Anund
Encyclopedia
Anund, Swedish
: Bröt-Anund meaning trail-blazer Anund or Anund the Land Clearer; alternate names Brøt-Anundr (Old East Norse) or Braut-Önundr (Old West Norse), was a legendary Swedish king of the House of Yngling who reigned in the mid-seventh century. The name would have been Proto-Norse *Anuwinduz meaning "winning ancestor".
In his Ynglinga saga
, Snorri Sturluson
relates that Anund succeeded his father Ingvar
on the Swedish
throne, and after his father's wars against Danish Vikings and Estonia
n pirates, peace reigned over Sweden and there were good harvests. Anund was a popular king who became very rich, not only because of the peace and the good harvests but also because he avenged his father in Estonia. That country was ravaged far and wide and in the autumn Anund returned with great riches.
In those days Sweden was dominated by vast and uninhabited forests, so Anund started making roads and clearing land and vast districts were settled by Swedes. Consequently he was named Bröt-Anund. He made a house for himself in every district
and used to stay as a guest in many homes.
One autumn, King Anund was travelling between his hall
s (see Husby
s) and came to a place called Himinheiðr (sky heath) between two mountains. He was surprised by a landslide which killed him.
After presenting this story of Anund, Snorri Sturluson quotes Þjóðólfr of Hvinir
's Ynglingatal
:
The Historia Norwegiæ presents a Latin summary of Ynglingatal, older than Snorri's quotation (continuing after Ingvar
):
The original text of Ynglingatal
is hard to interpret, and it only says that Anund died und Himinfjöllum (under the sky mountains) and that stones were implied. According to Historia Norwegiae
, he was murded by his brother Sigvard in Himinherthy (which the source says means "the fields of the sky", cœli campus. Such a place name is not known and Birger Nerman
suggests that the original place of death was under the sky mountains, i.e. under the clouds (cf. the etymology of cloud). Consequently, he may have been killed outdoors, by his brother and with a stone. In the translation above, Laing has made the same interpretation as Nerman.
Thorsteins saga Víkingssonar says that Anund was not the son of Ingvar
, but the son of his grandfather Östen
. It also relates that he had a brother named Olaf who was the king of Fjordane.
All sources say that Anund was the father of the infamous Ingjald
ill-ruler.
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
: Bröt-Anund meaning trail-blazer Anund or Anund the Land Clearer; alternate names Brøt-Anundr (Old East Norse) or Braut-Önundr (Old West Norse), was a legendary Swedish king of the House of Yngling who reigned in the mid-seventh century. The name would have been Proto-Norse *Anuwinduz meaning "winning ancestor".
In his Ynglinga saga
Ynglinga saga
Ynglinga saga is a legendary saga, originally written in Old Norse by the Icelandic poet Snorri Sturluson about 1225. It was first translated into English and published in 1844....
, Snorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was twice elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing...
relates that Anund succeeded his father Ingvar
Ingvar
Yngvar Harra Proto-Norse *Ingu-Hariz was the son of Östen and reclaimed the Swedish throne for the House of Yngling after the Swedes had rebelled against Sölvi....
on the Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
throne, and after his father's wars against Danish Vikings and Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
n pirates, peace reigned over Sweden and there were good harvests. Anund was a popular king who became very rich, not only because of the peace and the good harvests but also because he avenged his father in Estonia. That country was ravaged far and wide and in the autumn Anund returned with great riches.
In those days Sweden was dominated by vast and uninhabited forests, so Anund started making roads and clearing land and vast districts were settled by Swedes. Consequently he was named Bröt-Anund. He made a house for himself in every district
Uppsala öd
Uppsala öd, Old Norse: Uppsala auðr or Uppsala øðr was the name given to the collection of estates which was the property of the Swedish Crown in medieval Sweden. Its purpose was to finance the Swedish king, originally the "king of Uppsala", and they supported the king and his retinue while he...
and used to stay as a guest in many homes.
One autumn, King Anund was travelling between his hall
Hall
In architecture, a hall is fundamentally a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age, a mead hall was such a simple building and was the residence of a lord and his retainers...
s (see Husby
Husby
Husby is the name of many Swedish farms and villages. Originally, they formed a network of royal estates, called Uppsala öd, that were the property of the Swedish king....
s) and came to a place called Himinheiðr (sky heath) between two mountains. He was surprised by a landslide which killed him.
