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Thyra

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For other uses, see Thyra (disambiguation).
Thyra
The Jelling 1 stone, commissioned by Thyra's husband Gorm the Old to commemorate her.
Queen consort of Denmark
DiedLikely before 963 CE. See § Death and burial
SpouseGorm the Old
Issue
HouseHouse of Gorm
FatherPossibly Æthelred I of Wessex or Klak Harald

Thyra (Old Norse: Þyri or Þyre) was the wife of King Gorm the Old of Denmark, and one of the first queens of Denmark widely believed by scholars to be historical rather than legendary. She is presented in medieval sources as a wise and powerful woman who ordered the building or fortification of the Danevirke, consistent with her commemoration on multiple Viking Age runestones. These include those at Jelling which was the seat of power for her dynasty. When she was born and became queen is unclear, however, she likely ruled until her death in the middle of the 10th century CE.

Name

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Thyra's name is attested in Old Norse as Þyri and Þyre and has been alternatively anglicised as Thorvi and Thyre.[1][2][3]

The Jelling 1 stone, commissioned in honour of Thyra by her husband after her death refers to her as Danmarkar bót, translating as "Denmark's adornment", "strength", "salvation" or "remedy".[4][5] It has been further argued that the words Danmarkar bót instead refer to Gorm, with Thyra's importance being a later innovation by medieval writers, though this is not the scholarly consensus.[4][6] This term is also used to describe her in Saga Hálfdanar svarta as Danmarkar bótar (sometimes anglicised as "Dannebod").[1]

Family

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Early life

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Thyra telling Gorm of the death of their son Canute, painting by August Carl Vilhelm Thomsen

Thyra's parentage is unclear and is attested differently in different sources. Saxo Grammaticus describes her as the daughter of the English king Ethelred.[4][7] This king has typically been identified as Æthelred I of Wessex, though alternatives include Edward the Elder.[8] If Thyra was actually the daughter of Æthelred, the invasion of England by Sweyn Forkbeard could be more accurately depicted as a succession crisis, with the descendants of Thyra having a stronger claim to the throne than the children of Alfred the Great.[4][9]

An alternative proposal given by accounts such as Heimskringla and Jómsvíkinga saga is that her father was Klak Harald, an earl who ruled over a region in the area around Jutland. Heimskringla further says that Thyra's sister was Þorní, the wife of Sigurðr hjörtr and grandmother of Harald Fairhair.[10] Based on the account in Jómsvíkinga saga, it has been proposed that Thyra was born around 806-812 CE and married Gorm around 825 CE. Jómsvíkinga saga further describes Thyra as having two sons with Gorm, Canute and Harald and that Harald eventually killed Canute. It has been noted though that Klak Harald died in 846 CE, while Harald Bluetooth died around 986 CE. Based on other dating such as the possible birth years of Thyra's other children, it has been argued that Thyra, the wife of Gorm the Old, could not have been the daughter of Klak Harald, with the lengths of time between her children's births being too great.[11]

Marriage and children with Gorm the Old

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The Jelling 2 stone, commissioned by Harald Bluetooth in honour of his parents, Thyra and Gorm the Old.

Gesta Danorum

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Gesta Danorum describes that Thyra stood out as a serious and cunning woman and said that she would not marry Gorm until she had all of Denmark as her dowry. When this was agreed, she was betrothed to him but asked him not to have sex with her when they shared a bed for the first three nights until she had had a vision that their marriage would go well. Gorm agreed and laid a drawn sword between them in the bed, and at night he dreamed that a large bird and a smaller one flew out of his wife's womb and flew up into the sky and sat on each of his hands. Again they flew off and came back but the third time when they flew away, only the smaller bird came back and its wings were covered in blood. At this, Gorm woke and cried out, telling his vision to his servants and Thyra took it to mean that they would have children together. This later happened when she gave birth to Canute and Harald.[12]

Jómsvíkinga saga

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According to Jómsvíkinga saga, before Thyra married Gorm, she was already working closely with Klak Harald in the running of his kingdom. Gorm at the time was ruling a kingdom in the north of Jutland and asked her for marriage and threatened to take her by force if she did not go willingly. Neither accepting nor rejecting her offer, she told him that to work out if they would have a happy marriage, he had to build a house in a wood that could fit only one bed and to sleep there alone for three nights, telling her what dreams he had. Gorm did this, setting his men to watch the house and had three dreams. In the first dream, three white boars came out of the sea, fed on the grass, and went back to the sea. In the next, three red boars with large tusks came out of the sea, and did the same. In the third dream, three black boars with even larger tusks did the same, but when they returned to the sea, there was such a loud rush of the waves returning to the land that he thought the noise could be heard throughout Denmark.[13]

Thyra's interpretation was that the three white boars represented three very cold, snowy winters that would harm crops. The red boars were interpreted to mean that three mild winters would follow, while the black boars meant there would be wars in the land. The fact that all of the boars went back into the sea showed that their effects would not be long-lasting. The loud noise as the waves of the sea rolled back on the Danish shores signified that mighty men would come to the land and Gorm's relations would be drawn into the wars that would follow. She said that had he dreamed of the black boars and the rushing waves the first night, she would not have married him, but since she would be available to provide advice as queen, there would be little injury from the wars foretold.[13]

Historia Norwegiæ

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The Historia Norwegiæ records that Thyra was the mother of Gunnhildr konungamóðir with her husband and contrasts her astuteness with the foolishness of Gorm.[14]

Runestones

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The Læborg stone, likely commemorating Queen Thyra, and depicting two Thor's hammers

The Jelling 2 stone records that Thyra and Gorm the Old had Harald Bluetooth as a child. This is widely accepted as historically accurate by scholars.[4] Based on the prominence of Thyra seen in the runestone record, it has been proposed that Thyra may have been of the preexisting royal line and that Gorm became king through marriage with her.[5]

