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Sigfred was an eighth century Danish king who is known to have reigned from before 777 to after 798. Fragments of his reign can be traced via
Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages, a group of Low Germanic languages also commonly referred to as "Frankish" varieties * Francia, a post-Roman ...
sources.


Assistance to Widukind

King Sigfred is first mentioned in 777 when the
Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...
chief
Widukind Widukind, also known as Wittekind and Wittikund, was a leader of the Saxons and the chief opponent of the Frankish king Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars from 777 to 785. Charlemagne ultimately prevailed, organized Saxony as a Frankish provinc ...
, leader of the resistance against
Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...
, fled
Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...
in the face of the Frankish onslaught. Widukind found refuge with Sigfred, but the Frankish annals do not say in detail what kind of assistance the Danish king may have provided. At any rate, Charlemagne made no attempt to subordinate or threaten the Danes during his Saxon campaigns. German chronicles, to better espouse the family tree of Widukind's heirs, stated that he was married to Sigfred's daughter Geva.


Frankish diplomacy

In the summer of 782, Charlemagne led his armed forces to the sources of the
Lippe River The Lippe () is a river in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Rhine and in length with an elevation difference of 125 metres and a catchment area of 4.890 km². The source is located at the edge of the Teutoburg ...
, staying there for some time. On this occasion he received envoys from Sigfred, although the details of the negotiations are not disclosed. Shortly after, Widukind left his Nordic refuge and returned to Saxony where he successfully egged the population to rebel against the Frankish king. He then led the Saxon resistance until 785 when he finally submitted to Charlemagne. For several years, there is no mention of the Danish king, but in 798 Charlemagne sent one of his trustees, Godeskalk, on a diplomatic mission to Sigfred. On his return, Godeskalk was slain by the rebellious Saxons living to the north-east of the
Elbe The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Ge ...
. When the Franks put down the rebellion they were helped by the prince of the
Obotrites The Obotrites (, ''Abodritorum'', ''Abodritos'') or Obodrites, also spelled Abodrites (), were a confederation of medieval West Slavic tribes within the territory of modern Mecklenburg and Holstein in northern Germany (see Polabian Slavs). For ...
, Drozko, who would later on be dealt with by Sigfred's successor
Gudfred Gudfred was a ninth century Danish king who reigned from at least 804 to 810. Alternate spellings include ''Godfred'' (Danish), ''Göttrick'' (German), ''Gøtrik'' (Danish), ''Gudrød'' (Danish), and ''Godofredus'' (Latin). He stands at the thre ...
. Poems by the Lombard literati Peter of Pisa and
Paulus Diaconus Paul the Deacon ( 720s 13 April in 796, 797, 798, or 799 AD), also known as ''Paulus Diaconus'', ''Warnefridus'', ''Barnefridus'', or ''Winfridus'', and sometimes suffixed ''Cassinensis'' (''i.e.'' "of Monte Cassino"), was a Benedictine monk, sc ...
convey a very negative image of Sigfred. Peter wrote that Charlemagne had let him choose between being fettered, imprisoned, or sent to convert Sigfred. In a poetic reply, Paulus castigated the Danish king as a wild beast who ruled over other wild animals; an uncouth pagan who would nevertheless be unable to stand up against the mighty Frankish ruler. If he dared molest Peter and his entourage and refuse Christianisation, he would quickly be led before Charlemagne's throne in fetters, abandoned by
Odin Odin (; from ) is a widely revered god in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Most surviving information on Odin comes from Norse mythology, but he figures prominently in the recorded history of Northern Europe. This includes the Roman Em ...
(Waten) and
Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...
(Thonar). It is interesting that the characterization is similar to that accorded to
Ongendus Ongendus (perhaps Angantyr in Danish) was a king of the Danes, reigning c. 710, the first Danish king known from contemporary literature. Historical background He was presumably king of a stronger and more unified Denmark that rose at the ...
, one of Sigfred's predecessors in the early 8th century. The poems also indicate that the Danes had started to draw some attention from the Carolingian elite by this time. The reign of Sigfred had ended by 804 when another ruler,
Gudfred Gudfred was a ninth century Danish king who reigned from at least 804 to 810. Alternate spellings include ''Godfred'' (Danish), ''Göttrick'' (German), ''Gøtrik'' (Danish), ''Gudrød'' (Danish), and ''Godofredus'' (Latin). He stands at the thre ...
, is mentioned in the Frankish annals.


Place in early Danish history

Nothing is known about Sigfred's relationship to
Gudfred Gudfred was a ninth century Danish king who reigned from at least 804 to 810. Alternate spellings include ''Godfred'' (Danish), ''Göttrick'' (German), ''Gøtrik'' (Danish), ''Gudrød'' (Danish), and ''Godofredus'' (Latin). He stands at the thre ...
, who succeeded him as king of Denmark c. 804–810, or later kings such as Hemming (810–812), Harald 'Klak' Halfdansson (812-813, 819–827) and
Horik I Horik I or Hårik (died 854) was a king of the Danes. He was co-ruler from 813, and sole king from c. 828 until his violent death in 854. His long and eventful reign was marked by Danish raids on the Carolingian Empire of Louis the Pious, son an ...
(813–854). Since the name Sigfred was borne by a nephew of Gudfred, he is often taken to have been the father of Gudfred, since children were often named after their grandfathers. The approximate dates of Sigfred's reign, and references to a King Harald who may have been either a predecessor, co-ruler or immediate successor of Sigfred, has led to speculations about a link with the legendary Swedish and Danish ruler Sigurd Hring. According to the sagas, Sigurd Hring defeated the Danish ruler
Harald Wartooth Harald Wartooth or ''Harold Hiltertooth'' (Old Norse: ''Haraldr hilditǫnn''; Modern Swedish and Danish: Harald Hildetand; Modern Norwegian: ''Harald Hildetann'')Röreksson was a semi- legendary king of Denmark who is mentioned in several tradit ...
at the Battle of Brávellir 2-3 generations before the first Danish conquest of England but the historicity of Hring, Wartooth and the battle are uncertain. According to the '' Tale of Ragnar Lodbrok'' saga, Sigurd Hring was the father of the legendary Viking leader
Ragnar Lodbrok Ragnar Lodbrok (Old Norse: ''Ragnarr loðbrók'', ), according to legends, was a Viking hero and a Legendary Kings of Sweden, Swedish and Legendary kings of Denmark, Danish king.High medieval The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history between and ; it was preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended according to historiographical convention ...
era documentation. It has been theorized that Sigfred's father was
Ongendus Ongendus (perhaps Angantyr in Danish) was a king of the Danes, reigning c. 710, the first Danish king known from contemporary literature. Historical background He was presumably king of a stronger and more unified Denmark that rose at the ...
, or Angantyr, which is problematic because there is more than half a century between them. The two kings may nevertheless have been related since a Danish prince Angantyr is known to have flourished in 811, and the name is extremely unusual.''Einhards Jahrbücher'', Anno 81

p. 121.
The recurrence of the names Angantyr, Sigfred, Harald and Gudfred throughout the 8th and 9th centuries suggests that the kings of the early
Viking Age The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...
were mutually related.


References

{{authority control Danish monarchs Scyldings 8th-century monarchs in Europe