Swein Forkbeard

Life

Early life

Swein was a son of Harald Bluetooth and an unknown mother. It is not known when Swein was born, but his grandson Hakon Eriksson was born in 998.

King of Denmark and Viking raider

In 986 or 987 Swein revolted against his father with the support of sections of the nobility and seized the Danish throne. Harald was defeated and wounded in battle against his son. He was driven into exile, where he died of his wounds shortly afterwards. In the view of the historian Timothy Bolton, the family turned in on itself, "unleashing a brief civil war that ended in a scandalous regicide and apparently leaving a deep scar on Danish memory". Jones describes Harald's expulsion as an "astonishing reversal", probably due to erosion of the nobility's ancient rights and hostility to Christianity, particularly because the church was pro-German.

Swein was able to extend Danish control east of Øresund (a strait which now forms the border between Denmark and Sweden) into Skane in what is now southern Sweden. The main centres of Danish power shifted from Jutland to the towns of Roskilde and Lund on each side of the strait. Harald and Swein unified Denmark in the second half of the tenth century, and some aristocrats lost out and joined bands of Viking raiders on England. Swein was secure enough at home to become the first Scandinavian king known to have led Viking raids. His armies comprised his own retainers and the bands of other Viking warlords, drawn from all over Scandinavia. The main Viking target was England, which under King Æthelred the Unready was both wealthy and militarily weak, and Swein's ability to extract large amounts of tribute enhanced and extended his power in Scandinavia. The Encomium states that Swein made his men "submissive and faithful to himself by manifold and generous munificence", and the Danish historian Niels Lund comments that "the world in which Swein was operating was the traditional early medieval world in which princes bought loyalty by means of gifts and political relations were maintained by a subtle blend of coercion and reward".

In 991 the English suffered a devastating defeat against a Viking army at the Battle of Maldon in Essex, and they paid 10,000 pounds in tribute to get the invaders to leave. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle names the Viking leader as the Norwegian warlord Olaf Tryggvason, but historians think that the Viking army was probably also led by Swein. The confirmation by King Æthelred of the will of Æthelric of Bocking between 995 and 999 refers to an allegation many years before Æthelric died that he had been involved in a plot to receive Swein in Essex when he first came to England, and this is thought to refer to the raid in 991; Sawyer suggests that Swein was the senior commander over Olaf.

The Svear in eastern Sweden resented Danish control of the trade route to the North Sea, and in 992 or 993 Erik, King of the Svear, attacked Denmark. Swein defeated the invasion and Erik died either during the war or soon afterwards. Erik was succeeded by his son Olof, whose byname "Skötkonung" means tributary king. Lund and Sawyer see Olof's byname as evidence that he acknowledged Swein as his overlord, but in the view of the Norwegian historian Sverre Bagge the relationship between Olof and Swein is not known.

Swein and Olaf Tryggvason invaded England in 994. They unsuccessfully attacked London, and then raided around the south-east until the English agreed to pay a tribute of 16,000 pounds. Swein then probably sailed west as, according to the Annales Cambriae, "Swein son of Harald" ravaged the Isle of Man. King Æthelred persuaded Olaf to enter his service, and then encouraged him to return to Norway to challenge Swein's overlordship. Olaf was recognised as king by many Norwegian magnates, and Æthelred was thus successful in distracting Swein from attacking England for several years. Olaf was killed in 999 or 1000 in the naval Battle of Svold against Swein, who was supported by Olof Skötkonung and Hakon's sons. Swein recovered his overlordship over Norway, and he appointed Hakon's sons, Erik Hakonsson (his son-in-law) and Swein Hakonarson to rule as jarls (earls).

Southern coastal areas of England suffered from Viking raids in 997 to 999, and Swein returned in 1003. He sacked Exeter, defeated local armies of Wiltshire and Hampshire, ravaged Wilton and then returned to his ships. The next year Swein attacked East Anglia, sacking Thetford and Norwich, and then met an army led by Ulfcytel. The Vikings were again victorious, but only at the expense of heavy losses, and then escaped back to their ships. In 1002 King Æthelred had ordered the St Brice's Day massacre of Danish people in England, and post-Conquest chroniclers attributed Swein's return to a desire to avenge the massacre. The twelfth-century historian William of Malmesbury stated that Swein's sister Gunhilde was a victim of the massacre along with her husband Pallig. Twentieth-century historians such as Frank Stenton and Gwyn Jones thought that Swein returned to avenge his sister's death, but twenty-first century historians are sceptical because William is the only source for Gunhilde's existence and Pallig deserted the English before the massacre. Ann Williams and Levi Roach think that the story is a myth, and Sawyer ignores Gunhilde and the massacre in his biographical article about Swein. Bolton suggests that Swein led the raids on England in order to avert the danger of his subordinates making so much money that they were in a position to threaten his position in Denmark.