After presenting this story of Anund, Snorri Sturluson quotes Þjóðólfr of Hvinir
Þjóðólfr of Hvinir
Þjóðólfr of Hvinir was a Norwegian skald, active around the year 900. He is considered to have been the original author of Ynglingatal, a poem glorifying the Norwegian petty king Ragnvald the Mountain-High, by describing how he was descended from the Swedish kings and the Norse gods.He is also...
's Ynglingatal
Ynglingatal
Ynglingatal is a skaldic poem listing the kings of the House of Ynglings, dated by most scholars to the late 9th century.The original version is attributed to Þjóðólfr af Hvini who was the skald of a Norwegian petty king named Ragnvald the Mountain-High and who was a cousin of Harald Fairhair...
:
|
|
The Historia Norwegiæ presents a Latin summary of Ynglingatal, older than Snorri's quotation (continuing after Ingvar
Ingvar
Yngvar Harra Proto-Norse *Ingu-Hariz was the son of Östen and reclaimed the Swedish throne for the House of Yngling after the Swedes had rebelled against Sölvi....
):
Iste ergo genuit Broutonund, quem Sigwardus frater suus occidit in Himinheithi, quod loci vocabulum interpretatur coeli campus. Post istum filius suus Ingialdr [...]. |
Yngvar bred Braut-Ånund, whose brother, Sigurd, laid him low in Himinheid, a place-name which means 'field of heaven'. After him his son Ingjald [...] |
The original text of Ynglingatal
Ynglingatal
Ynglingatal is a skaldic poem listing the kings of the House of Ynglings, dated by most scholars to the late 9th century.The original version is attributed to Þjóðólfr af Hvini who was the skald of a Norwegian petty king named Ragnvald the Mountain-High and who was a cousin of Harald Fairhair...
is hard to interpret, and it only says that Anund died und Himinfjöllum (under the sky mountains) and that stones were implied. According to Historia Norwegiae
Historia Norvegiæ
Historia Norwegiæ is a short Latin history of Norway written by an anonymous monk. The only extant manuscript, in the private possession of the Earl of Dalhousie and kept at Brechin Castle, Scotland, is fragmentary; what we have of the Historia is found on folios 1r-12r...
, he was murded by his brother Sigvard in Himinherthy (which the source says means "the fields of the sky", cœli campus. Such a place name is not known and Birger Nerman
Birger Nerman
Birger Nerman was a Swedish archaeologist, professor, and author.-Background:Birger Nerman belonged to a bourgeois family Nerman from Vimmerby. He was the son of Janne Nerman , the bookseller in Norrköping, and his wife Anna Ida Nordberg...
suggests that the original place of death was under the sky mountains, i.e. under the clouds (cf. the etymology of cloud). Consequently, he may have been killed outdoors, by his brother and with a stone. In the translation above, Laing has made the same interpretation as Nerman.
Thorsteins saga Víkingssonar says that Anund was not the son of Ingvar
Ingvar
Yngvar Harra Proto-Norse *Ingu-Hariz was the son of Östen and reclaimed the Swedish throne for the House of Yngling after the Swedes had rebelled against Sölvi....
, but the son of his grandfather Östen
Östen
Eysteinn was the son of Eadgils and Yrsa of Saxony. He was the father of Ingvar. The Eysteinn tumulus in Västerås near Östanbro has been linked to King Eysteinn by some popular historians...
. It also relates that he had a brother named Olaf who was the king of Fjordane.
All sources say that Anund was the father of the infamous Ingjald
Ingjald
Ingjald illråde or Ingjaldr hinn illráði was a legendary Swedish king of the House of Ynglings. Ingjald may have ruled in the 7th century, and he was the son of the former king Anund....
ill-ruler.
Primary sources
- YnglingatalYnglingatalYnglingatal is a skaldic poem listing the kings of the House of Ynglings, dated by most scholars to the late 9th century.The original version is attributed to Þjóðólfr af Hvini who was the skald of a Norwegian petty king named Ragnvald the Mountain-High and who was a cousin of Harald Fairhair...
- Ynglinga sagaYnglinga sagaYnglinga saga is a legendary saga, originally written in Old Norse by the Icelandic poet Snorri Sturluson about 1225. It was first translated into English and published in 1844....
(part of the HeimskringlaHeimskringlaHeimskringla is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorri Sturluson ca. 1230...
) - Historia Norwegiae
- Thorsteins saga Víkingssonar