Sweyn's Daughter, Estrid

Estrid Svensdatter, daughter of Sweyn Forkbeard and sister of Cnut, was born c.990 and lived at least until 1057. We do not know about her early life, and there is a great deal of speculation about who her mother was.

One story is that she was the daughter of Sigrid the Haughty, the wife of King Eric the Victorious of Sweden. After Eric's death Sigrid married Sweyn. Other stories about Sweyn say his wife was a Polish princess, Świętosława, the daughter of Duke Mieszko I of Poland.

If she were the daughter of Sigrid, it would make her the sister of Olof Skötkonung. Olof, also called Olof the Swede, became King of Sweden. When Estrid's son, Sweyn II, married Gunnhildr Sveinsdóttir, Pope Leo IX annulled it on the grounds of consanguinity. Gunnhildr was the maternal granddaughter of Olof Skötkonung, whose mother we are certain was Sigrid. This is the anecdotal evidence that Sigrid was her mother.

When Sweyn Forkbeard died in 1014, Estrid came under the guardianship of her brother, King Cnut. She had at least three marriages proposed and/or contracted, the order of which is uncertain because they are all mentioned in different sagas and histories. There is no definitive history written of her life by contemporaries.

One marriage supposedly was to a Kievan Rus son of either Grand Prince Vladimir the Great or Yaroslav the Wise, making her a Rus princess. Whomever it was, that prince died shortly after. She seems to have been, married to a Duke of Normandy, either Richard II or his son, Robert I (depending on which chronicler you read), but these seem unlikely, and most Western European chroniclers do not mention this, or they mention it as very short-lived with no children.

The longer-lasting union seems got have been with Ulf Thorgilsson (also called Ulf Jarl), a Danish earl. Their children were Sweyn II Estridsson, Beorn Estridsson, and Asbjørn Estridsson. 

Ulf was a trusted earl, and Cnut even gave his son, Harthacnut, to Ulf and Astrid to raise. Unfortunately, Cnut and Ulf had a falling out, and Ulf was killed, apparently with Cnut's blessing. (I wrote about it here.)

Although Estrid had not been a consort to a king, during the reign of her son Sweyn she was referred to as dronning, which means "queen." She was also known as Estrith, and sometimes as Margaret. We do not know when she died, but it was recorded that Bishop William of Roskilde officiated at her funeral. Since he was bishop from 1057 to 1073, she must have died during those years.

Her son Sweyn II became King of Denmark, and it is he that we will talk about tomorrow.