Pallig (fl. 1001) was a Danish chieftain who joined the service of King

Æthelred the Unready Æthelred II (,Different spellings of this king's name most commonly found in modern texts are "Ethelred" and "Æthelred" (or "Aethelred"), the latter being closer to the original Old English form . Compare the modern dialect word . ; ; 966 � ...

of England but deserted to join a Viking raid. He was said to have been the husband of Gunhilde, the sister of

Sweyn Forkbeard Sweyn Forkbeard ( ; ; 17 April 963 – 3 February 1014) was King of Denmark from 986 until his death, King of England for five weeks from December 1013 until his death, and King of Norway from 999/1000 until 1014. He was the father of King Ha ...

, and to have been killed along with her in the

St Brice's Day massacre The St. Brice's Day massacre was a mass killing of Danes within England on 13 November 1002, on the order of King Æthelred the Unready of England. The Anglo-Saxon chronicle relates that the massacre was carried out in response to an accusation th ...

in 1002.

Betrayal

According to the 'A' manuscript of 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 ...

, in 1001 a Danish naval force defeated the people of Hampshire. :And then they went west from there until they reached Devon; and Pallig came to meet them there with the ships which he could collect, because he had deserted King Æthelred in spite of all the pledges which he had given him. And the king had made great gifts to him, in estates and gold and silver. And they burnt Teignton and also many other good residences which we cannot name, and afterwards peace was made with them. In 1002 Æthelred ordered the slaughter of all Danes in England in the

, although the number of deaths was limited. The massacre was portrayed in later medieval sources as revenge for Pallig's treachery, and this view is accepted by some historians.

Death

raided England periodically from the beginning of the century, and in 1013 invaded and conquered England. According to

William of Malmesbury William of Malmesbury (; ) was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. He has been ranked among the most talented English historians since Bede. Modern historian C. Warren Hollister described him as "a gifted historical scholar and a ...

, Sweyn's principal motive in 1013 was to avenge the death of his sister Gunhilde, who had been murdered together with her husband Pallig and son, together with "the other Danes", on the order of Eadric Streona. William is usually interpreted by historians as saying that Pallig was killed in the St Brice's Day massacre, but this is disputed by Ann Williams. She argues that as William mentions the deaths in connection with the invasion of 1013 and attributes them to Eadric Streona, who was not appointed an

ealdorman Ealdorman ( , )"ealdorman"
''Collins English Dictionary''. was an office in the Government ...

until 1007, it is likely that William was referring to a date later than the St Brice's Day massacre. She questions whether the murder took place and whether Gunnhild existed, as William is the sole source for her marriage to Pallig and her relationship to Sweyn.Williams, ''Æthelred the Unready'', pp. 53-54

References

{{Reflist 1002 deaths Danish emigrants to England Year of birth unknown People from Devon 10th-century births