Bellon (?)1

M, #5221, d. after 812

Marriage* 1 
Death*after 812 1 

Family

Children

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Aefrid (?)1

M, #5222, d. 934

Father*Oliba II (?)1 d. 880
Aefrid (?)|d. 934|p175.htm#i5222|Oliba II (?)|d. 880|p175.htm#i5224||||Eudes (?)||p300.htm#i8990||||||||||

Marriage* Principal=Adelaide d' Auvergne1 
Death*934 1 

Family

Adelaide d' Auvergne
Children

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Adelaide d' Auvergne1

F, #5223

Father*Count Bernard of Autun1 d. 885
Mother*Ermengarde de Chalons (?)1
Adelaide d' Auvergne||p175.htm#i5223|Count Bernard of Autun|d. 885|p175.htm#i5225|Ermengarde de Chalons (?)||p175.htm#i5226|Solomon (?)|d. bt 868 - 870|p175.htm#i5229|(?) de Toulouse||p175.htm#i5230|Guerin (?)|d. 856|p175.htm#i5231|Avane (?)||p175.htm#i5232|

Marriage* Principal=Aefrid (?)1 

Family

Aefrid (?) d. 934
Children

Last Edited19 Jul 2005

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Oliba II (?)1

M, #5224, d. 880

Father*Eudes (?)1
Oliba II (?)|d. 880|p175.htm#i5224|Eudes (?)||p300.htm#i8990||||Uliba I. (?)|d. 837|p175.htm#i5227|Ermentrude (?)||p175.htm#i5228|||||||

Marriage* 1 
Death*880 1 

Family

Child

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Count Bernard of Autun1

M, #5225, d. 885

Father*Solomon (?)1 d. bt 868 - 870
Mother*(?) de Toulouse1
Count Bernard of Autun|d. 885|p175.htm#i5225|Solomon (?)|d. bt 868 - 870|p175.htm#i5229|(?) de Toulouse||p175.htm#i5230|||||||Makir T. (?)|d. a 793|p217.htm#i6500|Auda M. (?)||p217.htm#i6501|

Marriage* Principal=Ermengarde de Chalons (?)1 
Death*885 1 
Name Variation Makir1 

Family

Ermengarde de Chalons (?)
Children

Last Edited19 Jul 2005

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Ermengarde de Chalons (?)1

F, #5226

Father*Guerin (?)1 d. 856
Mother*Avane (?)1
Ermengarde de Chalons (?)||p175.htm#i5226|Guerin (?)|d. 856|p175.htm#i5231|Avane (?)||p175.htm#i5232|||||||||||||

Marriage* Principal=Count Bernard of Autun1 

Family

Count Bernard of Autun d. 885
Children

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Uliba I (?)1

M, #5227, d. 837

Father*Gislefroy of Carcassonne (?)1 d. 817
Uliba I (?)|d. 837|p175.htm#i5227|Gislefroy of Carcassonne (?)|d. 817|p300.htm#i8991||||Bellon (?)|d. a 812|p175.htm#i5221||||||||||

Marriage* Principal=Ermentrude (?)1 
Death*837 1 

Family

Ermentrude (?)
Child

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Ermentrude (?)1

F, #5228

Marriage* Principal=Uliba I (?)1 

Family

Uliba I (?) d. 837
Child

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Solomon (?)1

M, #5229, d. between 868 and 870

Marriage* Principal=(?) de Toulouse1 
Death*between 868 and 870 murdered.1 
Event-Misc*863 Cordova, Spain, He was King Charles' ambassador to Cordova2 
Title* Roussillon, Provence, France, Count of Roussillon2 

Family

(?) de Toulouse
Child

Last Edited16 Jul 2004

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.
  2. [S304] David H. Kelley, "Solomon, Count of Roussilon."

