Sigvaldi Strut-Haraldsson

At the funeral feast, Jarl Sigvaldi swears an oath on his father's memory to go to Norway and kill or drive away Haakon Jarl

Jarl Sigvaldi was the son of Strut-Harald the Jarl of Skåne and the brother of Thorkell the Tall (Torkjell Høge). He succeeded Palnatoke as the chieftain of the Jomsvikings, but he proved more wise than brave.

In order to win Astrid, the daughter of the Wendish chieftain Burislav, he promised to liberate the Wends of the tribute they had to pay to the Danes. He fulfilled his promise by sailing to Zealand where he sent the message to Sweyn Forkbeard that he had important tidings, but had fallen ill and could not come in person to bring them to him. As Sweyn was curious, he went aboard Sigvaldi's ship and was captured by the Jomsvikings. To be liberated the Danish king had to grant independence to both the Jomsvikings and to the Wends, in addition to paying a king's ransom. Svein also had to marry Gunhild of Wenden, daughter of Burislav and Burislav married Sweyn's sister Tyri.

At the funeral of his father, Strut-Harald, Sigvaldi was advised by Sweyn to attack Norway and to depose Haakon Jarl. This promise led to the Battle of Hjörungavágr in 986, from which Sigvald fled with disgrace.

In 1000, Sigvaldi proved to be treacherous at the Battle of Svolder, by luring Olaf Tryggvason to the battle and by deserting him in the heat of battle. There is no record of him after the Battle of Svolder.

See also

• Vagn Åkesson

Sources

The sources are primarily Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar and Jómsvíkinga saga.

Other sources

• Snorrason, Oddr (translated by Theodore M. Andersson) (2003) The Saga of Olaf Tryggvason (Cornell University Press) ISBN 0801441498
• Sturluson, Snorri (translated by Lee M. Hollander) (1991) Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway (University of Texas Press) ISBN 0292730616
• Hollander, Lee M. (1989) The Saga of the Jomsvikings (University of Texas Press) ISBN 978-0292776234
• Finlay, Alison (2003) Fargrskinna, a Catalogue of the Kings of Norway: A Translation With Introduction and Notes (Brill Academic Publishers) ISBN 978-9004131729

This article contains content from the Owl Edition of Nordisk familjebok, a Swedish encyclopedia published between 1904 and 1926, now in the public domain.