| Harthacnut I | |
|---|---|
.jpg) 1670 depiction of Harthacanut I | |
| Legendary kings of Denmark | |
| Reign | early 10th century |
| Predecessor | Sigtrygg Gnupasson (?) |
| Successor | Gorm the Old |
| Dynasty | House of Gorm |
| Religion | Norse paganism |
Harthacnut I orCnut I (Danish:Hardeknud;Old Norse:Hǫrða-Knútr) was asemi-legendaryKing of Denmark. The old Norse storyRagnarssona þáttr makes Harthacnut son of the semi-mythicvikingchieftainSigurd Snake-in-the-Eye, himself one of the sons of the legendaryRagnar Lodbrok. The saga in turn makes Harthacnut the father of the historical king,Gorm. It has been suggested he is to be identified with the Hardegon ofNorthmannia whose early-10th century conquest of Denmark was related byAdam of Bremen.
The sagaRagnarssona þáttr relates the acts of the sons of Ragnar Lodbrok, and proceeds to link them genealogically to the later rulers of the Scandinavian kingdoms. For Denmark, it relates that by Blaeja, the daughter of KingÆlla of Northumbria, Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye became father of Harthacnut (Hörða-Knútr). Harthacnut is said to have been his father's successor inZealand,Scania andHalland, but not the break-awayViken, and he was father of Gorm. Scholarly opinion is divided as to the degree to which the material found in such heroic sources is to be taken as authentic history and genealogy.
Two possible references to Harthacnut appear in the work ofclergyman Adam of Bremen, who came from Germany to record the history of theArchbishops of Bremen (Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum), partly based on information from Gorm's descendant,Sweyn II of Denmark. Adam states that a kingHelge was deposed and Denmark was conquered byOlof the Brash who came fromSweden (Sueonia). Along with two of his sons,Gyrd and Gnupa, Olof took the realm "by force of arms,"[1] and they ruled it together, thus founding theHouse of Olaf in Denmark. Adam reports that they were followed by aSigtrygg. That Sigtrygg was the son of Gnupa by a Danish noblewoman named Asfrid, and is shown on tworunestones nearSchleswig, erected by his mother after his death.[2]
Adam then relates that after Sigtrygg reigned a short time, during the tenure of Archbishop Hoger of Bremen (909–915/917), Hardegon, son of Sweyn, came from "Northmannia" the "land of the Northmen," by which he may have meantNorway,Northumbria,Normandy, which had recently been colonized by Danish Vikings, or even northernJutland. Hardegon immediately deposed the young king Sigtrygg, and then ruled unopposed for approximately thirty years. Hardegon is often equated with theHarthacnut of legend, but some historians, such asLis Jacobsen, instead have concluded thatHardegon is distinct.[3]
Adam later refers to an attack on Denmark byHenry I of Germany, naming the defending king asHardecnudth Vurm in some manuscripts,filius Hardecnudth Vurm in others. Historians generally agree thatVurm (English:worm orserpent) is a German rendering of the Danish nameGorm, and this leads to alternative interpretations, that this is reference to Gorm, son (filius) of Harthacnut, or that it is a double-name indicating that Harthacnut and Gorm were the same person. TheSaxon chronicles ofWidukind of Corvey report the defeat and forced baptism of the Danish kingChnuba (Gnupa), in 934 at the hands of Henry I.[4] Likewise,Olav Tryggvasson's Saga tells of Gnupa's defeat byGorm the Old.[5] Some historians (e.g.Storm) have taken these as indications that Sigtrygg's father Gnupa still ruled at least part of Denmark much later than credited by Adam of Bremen, and his dynasty was only displaced by Harthacnut's son, Gorm.
In the late and legend-influencedGesta Danorum ofSaxo Grammaticus, Harthacnut appears as Knut. He is described as a son of Erik, a descendant of Ragnar Lodbrok, by Gudorm, the granddaughter ofHarald Klak. In his version of the tale, Harthacnut is raised by Ennignup (suggested to be Saxo's rendition of Gnupa), but never accepts Christianity.
The anonymous 12th-centuryChronicon Roskildense contains what appears to be a confused rendering that appears to combine aspects of Adam of Bremen's account of the conquest of Denmark by Hardegon, son of Sweyn from Norway, with the later Danish conquest of England bySweyn Forkbeard. It reports that king Sven went from Norway to England, where he expelled king Ethelred, and that his sons Harthacnut and Gorm conquered Denmark, killing king Haraldus. Denmark was then taken by Gorm and England by Harthacnut.[6]
In theSilverdale Hoard is a silver coin impressed with the name "Airdeconut" an Anglicized[citation needed] or Romanized[7] variant of Harthacnut. The hoard dates to the early 10th century, but the style is similar to coins of other viking kings of Northumbria.[citation needed] The coin of Airdeconut could relate to an otherwise unknown Northumbrian viking king, or it could relate to an already known Harthacnut such as the Harthacnut of Denmark. It's thus not inconceivable that the same person could have ruled in both Northumbria and in Denmark, perhaps not at the same time?[citation needed] However, some have suggested that the Northmannia from which Adam's Danish conqueror Hardegon came may be Northumbria,[citation needed] or that it may be Normandy, with which one recent linguistic analysis would connect the spelling of the nameAirdeconut.[7]
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| Preceded by Uncertain (perhapsSigtrygg Gnupasson(as suggested in one source)) | King of Denmark early 10th century (perhaps only part of kingdom) | Succeeded by |
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