(?) de Toulouse1

F, #5230

Father*Makir Theuderic (?)1 d. a 793
Mother*Auda Martel (?)1
(?) de Toulouse||p175.htm#i5230|Makir Theuderic (?)|d. a 793|p217.htm#i6500|Auda Martel (?)||p217.htm#i6501|Habibai (Havivai, Hakhinai) (?)||p220.htm#i6591||||Charles Martel|b. 689\nd. 22 Oct 741|p61.htm#i1802|Rotrou (?)|d. 724|p61.htm#i1801|

Marriage* Principal=Solomon (?)1 
Note* He was proposed by David Kelley as a Jewish King of Narbonne2 

Family

Solomon (?) d. bt 868 - 870
Child

Last Edited16 Jul 2004

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.
  2. [S304] David H. Kelley, "Solomon, Count of Roussilon."

Guerin (?)1

M, #5231, d. 856

Marriage* Principal=Avane (?)1 
Death*856 1 

Family

Avane (?)
Child

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Avane (?)1

F, #5232

Marriage* Principal=Guerin (?)1 

Family

Guerin (?) d. 856
Child

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

King Dunlaing of Leinster1

M, #5233, d. 1014

Father*Tuathal (?)1 d. 956
King Dunlaing of Leinster|d. 1014|p175.htm#i5233|Tuathal (?)|d. 956|p219.htm#i6546||||Ugaire (?)|d. 915|p219.htm#i6547||||||||||

Marriage* 1 
Death*1014 Clontarf1 

Family

Children

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.
  2. [S168] Frederick Lewis Weis, Ancestral Roots, 239-3.

Maelmordha (?)1

M, #5234, d. 1014

Father*King Murchad of Leinster1 d. 972
Mother*Bevrona McTeiga1
Maelmordha (?)|d. 1014|p175.htm#i5234|King Murchad of Leinster|d. 972|p171.htm#i5112|Bevrona McTeiga||p171.htm#i5113|Bran F. (?)|d. 921|p218.htm#i6535|(Miss) O'Sullivan||p218.htm#i6536|Bron O'Mahony||p219.htm#i6543||||

Marriage* 1 
Death*1014 1 

Family

Children

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Teign 'of the White Steed' O'Conor1

M, #5235, d. 1030

Marriage* Principal=Dearbforgail of Ossory O'Brien1 
Death*1030 1 

Family

Dearbforgail of Ossory O'Brien d. 1098
Child

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Conan O'Brien1

M, #5236

Father*Brian Boru1 b. 926, d. 23 Apr 1014
Mother*Gormflaith of Nass1 d. 1030
Conan O'Brien||p175.htm#i5236|Brian Boru|b. 926\nd. 23 Apr 1014|p164.htm#i4892|Gormflaith of Nass|d. 1030|p171.htm#i5110|Cineidi (?)|d. 951|p171.htm#i5114|Mary B. O'Flaherty||p171.htm#i5115|King Murchad of Leinster|d. 972|p171.htm#i5112|Bevrona McTeiga||p171.htm#i5113|

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Ealdred of Bamburgh1

M, #5237, d. circa 931

Father*Eadwulf of Bamburgh1,2 d. 912
Mother*Elfreda (?)1
Ealdred of Bamburgh|d. c 931|p175.htm#i5237|Eadwulf of Bamburgh|d. 912|p175.htm#i5238|Elfreda (?)||p175.htm#i5239|Etheldred (?)||p175.htm#i5240||||||||||

Death*circa 931 1 
DNB* Ealdred (d. 933?), leader of the Northumbrians, was the son of Eadulf and lord of Bamburgh. He was the most important Anglo-Saxon in Northumbria during the early tenth century, a time of renewed viking activity, and the last representative of an independent Anglo-Saxon royal family in the north. His father, Eadulf, is styled king of the north Saxons by the tenth-century record embedded in the Irish annals of Ulster, while the contemporary Historia de sancto Cuthberto describes him as princeps. Ealdred, like his father before him, was prominent in efforts to unite Northumbria with the other English-ruled regions; the Historia de sancto Cuthberto claims that he was as beloved by Edward the Elder as his father had been by Alfred the Great.

