Family tree Bas » Harthacnut I van Denemarken (880-????)

Personal data Harthacnut I van Denemarken 

• He was born in the year 880.

  Attention: Was younger than 16 years (0) when child (Gorm "de Oude" van Denemarken) was born (??-??-875).

• (Geschiedenis) .Source 1

  Harthacnut or Cnut I (Danish: Hardeknud) (born c. 880) was a legendary King of Denmark. Adam of Bremen makes him son of an otherwise unknown king Sweyn, while the saga Ragnarssona þáttr makes him son of the semi-mythic viking chieftain Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye, himself one of the sons of the legendary Ragnar Lodbrok.
  Contents
  Predecessors
  
  According to clergyman Adam of Bremen who came from Germany to record the history of the Archbishops of Bremen, in the 890s king Helghe was deposed and Denmark was conquered by Swedes led by Olof the Brash. Along with two of his sons, Gyrd and Gnupa, he took the realm "by force of arms,"[1] and they ruled it together, thus founding the House of Olaf in Denmark. Adam reports that they were followed by a Sigtrygg. That he was son of Gnupa by a Danish noblewoman Asfrid, is shown by on two runestones near Schleswig, Schleswig-Holstein erected by his mother after his death.[2]
  Rise to power
  
  Adam tells that after Sygtrigg reigned a short time, during the tenure of Archbishop Hoger of Bremen (909-915/917), Harthacnut (Danish: Hardeknud), son of king Sweyn, came from "Northmannia," the "land of the Northmen," by which he may have meant Norway, Normandy, which had recently been colonized by Danish Vikings, or even northern Jutland. Harthacnut immediately deposed the young king Sigtrygg, and then ruled unopposed for approximately thirty years. However, the Saxon chronicles of Widukind of Corvey report the defeat and forced baptism of the Danish king Chnuba in 936 at the hands of German king Henry.[3] Likewise, Olav Tryggvasson's Saga tells of Gnupa's defeat by Gorm the Old.[4] Some historians (e.g. Storm) have taken these as indications that Sigtrygg's father Gnupa still ruled at least part of Denmark much later than credited by Adam of Bremen.
  Adam of Bremen as sole primary source
  
  The only primary source about Harthacnut of Denmark are two clauses from Adam of Bremen (1,52 and 1,55).
  
  1,52 reads: king Sveins son, Hardegon in the oldest manuscript which was later changed to king Sveins son, Harthacnut but also changed to king Sveins son, Athelstan.[5]
  
  1,55 says Hardecnudth Vurm, a double name not uncommon in that era, later changed to Hardecnudths son, Vurm but also changed to Athelstan Vurm.[6] Historians generally agree that Vurm (English: worm or serpent) is a German rendering of the Danish name Gorm, which allows for an interpretation that Harthacnut and Gorm were originally the same person. 1,56 says as Vurm been attacked of King Heinrich I (916-936). That attack was in 934 and Widukind 1.40 say the Danish kings name was Chnuba.
  
  Even though Adam names king Sweyn Estridsson as his source, this does not preclude the possibility of errors on his part. Adam's history contains other statements that are rejected or deemed unlikely by historians.
  In Ragnarssona þáttr
  
  The saga Ragnarssona þáttr relates the acts of the sons of Ragnar Lodbrok, and proceeds to link them genealogically to the later rulers of the Scandinavian kingdoms. It makes Harthacnut son of Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye. Scholarly opinion is divided as to the degree to which the material found in such heroic sources is to be taken as authentic history and genealogy.
  In Saxo
  
  In the late and legend-influenced Gesta Danorum of Saxo Grammaticus, Hardakanute appears as Knut. He is described as a son of Erik, a descendent of Ragnar Lodbrok, by Gudorm, the granddaughter of Harald Klak. In his version of the tale, Hardakanute is raised by Ennignup (suggested to be Saxo's rendition of Gnupa), but never accepts Christianity.

• A child of Sigurd "Snake in the Eye" and Blaeja of Northumbria
• This information was last updated on December 14, 2012.

Household of Harthacnut I van Denemarken

Child(ren):

1. Gorm "de Oude" van Denemarken  875-958 

Do you have supplementary information, corrections or questions with regards to Harthacnut I van Denemarken?
The author of this publication would love to hear from you!

Timeline Harthacnut I van Denemarken

Click on the names for more info. Symbols used:  grandparents    parents    brothers/sisters    children