Skoglar Toste or Skoglar Tosti (there are several variations) is a legendary 10th century chieftain from the Swedish province of West Gothland. Snorri Sturlusson recounts in ''

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 ...

'' that he was a great Viking who often waged war and that is why he was called " Skagul's Tosti". Skagul was a

Valkyrie In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ( or ; from ) is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become ('single fighters' or 'once fighters').Orchard (1997:36) and Li ...

.Davidson, Hilda Roderick Ellis (1988). Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe: Early Scandinavian and Celtic Religions. Manchester University Press. . p. 96 Toste is mentioned in several sagas, most notable in ''

''. According to

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 ...

, he was the father of

Sigrid the Haughty Sigrid the Haughty (; ) is a Scandinavian queen appearing in Norse sagas. Sigrid is named in several late and sometimes contradictory Icelandic sagas composed generations after the events the stories describe, but there is no reliable, historical ...

. For some time he gave refuge to Harald Grenske, who later came back to woo Sigrid, only to be killed by her for his persistence. According to the sagas, Skoglar Toste was also the father of Ulf Tostesson, father of

Ragnvald Ulfsson Ragnvald Ulfsson the Old () was a jarl of Västergötland or Östergötland and was married to a sister of King Olav Tryggvason.Winroth 1995–1997:616 Biography According to Snorri, Ragnvald was the son of jarl Ulf Tostesson. He was al ...

and grandfather of Stenkil who became the

King of Sweden The monarchy of Sweden is centred on the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the #IOG, Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. by law a constitutional monarchy, constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parl ...

in 1060. Toste has been connected to the U 344 runestone in Orkesta in Vallentuna, near

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, which tells of how Ulf of Borresta three times took

danegeld Danegeld (; "Danish tax", literally "Dane yield" or tribute) was a tax raised to pay tribute or Protection racket, protection money to the Viking raiders to save a land from being ravaged. It was called the ''geld'' or ''gafol'' in eleventh-c ...

: : in ulfr hafiʀ o, , onklati ' þru kialt, , takat þit uas fursta þis tusti ka-t ' þ(a) ---- (þ)urktil ' þa kalt knutr Translation: : "And Ulf of Borresta (''ulfr'') has taken three payments in England. That was the first that Toste (''tusti'') paid. Then

Thorkell the Tall Thorkell the Tall, also known as Thorkell the High in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' (Old Norse: Þorke(ti)ll inn hávi; ; Swedish: ''Torkel Höge''; ), was a prominent member of the Jomsviking order and a notable lord. He was a son of the Scan ...

(''Þurktil '') paid. Then

Canute the Great Cnut ( ; ; – 12 November 1035), also known as Canute and with the epithet the Great, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norway from 1028 until his death in 1035. The three kingdoms united under Cnut's rul ...

(''knutr'') paid.

References

Other sources

*''Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700'' by Frederick Lewis Weis, Lines: 241–5, 243A-20 {{DEFAULTSORT:Skoglar Toste Viking warriors Geats 10th-century Swedish people 10th-century Vikings