Ealdred succeeded his father in 913, after the murder of Eadulf by an Eadred, son of Rixinc. Eadred led an invasion against Eadulf, killed him, and seized his wife before retiring south of the River Tyne to the sanctuary of the lands of St Cuthbert, where he resided for three years before dying in a battle fought against the vikings in 916. Ealdred came to power at the time when three vikings—Ragnall, Sihtric, and Guthfrith—began a campaign to bring Northumbria under their control. At the same time they were establishing themselves in south-eastern Ireland and taking control of the Irish Sea. Some time between 914 and 916 Ragnall attacked eastern Britain and occupied the lands of Ealdred, who fled north and sought aid from the Scottish king Constantine II. Seeking assistance from a Scottish rather than an English prince may not have been eccentric: Constantine had a son named Idulb, the Gaelic rendering of Eadulf, which suggests that the Scottish royal family and the dynasty of Bamburgh were allied by marriage. This alliance proved unable to halt the vikings and ‘through some unknown sin’, according to the Historia de sancto Cuthberto, Constantine and Ealdred were defeated in the battle of Corbridge. Constantine redeemed himself in a later battle when the Scots fought the vikings to a draw in 918. The death of Ragnall in 920 or 921 brought to Britain a less formidable opponent in his kinsman Sihtric, who ruled Northumbria until his death in 927. Ealdred remained powerful, however, and the contemporary version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle notes that he submitted to King Edward the Elder in 924, together with all the Northumbrians: English, Danes, and Norwegians. After the death of Sihtric Northumbria was annexed by Edward's son Æthelstan (d. 939) and Ealdred submitted to him. Ealdred then disappears from the chronicle record, but reappears as a witness to several charters issued at the court of Æthelstan in 931 or 932. Those charters were all issued in the south of England, suggesting that Ealdred was in constant attendance on the royal court during that time. The absence of Ealdred from later documents suggests that he might have died in the year 933.

Little is known of Ealdred's family, although he had a brother named Uhtred who survived the battle of Corbridge. Ealdred was probably the father of Oswulf, who later ruled in Northumbria under King Eadred (d. 955). Oswulf engineered the downfall of Erik Bloodaxe (d. 954), the last king of an independent Northumbria, so that the kingdom could be annexed by Eadred. Oswulf was a witness to several royal charters where he is identified as ‘high-reeve of Bamburgh’.

Benjamin T. Hudson
Sources

J. Earle, ed., Two of the Saxon chronicles parallel with supplementary extracts from the others, rev. C. Plummer, 2 vols. (1892–9) · ‘Historia de sancto Cuthberto’, Symeon of Durham, Opera, vol. 1 · W. de G. Birch, ed., Cartularium Saxonicum, 4 vols. (1885–99) · The chronicle of Æthelweard, ed. and trans. A. Campbell (1962) · A. Campbell, ‘Two notes on the Norse kingdoms in Northumbria’, EngHR, 57 (1942), 85–97 · D. Whitelock, ‘The dealings of the kings of England with Northumbria in the 10th and 11th centuries’, The Anglo-Saxons: studies in some aspects of their history and culture presented to Bruce Dickins, ed. P. Clemoes (1959), 70–88 · F. T. Wainwright, ‘The battles of Corbridge’, Saga Book of the Viking Society, 13 (1950), 156–73 · R. Vaughan, ed., ‘The chronicle attributed to John of Wallingford’, Camden miscellany, XXI, CS, 3rd ser., 90 (1958) · F. M. Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, 3rd edn (1971) · Ann. Ulster · AS chart., S 396
© Oxford University Press 2004–5
All rights reserved: see legal notice      Oxford University Press


Benjamin T. Hudson, ‘Ealdred (d. 933?)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/39225, accessed 24 Sept 2005]

Ealdred (d. 933?): doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/392253 
Note*between 913 and 930 High-Reeve of Bamburgh2 

Family

Child

Last Edited24 Sep 2005

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.
  2. [S343] British Monarchs, online http://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/northumb.html
  3. [S376] Unknown editor, unknown short title.

