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Archiver > GEN-MEDIEVAL > 1997-03 > 0859418944


From: Stewart Baldwin < >
Subject: Adam of Bremen's kings of Norway
Date: Wed, 26 Mar 1997 23:29:04 GMT


While travelling last weekend, I got a chance to look at an English
translation of Adam of Bremen's "History of the Archbishops of
Hamburg-Bremen" [translated by Francis J. Tschan, Columbia University
Press, 1959]. Since this was the first time in several years that I
had seen a copy, I took the opportunity to get some of the data from
Adam on the early Scandinavian kings. Below is an account of the
early kings of Norway as given by Adam, supplemented from the time of
Olaf Tryggvason and later by items from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and
Florence of Worcester, the only other near contemporary accounts of
the early Norwegian kings of which I am aware. The only liberty I
have taken with Adam's account is to read "Harold" instead of
"Hartild" in one place (as discussed below), because I believe that
the context of the chapter demands that interpretation. If you
disagree with the idea that "Hartild" is a scribal slip for "Harald",
then you should blame me, and not Adam.

Of course, the account below based on Adam of Bremen differs
considerably from the information given in the Icelandic sagas. From
the time of Olaf Tryggvason on, the only really serious difference is
the parentage of St. Olaf (d. 1030), but there are very significant
differences in the part prior to Olaf Tryggvason, and I have quoted
Adam's accounts in full for this very early part. (The Latin quotes
come from Migne's Patrologiae, vol. CXLVI, perhaps not the best
version to use, but the only one which is available to me.)

It seems to me that the most common approach to the history of the
early kings of Norway is to accept the later Icelandic and Norwegian
accounts as correct (or essentially correct), and then accuse Adam of
being confused because he gives different information. However, Adam
was writing earlier than the surviving Icelandic and Norwegian
sources, so it seems to me that he ought to at least be given a fair
hearing. Of course, he was prone to exaggeration (such as the
statement that Haakon was descended from a race of giants), and his
chronology is often weak, but I know of no CONTEMPORARY (or near
contemporary) sources which would contradict the outline of the early
kings of Norway as given below, based mainly on Adam's account, with
chronological help from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.

So, here is the challenge which I am throwing out to other members of
the newsgroup. Is there any contemporary (or near contemporary - say
pre-1100) evidence which would undermine the account of Adam of
Bremen's early Norwegian kings, or, if you are inclined in the other
direction, any evidence which would undermine the sagas and support
Adam?

The early Kings of NORWAY (based mainly on Adam of Bremen):

HAAKON, of the stock of Ivar, first king of Norway [according to
Adam], who ruled 35 years (say ca. 945?-ca. 980?) [see note 1]

HARALD [Bluetooth] of Denmark, king of Norway (ca. 980?-ca. 985?)
["Hartild" - see note 1]

TRYGGVE ["Thrucco"], king of Norway (say ca. 985?-ca. 990?), son of
Haakon. He was ruling during the time that Svein of Denmark had been
driven out of his kingdom by Eric of Sweden, but the precise years
cannot be determined from Adam's account. [see note 2]

OLAF, nicknamed "CRACABBEN" (the Olaf Tryggvason of the sagas), d. ca.
1000, first Christian king of Norway [according to Adam, Book 2,
xxxvi(34)], son of Tryggve. He appeared in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
[ASC] under the year 991 [Ms. A], apparently fighting in the Battle of
Maldon in that year. In 994 [ASC, Mss. C, D, E], Olaf and Svein
attacked London, but Olaf promised never to return to England in
hostility. According to Adam, Book 2, xl(38), Olaf was defeated by
Svein of Denmark, and committed suicide by throwing himself into the
sea.

SVEIN of Denmark, also ruled Norway from the death of Olaf until his
own death in 1014. [Adam, Book 2, xli(39)ff.]

OLAF, d. 1030 [ASC, Mss. C, D, E], king of Norway 1014-1028, son of
Cracabben [according to Adam, Book 2, li(49): "Olaph, filium
Cracaben"]. He accompanied Svein on his conquest of England in 1013
[Adam, Book 2, li(49)], but rebelled and made himself King of Norway
on Svein's death in 1014 [Adam, Book 2, lii(50)]. He was driven out
of his kingdom by Knut of Denmark [Adam. Book 2, lxi(59)], an event
dated by the ASC to the year 1028 [ASC, Mss. C, D, E, F]. He was
killed by his own people in 1030 [ASC, Mss. C, D, E], apparently after
having briefly regained his kingdom [Adam. Book 2, lxi(59)].
[Question: Is there any contemporary verification of the parentage of
Olaf?.]

KNUT of Denmark and England, king of Norway, 1028-1035.
[From this point on, there seems to be no serious disagreement between
the sagas and Adam and the other more contemporary sources. The
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Florence of Worcester verify the basic saga
accounts that St. Olaf and Harald Hardrada were brothers by the same
mother, and that Harald's father was named Sigurd ("Siward").]

NOTES

Note 1: The otherwise unknown Hartild ("Hartildum") of Adam of Bremen
appears to be a slip of the pen for Harald [Bluetooth] ("Haroldum"),
as nobody else could reasonably be stated to rule both Denmark and
Norway during this period, and the suggested scribal error involves
only a couple of letters ("o" replaced by "ti", presumably due to bad
handwriting). The relevant passage is from Adam of Bremen, Book 2,
xxv(22): "In Norway Haakon was the ruler. When the Norwegians drove
him from the realm because he had acted haughtily, Harold valorously
restored him and made him well-disposed to the worshipers of Christ.
Exceedingly cruel, this Haakon, of the stock of Ivar and descended
from a race of giants, was the first among the Norwegians to seize a
kingship whereas chiefs had ruled before. Now Haakon, after
completing thirty-five years on the throne, died and left as heir to
his scepter Hartild, who at the same time possessed Denmark and
Norway." ("In Norveja Haccon princeps erat, quem, dum Nortmanni
superbius agentem regno depellerent, Haroldus sua virtute restituit et
Christicolis placatum effecit. Haccon iste crudelissimus, ex genere
Inguar et giganteo sanguine descendens, primus inter Nordmannos regnum
arripuit, eum autea ducibus regerentur. Igitur Haccon, triginta
quinque annis in regno exactis, obiit, Hartildum relinquens sceptri
heredem, qui simul Daniam possedit atque Nordmaniam.")

Note 2: The relevant passage from Adam of Bremen, Book 2, xxxiv(32),
runs as follows: "After receiving requital for the enormities he had
perpetrated on the churches of God and the Christians, King Svein,
vanquished and deserted by his own men, as one might expect of one
whom God had abandoned, went, a wanderer and destitute of help, to the
Norwegians over whom Tryggve, the son of Haakon, then ruled. As
Tryggve was a pagan, he was not moved with compassion for the exile."
("Post vindictam ergo scelerum, quae in ecclesias Dei et christianos
commiserat, Suein rex victus et a suis derelictus quippe quem Deus
deseruit, errabundus et inops auxilii venit ad Nortmannos, ubi tunc
filius Hacconis Thrucco regnavit. In quoniam paganus erat, nulla
super exulem misericordia motus est.")

Stewart Baldwin

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