Dating

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Gorm became king around 936 CE however when Thyra became queen is not well understood.[4]

Runestones

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Along with two runestones at the royal site of Jelling dating to the mid 10th century CE, the name Thyra is recorded on five more from Viking Age Denmark - Laeborg (DR 26), Bække 1 and 2 (DR 29 and 30), Horne (DR 34) and Randbøl (DR 40). Although all seven stones reference a woman called Thyra, it has been debated whether they refer to the same person.[4]

It has been proposed however, based on analysis of factors such as groove depth, rune shape and spelling, that a single runecarver named Ravnunge-Tue (who is one of the earliest known Western European artisans to have carved his name on his work as the maker) wrote the inscriptions both on the Læborg and Jelling 2 stones, while another individual carved the Horne, Bække and possibly the Randbøl stones. From this, it has been argued that the Jelling stones, the Læborg stone and Bække 1 commemorate the same woman named Thyra. If correct, she would be recorded on at least four runestones - the most for anyone in Viking Age Denmark, exceeding both Gorm the Old and Harald Bluetooth. Following this, it has been suggested that she was either one of the individuals or even the leading figure who drove the assembly of the Danish kingdom.[4]

Strengthening of the Danework

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See also: Danevirke § Stages in the building of the Danevirke

Both Aggesen and Saxo Grammaticus record that Thyra was a wise and steadfast queen who ordered the building of the Danework, an earthwork built to protect Denmark from invaders from the south.[4] Though the first phase of construction of the fortifications predates Thyra's reign, with some trees in the fortification having been felled in 737 CE, they were extended significantly several times until the 12th-century CE.[15][16]

Death and burial

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Thyras Høj, a barrow at Jelling, traditionally identified as the grave of Queen Thyra.[17]

The northern howe at Jelling, the seat of power for Gorm's dynasty, is traditionally known as Thyras Høj ("Thyra's mound"), with the southern as Gorm's, although when excavated, no evidence of a body was found in it. Wooden artefacts from the howe have however been dated by tree-ring analysis to 959-960 CE which would put this as the latest date for Thyra's death if it is indeed her grave.[4][17][18]

It has been proposed that her burial in the larger, northern barrow is consistent with the idea of her as a prominent woman who may have been even more powerful than her husband Gorm.[4]

Gorm died around 963 CE and while Saxo records in Gesta Danorum that Thyra died after her husband, it is typically believed that Thyra died before Gorm due to the Jelling 1 stone which he raised to commemorate her.[19][20]

Modern influences

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  • "Thyra Danebod tries to appease Gorm the Old's anger against some captive Christians" by Julius Exner, 1849.
    "Thyra Danebod tries to appease Gorm the Old's anger against some captive Christians" by Julius Exner, 1849.
  • "Thyra Dannebod establishes the Danevirke" by Lorenz Frølich, 1855.
    "Thyra Dannebod establishes the Danevirke" by Lorenz Frølich, 1855.
  • "Thyra establishes the Danevirke" by Louis Moe, 1898.
    "Thyra establishes the Danevirke" by Louis Moe, 1898.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Saga Hálfdanar svarta, Chapter 5.
  2. ^ Jómsvíkíngasaga, Chapter 2.
  3. ^ Sawyer 2000, p. 158.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Imer, Åhfeldt & Zedig 2023.
  5. ^ a b Randsborg 2008, p. 15.
  6. ^ Hollander 1928, pp. 111–112.
  7. ^ Rason 1913–1914, p. 285.
  8. ^ Rason 1913–1914, p. 292.
  9. ^ Rason 1913–1914, p. 294.
  10. ^ Rason 1913–1914, pp. 285–287.
  11. ^ Rason 1913–1914, pp. 290–291.
  12. ^ Gesta Danorum, pp. 673–677.
  13. ^ a b Rason 1913–1914, pp. 287–289.
  14. ^ Historia Norwegiæ, 15/7.
  15. ^ National Museum of Denmark (Nationalmuseet). The Danish collection: prehistoric period: Guide for visitors, para. 367 (Thiele 1908, translated by G. Auden).
  16. ^ Bregnsbo & Jensen 2022.
  17. ^ a b Whitbread 1967, p. 34.
  18. ^ Randsborg 2008, pp. 8–9.
  19. ^ Lund 2020, p. 147.
  20. ^ Randsborg 2008, pp. 7.
  21. ^ Upham 2001, p. 330.

Bibliography

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Primary

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  • Saxo Grammaticus. Gesta Danorum [Deeds of the Danes] (in Latin).
    Friis-Jensen, Karsten, ed. (2015). Gesta Danorum: The History of the Danes. Translated by Fisher, Peter. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198205234.
  • Jómsvíkíngasaga [Saga of the Jomsvikings] (in Old Norse).
    "Jómsvíkíngasaga". www.heimskringla.no (in Old Norse). Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  • Sturluson, Snorri. "Saga Hálfdanar svarta" [Saga of Halfdan the Black]. Heimskringla (in Old Norse).
    "Saga Hálfdanar svarta". www.heimskringla.no (in Old Norse). Retrieved 15 October 2023.
    "Halfdan the Black Saga". sacred-texts. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  • Historia Norwegiæ [History of Norway] (in Latin).
    Phelpstead, Carl, ed. (2001). History of Norway and the Passion and Miracles of the Blessed Óláfr (PDF). Vol. 13. Translated by Kunin, Devra. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research. ISBN 978 0 903521 48 2.

Secondary

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Thyra
Born: c. 10th century
Preceded by Royal consort of Denmark
10th century CE 		Succeeded by
Tove
or
Gunhild ?
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