Eadwulf of Bamburgh1

M, #5238, d. 912

Father*Etheldred (?)1
Eadwulf of Bamburgh|d. 912|p175.htm#i5238|Etheldred (?)||p175.htm#i5240||||Ælla of Northumbria||p213.htm#i6374||||||||||

Marriage* Principal=Elfreda (?)1 
Death*912 1 
Note* High-Reeve of Bamburgh2 
Name Variation Eadulf (?)2 

Family

Elfreda (?)
Child

Last Edited28 Jun 2005

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.
  2. [S343] British Monarchs, online http://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/northumb.html

Elfreda (?)1

F, #5239

Marriage* Principal=Eadwulf of Bamburgh1 

Family

Eadwulf of Bamburgh d. 912
Child

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Etheldred (?)1

M, #5240

Father*Ælla of Northumbria1
Etheldred (?)||p175.htm#i5240|Ælla of Northumbria||p213.htm#i6374||||Ælfric of Northumbria||p213.htm#i6375||||||||||

Note* Lewis has it as Eltheldreda, but this is a female name. So far, I have found no other source for the link between Aella and Eadwulf - GEB 

Family

Child

Last Edited28 Jun 2005

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Aalof Haraldsdotter1

F, #5241

Father*Harald Haarfaqr1 b. 850, d. 933
Mother*Gyda of Hordeland1 d. c 936
Aalof Haraldsdotter||p175.htm#i5241|Harald Haarfaqr|b. 850\nd. 933|p175.htm#i5243|Gyda of Hordeland|d. c 936|p337.htm#i10108|Hálfdan the Black|b. c 820\nd. 860|p175.htm#i5245|Ragnhild Sigurdsdotter|b. c 830|p175.htm#i5246|||||||

Marriage*circa 890 Principal=Count Thoro of More1 

Last Edited17 Jun 2005

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Count Thoro of More1

M, #5242

Father*Ragnvald Eysteinsson1 b. c 830, d. 890
Mother*Hilda Hrolfsdotter1 b. c 848, d. a 892
Count Thoro of More||p175.htm#i5242|Ragnvald Eysteinsson|b. c 830\nd. 890|p149.htm#i4452|Hilda Hrolfsdotter|b. c 848\nd. a 892|p149.htm#i4453|Jarl Eystein Glumra of the Upplands|b. c 800\nd. a 830|p149.htm#i4447|Aseda o. J. (?)|b. c 812|p149.htm#i4448|Hrolf Nefja||p175.htm#i5249||||

Marriage*circa 890 Principal=Aalof Haraldsdotter1 

Last Edited17 Jun 2005

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Harald Haarfaqr1

M, #5243, b. 850, d. 933

Father*Hálfdan the Black2 b. c 820, d. 860
Mother*Ragnhild Sigurdsdotter2,3 b. c 830
Harald Haarfaqr|b. 850\nd. 933|p175.htm#i5243|Hálfdan the Black|b. c 820\nd. 860|p175.htm#i5245|Ragnhild Sigurdsdotter|b. c 830|p175.htm#i5246|Gudröd of Norway "the Magnificent"|d. bt 810 - 827|p366.htm#i10977|Åsa Haraldsdotter||p366.htm#i10979|Sigurd Hjort||p366.htm#i10973|Thyri (?)||p366.htm#i10975|

Birth*850 Age 83 at death2,1 
Marriage* Principal=Gyda of Hordeland2,4 
Marriage* Principal=Schwanhild of the Uplands2,5 
Marriage* Principal=Snaefrid (?)2 
Death*933 Rogaland2,1 
Biography* From Carlyle: Early Kings of Norway:

"Till about the Year of Grace 860 there were no kings in Norway, nothing but numerous jarls,—essentially kinglets, each presiding over a kind of republican or parliamentary little territory; generally striving each to be on some terms of human neighborhood with those about him, but,—in spite of "Fylke Things" (Folk Things, little parish parliaments), and small combinations of these, which had gradually formed themselves,—often reduced to the unhappy state of quarrel with them. Harald Haarfagr was the first to put an end to this state of things, and become memorable and profitable to his country by uniting it under one head and making a kingdom of it; which it has continued to be ever since. His father, Halfdan the Black, had already begun this rough but salutary process,—inspired by the cupidities and instincts, by the faculties and opportunities, which the good genius of this world, beneficent often enough under savage forms, and diligent at all times to diminish anarchy as the world's worst savagery, usually appoints in such cases,—conquest, hard fighting, followed by wise guidance of the conquered;—but it was Harald the Fairhaired, his son, who conspicuously carried it on and completed it. Harald's birth-year, death-year, and chronology in general, are known only by inference and computation; but, by the latest reckoning, he died about the year 933 of our era, a man of eighty-three.

