Individual Page

Person Info

• Name: Sigrid STORRADA
• Sex: F


Parents:

• Father:
  
• Skoglar TOSTE, Viking

Family:

Marriage:

• Erik SEGERSALL, King Of Sweden on Before 980 .^m2
  
• Erik SEGERSALL, King Of Sweden Birth: Abt 935 Death: 995

Children:

1. Olaf III SKOTKONUNG, King Of Sweden Birth: Abt 960 Death: 1022

Bibliography

Sources for birth and parent Information

father:

[Ref: DeVajay Agatha p81, ES II #114, Paget HRHCharles p7, Weis AR7 #241]

Sources with Inaccurate marriage information

date:

second marriage of both [Ref: Paget HRHCharles p7],

names:

Sven Forkbeard (#15251) & Sigrid [Ref: Paget HRHCharles p7],

child:

Estrid (#22224) wife of Richard II the Good [Ref: Paget HRHCharles p7]

Sources with Information about marriage to Erik SEGERSALL, King Of Sweden

date:

before 985 [Ref: Moriarty Plantagenet p54]

first marriage of Erik [Ref: ES II #114]

first marriage of Sigrid [Ref: Paget HRHCharles p7],

child:

[Ref: DeVajay Agatha p81, ES II #114, Moriarty Plantagenet p53, Weis AR7 #241]

Research Notes:
The progression would seem to be as follows (significant new details or alterations in the testimony are hightlighted with asterisks):
Thietmar: Boleslav, son of Mieszko, gives Erik of Sweden his sister, a daughter of Mieszko, in marriage. After Erik's death, this Polish princess becomes the wife of Svein of Denmark, and the mother of Svein's sons Harald and Knut, who bring her back to Denmark from Poland after their father's death in 1014.
Adam: Boleslav gives Erik of Sweden his sister **or daughter** in marriage. **Boleslav's sister becomes the mother of Erik's son and heir Olaf.** After Erik's death his widow marries Svein of Denmark, and their sons are Harald and Knut.
Snorri: Erik of Sweden marries **Sigrid, daughter of Skoglar-Tosti,** and has a son and heir named Olaf. Erik dies. Svein marries Gunnhild, a **daughter** of Burizlaf, King of Vindland. **Gunnhild dies of a sickness.** Svein then marries Erik's widow **Sigrid**, so that Olaf of Sweden is the half-brother of Svein's son Knut. [Ref: Jared Olar SGM 6/6/1996]

Thietmar of Merseburg died in 1019. This is really a contemporary source [Ref: Anders Berg SGM 6/3/1996]

Adam's account that the sister of Boleslaw was the mother of Olaf is discarded by most historians today. It is chronologically impossible. Olaf Sko:tkonung must have been at least 15 years old when his father Erik died in ~995, and Erik married the polish princess no more than a couple of years prior to his death. We can say this because Boleslaw Chobry became king in 992, and it was he who gave his sister to Erik (see Adam's skolium 24).
The obvious conclusion is that Olaf was born in an earlier marriage between Erik and a woman not known/mentioned in the contemporary or near-contemporary sources (that is, Thietmar/Adam). [Ref: Anders Berg SGM 6/2/1996]

I don't think that comparing him [Adam of Bremen] with the sagas ... is entirely fair. There are several reasons why Adam of Bremen should be regarded as a much more reliable source for early Scandinavian history than the sagas. First, Adam wrote at an earlier time than the saga authors, and therefore was closer in time to the relevant events. Second, Adam got some of his information on early Scandinavian history directly from king Svend II of Denmark, and there is no indication that any of the saga authors got their data from an early source of the same caliber for Danish or Swedish history, and it is Swedish history that is relevant here. (You could make an excellent case that the saga authors were better informed than Adam about Norwegian (and Icelandic) history, but Adam certainly gets the edge with regard to Sweden and Denmark.) Third, Adam of Bremen's work is a work of history, whereas the sagas contain a layer of literature superimposed on the historical material which dilutes their value as a historical source. Finally, if you compare the statements of both Adam of Bremen and the sagas regarding early Scandinavian history with that part of the history which can be verified with good contemporary records, Adam of Bremen, even with his errors, still comes through this test much better than the sagas do. [Ref: Stewart Baldwin SGM 5/8/1996]

We can alla gree that both the sagas and Adam have confused things. Most historians favor the following confusion: Sigrid existed, but was married only to Erik, and was the mother of Olaf [Ref: Anders Berg SGM 6/2/1996]

Apparently the Icelandic sagamen tried to reconcile the tradition found in Adam of Bremen--that Erik's widow was the mother both of Olaf Skotkonung *and* of Knut of Denmark--with another tradition that Olaf Skotkonung's mother was Sigrid Storrade. Thus, Svein Tjuguskegg's Polish wife, who in fact was widow of Erik the Victorious as well as mother of Svein's son Knut, had to be "disposed of" by having her conveniently take sick and die, thereby enabling Svein to marry Sigrid, mother of Olaf.
It is clear that the role of Sigrid in the stories of HEIMSKRINGLA is that of an explanation for the Battle of Svoldur. Adam of Bremen does not assign any role to Svein's wife in the outbreak of this war--and the narrative of HEIMSKRINGLA concerning why Denmark and Sweden went to war with Olaf Tryggvasson would make perfect sense whether or not Sigrid the Haughty appears in the story. Adam implies that the "haughty" woman who instigated hostilities was Svein's sister Thyri, not Svein's wife. [Ref: Jared Olar SGM 6/4/1996]



Pedigree of Sigrid STORRADA
 /-----Skoglar TOSTE, Viking
Sigrid STORRADA



Descendants of Sigrid STORRADA

2nd generation


3rd generation


4th generation


5th generation