Thorgil Sprakling (also called Torkel Styrbjörnsson, Torgils or Sprakalägg) was a Dane, killed at the Battle of Swold,[citation needed] whose grandsons became kings of Denmark and England. In Knýtlinga saga he is also called "the fast". Florence of Worcester named his father as 'Ursius' (i.e. urso, Latin for bear, björn in Scandinavian languages). Saxo Grammaticus reports that this Ursius/Björn was the son of a bear and a fair Swedish maiden, but later genealogical tradition (presumably first suggested by the Danish historian Peter Frederik Suhm) would make Thorgil son of the Viking Styrbjörn the Strong, who in turn is depicted as son of Olaf Björnsson, king of Sweden. Styrbjorn's wife in the sagas, Thyra, was the daughter of Harold Bluetooth, king of Denmark and Norway. This pedigree for Thorgil is of late date, and may have been invented to glorify his Danish royal descendants.
His children were Ulf (d. 1027), a steward and Earl of Canute the Great in Denmark, whose son became king Sweyn II of Denmark, Eilaf (also Earl of King Canute) and Gytha Thorkelsdóttir who was to marry Godwin, Earl of Wessex and become mother of Harold Godwinson, king of England.
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