A Family Genealogy of
the Gentle House of Stapleton
the Gentle House of Stapleton
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Harthacnut I KNÝTLINGA #66353
ABT 880 - ABT 936
Personal Information
- BIRTH: ABT 880
- DEATH: ABT 936
Notes
Founder of the House of Knýtlinga
Harthacnut or Cnut I was a semi-legendary King of Denmark. The old Norse story Ragnarssona þáttr makes Harthacnut son of the semi-mythic viking chieftain Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye, himself one of the sons of the legendary Ragnar 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 of Northmannia whose early-10th century conquest of Denmark was related by Adam of Bremen.
Two possible references to Harthacnut appear in the work of clergyman Adam of Bremen, who came from Germany to record the history of the Archbishops of Bremen (Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum), partly based on information from Gorm's descendant, Sweyn II of Denmark. Adam states that a king Helge was deposed and Denmark was conquered by Olof the Brash who came from Sweden (Sueonia). Along with two of his sons, Gyrd and Gnupa, Olof took the realm "by force of arms," and they ruled it together, thus founding the House of Olaf in Denmark. Adam reports that they were followed by a Sigtrygg. That Sigtrygg was the son of Gnupa by a Danish noblewoman named Asfrid, and is shown on two runestones near Schleswig, erected by his mother after his death.
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 meant Norway, Northumbria, Normandy, which had recently been colonized by Danish Vikings, or even northern Jutland. Hardegon immediately deposed the young king Sigtrygg, and then ruled unopposed for approximately thirty years. Hardegon is often equated with the Harthacnut of legend, but some historians, such as Lis Jacobsen, instead have concluded that Hardegon is distinct.
Adam later refers to an attack on Denmark by Henry I of Germany, naming the defending king as Hardecnudth Vurm in some manuscripts, filius Hardecnudth Vurm in others. Historians generally agree that Vurm (English: worm or serpent) is a German rendering of the Danish name Gorm, 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. The Saxon chronicles of Widukind of Corvey report the defeat and forced baptism of the Danish king Chnuba (Gnupa), in 934 at the hands of Henry I. Likewise, Olav Tryggvasson's Saga tells of Gnupa's defeat by Gorm the Old. 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.
Harthacnut or Cnut I was a semi-legendary King of Denmark. The old Norse story Ragnarssona þáttr makes Harthacnut son of the semi-mythic viking chieftain Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye, himself one of the sons of the legendary Ragnar 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 of Northmannia whose early-10th century conquest of Denmark was related by Adam of Bremen.
Two possible references to Harthacnut appear in the work of clergyman Adam of Bremen, who came from Germany to record the history of the Archbishops of Bremen (Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum), partly based on information from Gorm's descendant, Sweyn II of Denmark. Adam states that a king Helge was deposed and Denmark was conquered by Olof the Brash who came from Sweden (Sueonia). Along with two of his sons, Gyrd and Gnupa, Olof took the realm "by force of arms," and they ruled it together, thus founding the House of Olaf in Denmark. Adam reports that they were followed by a Sigtrygg. That Sigtrygg was the son of Gnupa by a Danish noblewoman named Asfrid, and is shown on two runestones near Schleswig, erected by his mother after his death.
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 meant Norway, Northumbria, Normandy, which had recently been colonized by Danish Vikings, or even northern Jutland. Hardegon immediately deposed the young king Sigtrygg, and then ruled unopposed for approximately thirty years. Hardegon is often equated with the Harthacnut of legend, but some historians, such as Lis Jacobsen, instead have concluded that Hardegon is distinct.
Adam later refers to an attack on Denmark by Henry I of Germany, naming the defending king as Hardecnudth Vurm in some manuscripts, filius Hardecnudth Vurm in others. Historians generally agree that Vurm (English: worm or serpent) is a German rendering of the Danish name Gorm, 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. The Saxon chronicles of Widukind of Corvey report the defeat and forced baptism of the Danish king Chnuba (Gnupa), in 934 at the hands of Henry I. Likewise, Olav Tryggvasson's Saga tells of Gnupa's defeat by Gorm the Old. 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.
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