The business of conquest lasted Harald about twelve years (A.D. 860-872?), in which he subdued also the vikings of the out-islands, Orkneys, Shetlands, Hebrides, and Man. Sixty more years were given him to consolidate and regulate what he had conquered, which he did with great judgment, industry and success. His reign altogether is counted to have been of over seventy years.

The beginning of his great adventure was of a romantic character.—youthful love for the beautiful Gyda, a then glorious and famous young lady of those regions, whom the young Harald aspired to marry. Gyda answered his embassy and prayer in a distant, lofty manner: "Her it would not beseem to wed any Jarl or poor creature of that kind; let him do as Gorm of Denmark, Eric of Sweden, Egbert of England, and others had done,—subdue into peace and regulation the confused, contentious bits of jarls round him, and become a king; then, perhaps, she might think of his proposal: till then, not." Harald was struck with this proud answer, which rendered Gyda tenfold more desirable to him. He vowed to let his hair grow, never to cut or even to comb it till this feat were done, and the peerless Gyda his own. He proceeded accordingly to conquer, in fierce battle, a Jarl or two every year, and, at the end of twelve years, had his unkempt (and almost unimaginable) head of hair clipt off,—Jarl Rognwald (Reginald) of More, the most valued and valuable of all his subject-jarls, being promoted to this sublime barber function;—after which King Harald, with head thoroughly cleaned, and hair grown, or growing again to the luxuriant beauty that had no equal in his day, brought home his Gyda, and made her the brightest queen in all the north. He had after her, in succession, or perhaps even simultaneously in some cases, at least six other wives; and by Gyda herself one daughter and four sons.

Harald was not to be considered a strict-living man, and he had a great deal of trouble, as we shall see, with the tumultuous ambition of his sons; but he managed his government, aided by Jarl Rognwald and others, in a large, quietly potent, and successful manner; and it lasted in this royal form till his death, after sixty years of it.

These were the times of Norse colonization; proud Norsemen flying into other lands, to freer scenes,—to Iceland, to the Faroe Islands, which were hitherto quite vacant (tenanted only by some mournful hermit, Irish Christian fakir, or so); still more copiously to the Orkney and Shetland Isles, the Hebrides and other countries where Norse squatters and settlers already were. Settlement of Iceland, we say; settlement of the Faroe Islands, and, by far the notablest of all, settlement of Normandy by Rolf the Ganger (A.D. 876?).(2)

Rolf, son of Rognwald,(3) was lord of three little islets far north, near the Fjord of Folden, called the Three Vigten Islands; but his chief means of living was that of sea robbery; which, or at least Rolf's conduct in which, Harald did not approve of. In the Court of Harald, sea-robbery was strictly forbidden as between Harald's own countries, but as against foreign countries it continued to be the one profession for a gentleman; thus, I read, Harald's own chief son, King Eric that afterwards was, had been at sea in such employments ever since his twelfth year. Rolf's crime, however, was that in coming home from one of these expeditions, his crew having fallen short of victual, Rolf landed with them on the shore of Norway, and in his strait, drove in some cattle there (a crime by law) and proceeded to kill and eat; which, in a little while, he heard that King Harald was on foot to inquire into and punish; whereupon Rolf the Ganger speedily got into his ships again, got to the coast of France with his sea- robbers, got infeftment by the poor King of France in the fruitful, shaggy desert which is since called Normandy, land of the Northmen; and there, gradually felling the forests, banking the rivers, tilling the fields, became, during the next two centuries, Wilhelmus Conquaestor, the man famous to England, and momentous at this day, not to England alone, but to all speakers of the English tongue, now spread from side to side of the world in a wonderful degree. Tancred of Hauteville and his Italian Normans, though important too, in Italy, are not worth naming in comparison. This is a feracious earth, and the grain of mustard-seed will grow to miraculous extent in some cases.

