotland north of the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is a firth in Scotland, an inlet of the North Sea that separates Fife to its north and Lothian to its south. Further inland, it becomes the estuary of the River Forth and several other rivers. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate ...

, and is known variously as the "Battle of the Seven Sleepers" or the "Battle of Dunsinane". The location Dunsinane is not accepted as historical by modern historians, resting as it does on later medieval accounts. The earliest mention of Dunsinane as the location of the battle being the early 15th-century account by

Andrew of Wyntoun Andrew Wyntoun, known as Andrew of Wyntoun (), was a Scottish poet, a canon and prior of Loch Leven on St Serf's Inch and, later, a canon of St. Andrews. Andrew Wyntoun is most famous for his completion of an eight-syllabled metre entitled, ...

. In recension C of the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', the names of the slain are omitted, an omission repeated by the ''Chronicle'' of

John of Worcester John of Worcester (died c. 1140) was an English monk and chronicler who worked at Worcester Priory. He is now usually held to be the author of the . Works John of Worcester's principal work was the (Latin for "Chronicle from Chronicles") or ...

Henry of Huntingdon Henry of Huntingdon (; 1088 – 1157), the son of a canon in the diocese of Lincoln, was a 12th-century English historian and the author of ''Historia Anglorum'' (Medieval Latin for "History of the English"), as "the most important Anglo- ...

related that Osbeorn had been sent to Scotland ahead of Siward:

" iwardsent his son to acquire Scotland. And when they reported to his father that he had been slain in battle, iwardsaid, 'Did he receive the mortal wound in front of his body, or behind?' The messengers said. 'In front'. And he replied: 'I rejoice wholly, for I would deem myself or my son worthy of no meaner death'. Siward therefore marched into Scotland and conquered the king battle ... "

Another legendary account, in the ''Vita et Passio Waldevi'', a

hagiography A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a preacher, priest, founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian ...

of Osbeorn's brother Waltheof, claimed that Osbeorn, called "Osbert Bulax", was killed by Northumbrians while his father was absent in Scotland. The accounts in Henry of Huntingdon and the ''Vita et Passio Waldevi'' are thought to be derived from a

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 ...

devoted to the life of Earl Siward.

Geoffrey Gaimar Geoffrey Gaimar (fl. 1130s), also written Geffrei or Geoffroy, was an Anglo-Norman chronicler. His contribution to medieval literature and history was as a translator from Old English to Anglo-Norman. His ''L'Estoire des Engleis'', or ''History ...

's account related activity in 1053, an agreement made between Siward and Mac Bethad, but a death of Osbeorn is not mentioned. Osbeorn's death left Siward's legacy in danger. When he died the following year, his only surviving son Waltheof (Osbeorn's brother) was underage and thus did not succeed immediately to the whole territory ruled by Siward, Northumbria going instead to

Tostig Godwinson Tostig Godwinson ( 102925 September 1066) was an Anglo-Saxon Earl of Northumbria and brother of King Harold Godwinson. After being exiled by his brother, Tostig supported the Norwegian king Harald Hardrada's invasion of England, and was killed ...

.Kapelle, ''Norman Conquest'', pp. 49, 87 Osbeorn Bulax was fictionalised as

Young Siward Young Siward is a character in William Shakespeare’s play ''Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the p ...

in the tragedy ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

'' by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * * *

External links

* {{PASE, 18330, Osbeorn 2 1054 deaths Anglo-Norse people Viking warriors Year of birth unknown 11th-century English nobility 11th-century Vikings