Gunnhild, Mother of Kings

Uncommon card · No. 105423

Gunnhildr konungamóðir (mother of kings) or Gunnhildr Ǫzurardóttir, whose name is often Anglicised as Gunnhild (c. 910 – c. 980), is a quasi-historical figure who appears in the Icelandic Sagas, according to which she was the wife of Eirik Bloodaxe (King of Norway 930–934, King of Orkney c. 937–954, and King of Jórvík 948–49 and 952–954). She appears prominently in sagas such as Fagrskinna, Egils saga, Njáls saga, Heimskringla, and Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta. The sagas relate that Gunnhild lived during a time of great change and upheaval in Norway. Her father-in-law Harald Fairhair had recently united much of Norway under his rule. Shortly after his death, Gunnhild and her husband Eirik Bloodaxe were overthrown and exiled. She spent much of the rest of her life in exile in Orkney, Jorvik and Denmark. A number of her many children with Eirik became co-rulers of Norway in the late tenth century.

Read on Wikipedia · Image Christian Krohg, Public domain