Harald's chief helper, counsellor, and lieutenant was the above-mentioned Jarl Rognwald of More, who had the honor to cut Harald's dreadful head of hair. This Rognwald was father of Turf-Einar, who first invented peat in the Orkneys, finding the wood all gone there; and is remembered to this day. Einar, being come to these islands by King Harald's permission, to see what he could do in them,—islands inhabited by what miscellany of Picts, Scots, Norse squatters we do not know,—found the indispensable fuel all wasted. Turf-Einar too may be regarded as a benefactor to his kind. He was, it appears, a bastard; and got no coddling from his father, who disliked him, partly perhaps, because "he was ugly and blind of an eye,"—got no flattering even on his conquest of the Orkneys and invention of peat. Here is the parting speech his father made to him on fitting him out with a "long-ship" (ship of war, "dragon-ship," ancient seventy-four), and sending him forth to make a living for himself in the world: "It were best if thou never camest back, for I have small hope that thy people will have honor by thee; thy mother's kin throughout is slavish."

Harald Haarfagr had a good many sons and daughters; the daughters he married mostly to jarls of due merit who were loyal to him; with the sons, as remarked above, he had a great deal of trouble. They were ambitious, stirring fellows, and grudged at their finding so little promotion from a father so kind to his jarls; sea-robbery by no means an adequate career for the sons of a great king, two of them, Halfdan Haaleg (Long-leg), and Gudrod Ljome (Gleam), jealous of the favors won by the great Jarl Rognwald. surrounded him in his house one night, and burnt him and sixty men to death there. That was the end of Rognwald, the invaluable jarl, always true to Haarfagr; and distinguished in world history by producing Rolf the Ganger, author of the Norman Conquest of England, and Turf-Einar, who invented peat in the Orkneys. Whether Rolf had left Norway at this time there is no chronology to tell me. As to Rolf's surname, "Ganger," there are various hypotheses; the likeliest, perhaps, that Rolf was so weighty a man no horse (small Norwegian horses, big ponies rather) could carry him, and that he usually walked, having a mighty stride withal, and great velocity on foot.

One of these murderers of Jarl Rognwald quietly set himself in Rognwald's place, the other making for Orkney to serve Turf-Einar in like fashion. Turf-Einar, taken by surprise, fled to the mainland; but returned, days or perhaps weeks after, ready for battle, fought with Halfdan, put his party to flight, and at next morning's light searched the island and slew all the men he found. As to Halfdan Long-leg himself, in fierce memory of his own murdered father, Turf-Einar "cut an eagle on his back," that is to say, hewed the ribs from each side of the spine and turned them out like the wings of a spread-eagle: a mode of Norse vengeance fashionable at that time in extremely aggravated cases!

Harald Haarfagr, in the mean time, had descended upon the Rognwald scene, not in mild mood towards the new jarl there; indignantly dismissed said jarl, and appointed a brother of Rognwald (brother, notes Dahlmann), though Rognwald had left other sons. Which done, Haarfagr sailed with all speed to the Orkneys, there to avenge that cutting of an eagle on the human back on Turf-Einar's part. Turf-Einar did not resist; submissively met the angry Haarfagr, said he left it all, what had been done, what provocation there had been, to Haarfagr's own equity and greatness of mind. Magnanimous Haarfagr inflicted a fine of sixty marks in gold, which was paid in ready money by Turf-Einar, and so the matter ended.
__________

(2) "Settlement," dated 912, by Munch, Henault, &c. The Saxon Chronicle says (anno 876): "In this year Rolf overran Normandy with his army, and he reigned fifty winters."

(3) Dahlmann, ii. 87."1 
Title* King of Norway1 
Name Variation Harold Fairhair2 

Family 1

Schwanhild of the Uplands
Child

Family 2

Gyda of Hordeland d. c 936
Child

Family 3

Snaefrid (?)
Child

Last Edited17 May 2005

Citations

  1. [S353] Thomas Carlyle, Early Kings of Norway.
  2. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.
  3. [S168] Frederick Lewis Weis, Ancestral Roots, 243A-16.
  4. [S168] Frederick Lewis Weis, Ancestral Roots, 243A-17.
  5. [S168] Frederick Lewis Weis, Ancestral Roots, 121E-16.
  6. [S338] Frederick Lewis Weis, Ancestral Roots, 8th ed., 243A-18.

