Jarl Sigvaldi was the semi-legendary chieftain of the fabledJomsvikings and commander of their stronghold -Jomsborg. He succeededPalnatoke as the leaders of theJomsvikings in the late 10th century. The character of Sigvaldi remains largely enigmatic. As a leader, he was said to be more wily than brave despite leading such a powerful force.^[1]

Sigvaldi Strut-Haraldsson was the son of JarlStrut-Harald, who ruled over theDanish territory ofScania and the brother ofThorkell the Tall.^[2]

In order to win Astrid, the daughter of theWendish chieftainBurislav, he promised to liberate theWends of the tribute they had to pay to the Danes. He fulfilled his promise by sailing toZealand where he sent the message to KingSweyn Forkbeard that he had important tidings, but had fallen ill and could not come in person to bring them to him. When Sweyn went aboard Sigvaldi's ship, he was captured by the Jomsvikings. To be liberated, the Danish king had to agree to grant independence to both the Jomsvikings and to the Wends, in addition to paying a king's ransom. In further negotiations, it was agreed that Sweyn would marryGunhild of Wenden, the daughter of Burislav, while Burislav would marry Sweyn's sister Tyri.^[3]

At the time of the funeral of his father, Strut-Harald, Sigvaldi was advised by Sweyn to join the attack on Norway to deposeHaakon Sigurdsson. This promise would lead to the defeat of Jomsvikings at theBattle of Hjörungavágr in 986, from which Sigvaldi fled with disgrace.^[4]

In 1000, Sigvaldi proved to be treacherous at theBattle of Svolder by luringOlaf Tryggvason to the battle. According toSnorri Sturluson inHeimskringla, Sigvaldi arrived to tell him rumors of a planned ambush were false. He led him into an ambush and deserted him in the heat of battle. There is no record of Sigvaldi after the Battle of Svolder. The invasion of England in 1009 by his brotherThorkell the Tall was allegedly intended to avenge Sigvaldi's death, so it is possible Sigvaldi met his end in England.^[5]

• Vagn Åkesson

• Oddr Snorrason; Theodore Murdock Andersson (2003).The Saga of Olaf Tryggvason.ISBN 978-0-8014-4149-3.
• Snorri Sturluson; Lee M. Hollander (1991).Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway. University of Texas Press.ISBN 978-0-292-73061-8.
• Lee M. Hollander (1955).The Saga of the Jómsvíkings.ISBN 978-0-292-77623-4.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
• Alison Finlay (2004).Fargrskinna, a catalogue of the Kings of Norway. Brill Academic Pub.ISBN 978-90-04-13172-9.

This article contains content from theOwl Edition ofNordisk familjebok, a Swedish encyclopedia published between 1904 and 1926, now in thepublic domain.

• Jomsvikings
• Legendary Danish people
• 10th-century Vikings

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• Short description is different from Wikidata
• CS1 errors: ISBN date
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