Windh/Freise/Maurstad genealogy - Person Sheet
Windh/Freise/Maurstad genealogy - Person Sheet
NameGunhild GORMSDOTTER
Deathca 980, Orkney, Scotland
Birthca 910
FatherKing Gorm “The Old” of Gamle King of Denmark (877-958)
Misc. Notes
Gunnhild, “Mother of Kings,” is a quasi-historical figure who appears in the Icelandic Sagas, according to which she was the wife of Eric Bloodaxe, the second King of Norway who ruled from about 930 to 934.
The sagas relate that Gunnhild lived during a time of great change and upheaval in Norway. Her father-in-law Harald Fairhair had recently united much of Norway under his rule. Shortly after his death, Gunnhild and her husband Eric Bloodaxe were overthrown and exiled. She spent much of the rest of her life in exile in Orkney, Jorvik and Denmark. A number of her many children with Eric became co-rulers of Norway in the late tenth century.
Many of the details of her life are disputed, including her parentage. Although she is treated in the sagas as a historical person, even her historicity is a matter of some debate. What details of her life are known come largely from Icelandic sources.
In the sagas, Gunnhild is most often depicted in a negative light, and depicted as a figure known for her "power and cruelty, admired for her beauty and generosity, and feared for her magic, cunning, sexual insatiability, and her goading.
The sagas relate that Gunnhild lived during a time of great change and upheaval in Norway. Her father-in-law Harald Fairhair had recently united much of Norway under his rule. Shortly after his death, Gunnhild and her husband Eric Bloodaxe were overthrown and exiled. She spent much of the rest of her life in exile in Orkney, Jorvik and Denmark. A number of her many children with Eric became co-rulers of Norway in the late tenth century.
Many of the details of her life are disputed, including her parentage. Although she is treated in the sagas as a historical person, even her historicity is a matter of some debate. What details of her life are known come largely from Icelandic sources.
In the sagas, Gunnhild is most often depicted in a negative light, and depicted as a figure known for her "power and cruelty, admired for her beauty and generosity, and feared for her magic, cunning, sexual insatiability, and her goading.
Spouses
Birthaft 885, Norway
Death954, England - buried in Cumbria.
Educationnine children, see familysearch.org
OccupationEric I, King of Norway
Religionclick his name to see notes on King Eric
FatherKing Harald I “Haarfagre” “Fairhair” HALVDANSSON King of Norway (ca850-ca932)
MotherRagnhild “The Mighty” EIRIKSDATTER (870-891)
Misc. Notes
Erik Haraldsson, also known as Eric Bloodaxe, was a Norwegian king who ruled from 932 to 934 and twice as King of Northumbria, from 947 to 948 and again from 952 to 954. He was the oldest son of Harald Fairhair, the first king to claim sovereignty over all of Norway.
He earned his name by murdering seven of his eight half brothers.
During his short reign, Eric Bloodaxe soon found himself deserted on all sides, and saved his own and his family's lives by fleeing to the Orkney Islands and later to the Kingdom of Jorvik, eventually meeting a violent death at Stainmore, Westmorland, in 954 along with his son, Haeric.
He earned his name by murdering seven of his eight half brothers.
During his short reign, Eric Bloodaxe soon found himself deserted on all sides, and saved his own and his family's lives by fleeing to the Orkney Islands and later to the Kingdom of Jorvik, eventually meeting a violent death at Stainmore, Westmorland, in 954 along with his son, Haeric.
ChildrenHarald II “Greycloak” (930-970)