Hálfdan the Black1

M, #5245, b. circa 820, d. 860

Father*Gudröd of Norway "the Magnificent"2 d. bt 810 - 827
Mother*Åsa Haraldsdotter2
Hálfdan the Black|b. c 820\nd. 860|p175.htm#i5245|Gudröd of Norway "the Magnificent"|d. bt 810 - 827|p366.htm#i10977|Åsa Haraldsdotter||p366.htm#i10979|||||||Harald of Agdir "Red Beard"|d. c 800|p366.htm#i10980||||

Birth*circa 820 3 
Marriage* Bride=Ragnhild Sigurdsdotter1,4 
Death*860 Skiringasal, drowned1,4 
Note* Earlier Generations may be legendary, according to Todd A. Farmerie:

"1. Harald Harfagre
2. Halfdan Svarte

That's it (Halfdan's marriage appears to be bogus as well).

That being said, I will comment on the missing generation. The source
for this is a fragment of Ynglingatal repeated in Snorri's
Heimskringla. Snorri wrote his work about 400 years after the events it
is describing. It tells of Olaf Tree-Cutter founding Norway, and
passing it to his son Halfdan Whiteleg. Halfdan had sons Eystein and
Gudrod. Eystein had a son Halfdan. He was followed by Gudrod, son of
Halfdan, and he was father of Olaf, father of Ragnevald, for whom the
original poem was composed.

The classical reconstruction is that this is a straight shot (Olaf-
Halfdan- Eystein- Halfdan- Gudrod- Olaf- Ragnevald). However, it has
been suggested that Gudrod, son of Halfdan Whiteleg sticks out like a
sore thumb. He neither succeeded, nor is there any reason for him being
mentioned at all (no other "other sons" are mentioned). Maybe, the
speculation runs, he is the Gudrod Halfdanson who later became king -
that Halfdan Eysteinson was followed not by his son, but by his uncle.
One could argue this in circles, but it doesn't matter.

An analysis of the succession after Rognevald reveals a splice between
two traditions. Halfdan the Black is made son of Gudrod born of a
second marriage, and left an infant coheir with his "brother" Olaf. The
location of his rule is nowhere near the location where his predicessors
are said to have ruled, and later his son Harald is made to defeat all
of the other kinglets of Norway, including kings of places that Halfdan
was supposed to have ruled. Finally, what appears to be a
near-contemporary poem celebrating Halfdan the Black seems not to know
his father. To make a long story short (too late! you say), it looks
like the new dynasty, descended from Halfdan the Black, were attached
after the fact to the family celebrated in the Ynglingatal (who actually
appear to have been enemies that they displaced).

Nothing before Halfdan the Black can be trusted, and it is not clear
that the lines back to Harald Fairhair should be trusted either. The
whole "kidnappped as an infant and didn't come back until an adult at
the head of a strong army" thing about Olaf Trygvison smells foul. St.
Olaf owed his position to being Olaf I's right-hand man, while Harald
Hardrade was his step-brother. I have my serious doubts about the
Fairhair pedigrees attached to each of them."
5 
Title* King in Norway, founder of the House of Yngling3,6 
Biography* From the Heimskringla:

"1. HALFDAN FIGHTS WITH GANDALF AND SIGTRYG.

Halfdan was a year old when his father was killed, and his mother
Asa set off immediately with him westwards to Agder, and set
herself there in the kingdom which her father Harald had
possessed. Halfdan grew up there, and soon became stout and
strong; and, by reason of his black hair, was called Halfdan the
Black. When he was eighteen years old he took his kingdom in
Agder, and went immediately to Vestfold, where he divided that
kingdom, as before related, with his brother Olaf. The same
autumn he went with an army to Vingulmark against King Gandalf.
They had many battles, and sometimes one, sometimes the other
gained the victory; but at last they agreed that Halfdan should
have half of Vingulmark, as his father Gudrod had had it before.
Then King Halfdan proceeded to Raumarike, and subdued it. King
Sigtryg, son of King Eystein, who then had his residence in
Hedemark, and who had subdued Raumarike before, having heard of
this, came out with his army against King Halfdan, and there was
great battle, in which King Halfdan was victorious; and just as
King Sigtryg and his troops were turning about to fly, an arrow
struck him under the left arm, and he fell dead. Halfdan then
laid the whole of Raumarike under his power. King Eystein's
second son, King Sigtryg's brother, was also called Eystein, and
was then king in Hedemark. As soon as Halfdan had returned to
Vestfold, King Eystein went out with his army to Raumarike, and
laid the whole country in subjection to him."3 
Title838 King of Agder6 