A severe famine forced Swein to return to Denmark in 1005. The Viking army returned in 1006, and ravaged at will, defeating every English army sent against it until bought off with a tribute of 36,000 pounds. Swein is not named by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle among the Viking leaders between 1006 and 1013. Some leaders may have been his followers, but Thorkell the Tall, who ravaged England between 1009 and 1012, was an independent warlord. After extracting tribute of 48,000 pounds he went over to Æthelred with forty-five ships, and served him faithfully until the king's death in 1016.

Historians do not agree whether Swein was a sincere Christian. Stenton describes him as a "nominal" and "tepid" Christian, who put himself at the head of a pagan reaction against his father's imposition of Christianity in order to seize the Danish throne, and Simon Keynes describes him as "ostensibly a Christian king". Sawyer and Lund disagree, and point out that Swein continued the Christianisation of Denmark started by his father. At least three missionary bishops worked in the country during his reign, two English and one Danish, and churches were built in Roskilde and Lund. Like other kings of recently converted kingdoms, Swein saw subordination of his church to the archbishop of a neighbouring imperial power as a threat to his independence, and he expelled bishops who were suffragans of Hamburg-Bremen in order to reduce German influence, replacing them with English bishops. Royal and magnate support or opposition to Christianity was strongly influenced by political considerations, and Scandinavian kings, including Swein, were willing to ally with pagans in wars against Christian opponents.

Conquest of England

Swein returned to England in August 1013 with his younger son Cnut, leaving his older son Harald to rule Denmark. Unlike in his previous attacks, Swein was now intent on the full conquest of England. Some historians suggest that he invaded because he feared that Thorkell could threaten his position in Scandinavia with English support, while other historians think that he just seized the opportunity presented by Thorkell's weakening of England to achieve an important conquest. Lund describes Thorkell as "perhaps one of Swein's most dangerous Scandinavian enemies", but does not think that he was a threat to Swein's control of Denmark.

Swein sailed to Sandwich in Kent, and, perhaps because he found the fleets of Æthelred and Thorkell off the coast, immediately sailed north to Gainsborough in Lincolnshire. The magnates of the East Midlands and the North quickly submitted to him. Swein did not allow plundering until the army was south of Watling Street, the traditional dividing line between the culturally Scandinavian Danelaw and the Anglo-Saxon south and west. Oxford and Wallingford surrendered to him, but he was unable to take London, which was defended by Æthelred and Thorkell. Swein then secured the submission of the south-west at Bath, and after that the whole nation, including London, accepted him as king. Weakened by the ravaging the country had suffered between 1006 and 1012, and by internal dissension, the English were unable to put up serious resistance to Swein's army.

Æthelred spent Christmas on the Isle of Wight and then took shelter with his brother-in-law, Richard, Duke of Normandy. The historians Simon Roffey and Ryan Lavelle see Richard's decision to give support and shelter to Æthelred as evidence of Norman opposition to Swein's Anglo-Danish kingdom. Swein demanded and received full payment and provisions for his army for the winter. Around this time, Cnut married a member of a leading northern family, Ælfgifu of Northampton, and the marriage may have been arranged by his father in order to strengthen his position in the north. Swein died suddenly on 3 February 1014.

According to the Gesta Normannorum Ducum (Deeds of the Norman Dukes) by William of Jumièges, Swein left the army in England to go to Rouen and negotiated a treaty with Duke Richard whereby the Danes gained permission to sell their spoils of war in Normandy. This treaty is not recorded by other medieval chroniclers and historians disagree whether it dates to 1003, responding to the St Brice's Day massacre, or 1013, as William implies, and even whether it existed at all. Pierre Bauduin argues that the treaty was not directed against Æthelred, but was rather intended to regulate the relations between the Danes and the Normans.

Coinage

Olaf Tryggvason issued Norwegian coins, and it was probably in response that Swein made his own Danish issue naming himself as king. Both issues were based on Æthelred's crux type of the mid-990s, which has a cross on the reverse. As of 1994, only eight specimens of Swein's issue were known, all of which had an obverse struck from the same die, indicating that it was on a small scale. There were also much larger issues, perhaps in Lund, based on Æthelred's coinage, with botched lettering which did not name Swein as king.

