Ingjald
Ingjald | |
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House of Yngling | |
Father | Anund |
Ingjald illråde or Ingjaldr hinn illráði (Ingold Illruler or Illready) was a
Ingjald is mentioned in medieval historiographical sources including
Ynglinga saga
Snorri Sturluson gave an extensive account on the life of Ingjald in the Ynglinga saga which is part of the Heimskringla.
Youth
The Ynglinga saga, a part of the
One midwinter, when Ingjald and Alf were six years old, many people had assembled at Uppsala for the sacrifices. Alf and Ingjald played, but Ingjald found that he was the weaker boy and became so angry that he almost started to cry (which was strange because people named Ingjald were known to be stronger than average). His foster-brother Gautvid led him to his foster-father Svipdag the Blind and told Svipdag about Ingjald's lack of manliness and strength. Svipdag said that it was a shame and the next day he gave Ingjald a roasted wolf's heart to eat. From that day, Ingjald became a very ferocious person and had a bad disposition and breath.[citation needed]
The deceit
In honour of his own ascendance to the throne, Ingjald invited the kings, the
. The kings filled all seven seats but one. All the prominent people of Sweden had seats, except for Ingjald's own court whom he had sent to his old hall in Uppsala.According to the custom of the time, for those who inherited kings and jarls, Ingjald rested at the footstool until the
When all the prominent guests were drunk, he ordered Svipdag's sons, Gautvid and Hylvid, to arm themselves and their men and to leave the building. Outside, they set fire to the building which burnt down and those who tried to escape were killed.
Thus Ingjald made himself the sole ruler of the domains of the murdered kings.
Wars
Granmar won allies in his son-in-law the
Snorri Sturluson tells that it was a common saying that Ingjald killed twelve kings by deceiving them that he only wished for peace, and that he thus earned his cognomen Illråde (ill-ruler or ill-adviser).
Downfall
Ingjald had two children, a son Olof Trätälja and a daughter Åsa. His daughter had inherited her father's psychopathic disposition. She married King Guðröðr of Skåne. Before she murdered her husband she managed to make him kill his own brother Halfdan the Valiant, the father of the great Ivar Vidfamne.
In order to avenge his father, Ivar Vidfamne gathered a vast host and departed for Sweden, where he found Ingjald at Ræning. When Ingjald and his daughter realized that it was futile to resist, they set the hall on fire and succumbed in the flames.
Ynglingatal and Historia Norwegiae
The citation from Ynglingatal does not appear to describe Ingjald as an evil king. It calls his life a brave life frœknu fjörvi:
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The Historia Norwegiæ presents a Latin summary of Ynglingatal, older than Snorri's quotation (continuing after Anund):
Post istum filius suus Ingialdr in regem sublimatur, qui ultra modum timens Ivarum cognomine withfadm regem tunc temporis multis formidabilem se ipsum cum omni comitatu suo cenaculo inclusos igne cremavit. Ejus filius Olavus cognomento tretelgia [...][2] |
After him his son Ingjald ascended the throne. Being abnormally terrified of King Ivar Vidfadme, at that time an object of dread to many, he shut himself up in a dining-hall with his whole retinue and burnt all its inmates to death. His son, Olav, known as Tretelgje,[...][3] |
Archaeological Evidence
Rällinge is hill fort in Raä Helgarö 32:1, Helgarö parish,
Notes
- Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon, vol. 20
- ^ Storm, Gustav (editor) (1880). Monumenta historica Norwegiæ: Latinske kildeskrifter til Norges historie i middelalderen, Monumenta Historica Norwegiae (Kristiania: Brøgger), pp. 101-102.
- ISBN 87-7289-813-5, p. 79.
- ^ "L1985:9523 Fornborg Fornlämning". Riksantikvarieämbetet fornsök. Retrieved 2021-02-07.
- ^ Kresten, P (editor) and Kresten, P (Translator) (2001) Fornvännen
Primary sources
- "The Burning at Upsal" in the Ynglinga saga at the Northvegr website.
- N. Kershaw's English translation of the Hervarar saga
- English translation at Northvegr "Of The Kings of the Uplands"
- A translation in English of Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar
Secondary sources
- Nerman, B. Det svenska rikets uppkomst. Stockholm, 1925.
- A thermoluminescence date for the Rällinge hill fort, Raä 32, Helgarö parish, Södermanland : possible evidence of Ingjald's fiery demise?