Family

Ragnhild Sigurdsdotter b. c 830
Child

Last Edited17 May 2005

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.
  2. [S168] Frederick Lewis Weis, Ancestral Roots, 243A-15.
  3. [S352] Online Medieval & Classical Library, online http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/OMACL/
  4. [S168] Frederick Lewis Weis, Ancestral Roots, 243A-16.
  5. [S354] Todd A. Farmerie, Ancestors of Harald Håragre to Olav Tretelgja in "Ancestors of Harald Håragre to Olav Tretelgja," listserve message 23 Jul 1998.
  6. [S348] Wikipedia, online http://en.wikipedia.org/, sub Halfdan the Black.

Ragnhild Sigurdsdotter1

F, #5246, b. circa 830

Father*Sigurd Hjort1
Mother*Thyri (?)1
Ragnhild Sigurdsdotter|b. c 830|p175.htm#i5246|Sigurd Hjort||p366.htm#i10973|Thyri (?)||p366.htm#i10975|||||||King Klak-Harald of Jutland|b. c 830|p366.htm#i10976||||

Birth*circa 830 2 
Marriage* 2nd=Hálfdan the Black2,1 
Name Variation Hilda of Ringerike2 

Family

Hálfdan the Black b. c 820, d. 860
Child

Last Edited17 May 2005

Citations

  1. [S168] Frederick Lewis Weis, Ancestral Roots, 243A-16.
  2. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

King Halfdan II of Vestfold "the Stingy"1

M, #5247, b. 738, d. 800

Father*Eystein the Fart I (?)1 b. 705, d. 780
Mother*Hilda of Vestfold (?)1 b. 710
King Halfdan II of Vestfold "the Stingy"|b. 738\nd. 800|p175.htm#i5247|Eystein the Fart I (?)|b. 705\nd. 780|p177.htm#i5294|Hilda of Vestfold (?)|b. 710|p177.htm#i5295|||||||||||||

Birth*738 1 
Marriage* Principal=Lifa of Westmare (?)1 
Death*800 1 
Name Variation Halfdan "the Old"2 

Family

Lifa of Westmare (?) b. 743
Child

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.
  2. [S168] Frederick Lewis Weis, Ancestral Roots, 121E-14.

Lifa of Westmare (?)1

F, #5248, b. 743

Birth*743 1 
Marriage* Principal=King Halfdan II of Vestfold "the Stingy"1 

Family

King Halfdan II of Vestfold "the Stingy" b. 738, d. 800
Child

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Hrolf Nefja1

M, #5249

Marriage* 1 
Name Variation Rollo Nefia2 

Family

Child

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.
  2. [S168] Frederick Lewis Weis, Ancestral Roots, 121E-17.

Jarl Ivar Oplaendinge of the Uplands1

M, #5250, d. after 800

Father*King Halfdan II of Vestfold "the Stingy"1,2 b. 738, d. 800
Mother*Lifa of Westmare (?)1 b. 743
Jarl Ivar Oplaendinge of the Uplands|d. a 800|p175.htm#i5250|King Halfdan II of Vestfold "the Stingy"|b. 738\nd. 800|p175.htm#i5247|Lifa of Westmare (?)|b. 743|p175.htm#i5248|Eystein t. F. I. (?)|b. 705\nd. 780|p177.htm#i5294|Hilda o. V. (?)|b. 710|p177.htm#i5295|||||||

Birth* of Norway1 
Marriage* Principal=Hlif of Throndheim (?)1 
Death*after 800 1 

Family

Hlif of Throndheim (?)
Child

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.
  2. [S168] Frederick Lewis Weis, Ancestral Roots, 121E-14.
  3. [S168] Frederick Lewis Weis, Ancestral Roots, 121E-15.
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