Death

Swein's rule was very short, as he died at Gainsborough on 3 February 1014. His demise is described in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as a "happy event". He was buried at York and may have planned to be crowned there. According to Thietmar, an unnamed English woman, perhaps Cnut's wife Ælfgifu, had the body exhumed and sent back to Denmark. The Encomium states that he was buried in a mausoleum he had had constructed for himself, in a monastery of his own foundation dedicated to the Holy Trinity, but does not identify the town. Most historians state that Swein was buried in Roskilde, but Maria Cinthio's excavation of the Holy Trinity church in Lund (now in southern Sweden) has revealed an empty grave in front of the high altar, and she suggests that this is Swein's grave. This theory is supported by Martin Biddle and Birthe Kjølbye-Biddle.

Aftermath

Following Swein's death, the Danish fleet chose Cnut as king, but the English magnates recalled Æthelred. He marched north and drove Cnut out of England. The next year Æthelred's eldest surviving son, Edmund Ironside, rebelled after two of his chief allies were murdered by his father's chief adviser, Eadric Streona, and the English were in disarray when Cnut returned for his own attempt at the throne in the summer. He was aided by the defection of Eadric. Æthelred died on 23 April 1016 and rival assemblies of magnates chose Edmund and Cnut as king. Edmund carried on the fight until he was defeated at the Battle of Assandun on 18 October. The country was then divided, with Edmund holding Wessex and Cnut the country north of the Thames, but Edmund died on 30 November and Cnut became king of all England.

Family

Swein married a sister of Boleslaus I, ruler of Poland, but later rejected her. Her name is not known. She had two sons by Swein. Harald, who succeeded Swein as king of Denmark, is described in the Encomium as Cnut's younger brother, but other sources say that Harald was the elder, and this view is defended by Niels Lund. When Swein died, Cnut returned to Denmark and requested that his brother share the kingdom. Harald refused, claiming that Denmark was his paternal inheritance. Cnut accepted the decision in good spirit and the brothers remained on good terms. Lund argues that it is very unlikely that Cnut would have accepted the decision if he had been the elder son, and also that it was usual to name the elder son after his grandfather and to leave him in charge when the king was absent. Lund's arguments are accepted by Bolton and Keynes, and tentatively by M. K. Lawson.

Cnut and Harald's sister, Estrid, married one of Cnut's earls, Ulf Jarl, and was the mother of Swein Estrithsson, King of Denmark from 1047 to 1076. Adam of Bremen claimed that Swein's wife was the widow of Erik of Sweden, and this is accepted by Sawyer and Bolton, but rejected by Lund. Adam and Thietmar both state that Swein married Boleslaus's sister, and this is supported by a statement in the Encomium that when Swein died her sons recalled her from Poland. Adam is the only source to state that she was Erik's widow, and Lund argues that Adam invented it to justify his claim that Swein Estrithsson's marriage to the granddaughter of Erik's wife was incestuous.

Another daughter of Swein, Gytha, married his ally, Erik Hakonsson, and had a son Hakon Eriksson in 998. Gytha must have been born before Swein became king of Denmark, probably not much after 980. Nothing is known of her mother. Another possible daughter is recorded in the Liber Vitae of New Minster, Winchester, which lists a sister of Cnut with the garbled name Santslave, perhaps an error for Świętosława. She might be the same person as an unnamed daughter of Swein who married the equally garbled Wyrtgeorn, King of the Wends, according to the medieval chronicler John of Worcester.

Reputation

Swein had an afterlife in hagiographical accounts of the posthumous miracles of Edmund the Martyr, a king of East Anglia killed by the Vikings in 870. Swein is portrayed as a villain punished for his oppression of the English by being killed by Edmund. The story is first recorded in the 1090s in the Miracles of St Edmund, by Herman the Archdeacon, and abbreviated shortly afterwards by Goscelin. The legend was repeated by post-Conquest chroniclers such as William of Malmesbury, John of Worcester and Matthew Paris.

Bagge observes that Swein is scornfully dismissed in medieval sagas, which are pro-Norwegian, as "the leader of the 'soft' Danes who preferred to lick their bowls during pagan sacrifices rather than expose themselves to danger in battles". Modern historians strongly disagree, and Bagge describes Swein as "a great warrior and Viking chieftain". Jones comments: "What we can believe is that [Swein] was a man of outstanding quality, and that unlike Olaf Tryggvason he was tolerant and sensible. He fostered Christianity, to which he was personally not much drawn, in a pragmatic and effective way". Sawyer praises his achievements:

The evidence, though slight, is sufficient to show that Swein was a remarkable, and a remarkably successful, king. His achievements outside Denmark are better documented than those in it, but there is no reason to suppose that his triumphs abroad were matched by failure at home. His external success, especially against the English, enabled him to retain the loyalty of the warriors on whom his power ultimately depended.