Slavic Warrior Women, pt. 14: Sigrid the Proud

Link to my full dissertation, Amazons, Shieldmaidens, and Daring Polianitsy: Slavic Warrior Women in Medieval Literature and Folklore: https://libraetd.lib.virginia.edu/public_view/r207tq787

Time for Slavic Warrior Women, part 14! Today we’ll discuss the possibly-Polish, possibly-Swedish, twice-married queen, Sigrid the Proud. A fascinating figure who should be remembered more kindly than she is, but, well, patriarchy, alas.

Sigrid the Proud (possibly)

Another warrior queen who, like Vlasta, was transformed into a villain, only to then be ignored by most historians, is Sigrid the Proud. Arguments for her dismissal as fiction stem from the conflicting accounts of Sigrid’s lineage, which make it impossible to determine beyond doubt whether she was of Slavic or Scandinavian birth. However, evidence of her Slavic origins, linking her to a historical person, is more compelling. According to one contested saga that appears in Heimskringla, she is the daughter of a Swede named Skoglar-Toste, but apart from this role as Sigrid’s father, he receives few biographical details; Sigrid’s narrative contains far more depth than her supposed Swedish father.^[1] However, other sources have linked Sigrid to a Polish princess, the daughter of Mieszko I. In this version of Sigrid’s biography, her given name is usually Świętosława, though she is sometimes left anonymous, considered only in relation first to her father and then to her two husbands: Erik the Victorious and Sveyn Forkbeard, both of whom are specified as the husbands of Sigrid in Scandinavian literature.^[2] The more plausible scenario is that Sigrid was indeed a Polish princess who married into Scandinavian royalty not once, but twice.

Compiled from oral traditions and preexisting literature, Sigrid’s narrative contains some obviously fictionalized elements, and so some have suggested she may be an amalgamation of several different historical and literary women, Olga included.^[3] After assessing the multiple fathers, marriages, and sons assigned to Sigrid, historians have yet to agree on a definitive biography since the timelines of certain plots conflict, with the actors in question living during different centuries.^[4] As a result of these contradictions, Sigrid has largely been written out of history during the past century, consigned instead to fantasy and folklore.^[5] Yet for her strength of personality, orchestration of violence, and, indeed, her pride, Sigrid the Proud more than earns her place among other Viking Age warrior queens.

Of the various renditions of Sigrid in Scandinavian literature, the Icelandic and Danish traditions are the most essential. In the Danish tradition as conveyed by Saxo Grammaticus, Sigrid is worthier of the other popular translation of her epithet: “haughty.”^[6] Saxo’s Sigrid, as many have observed, is corrupt, conniving, and ultimately ineffective, though the basic events of her narrative remain the same across both traditions. Some scholars suggest Saxo’s unsavory depiction, which is in keeping with his typical approach to female characters, stems from his narrative need for a villain in the death of Olaf Tryggvason.^[7] In contrast, the Icelandic portrayal of Sigrid is far more complimentary, if still tinged with sexist undertones. In Snorri’s Heimskringla, Sigrid is intelligent, witty, and prophetic; in fact, he describes her as “the wisest of women.”^[8] Since Saxo and Snorri consulted the same Icelandic sources in crafting their narratives, since Snorri provides a more detailed and less censorious account, and since the basic events are consistent across both, I will base the rest of my analysis on Sigrid as she appears in Heimskringla, rather than in History of the Danes.

Sigrid’s remarkable story begins, like those of so many powerful women in history, with widowhood, yet it is nonetheless necessary to briefly address the marriage that makes her a widow. Her first husband is Erik the Victorious, the king of Sweden. It is this marriage that provides the strongest argument that Sigrid is actually Świętosława, for both are named in various sources as his only wife. Polish and other Slavic sources tend to cite the daughter of Mieszko I as Erik’s wife, while Scandinavian sources name her Sigrid.^[9] It would not be unusual for a Slavic woman to take on a Scandinavian name upon her marriage into Swedish royalty, and in fact, the practice may have been expected.^[10] Whether Erik’s wife is originally named Sigrid or simply takes on that name after her marriage, Sigrid gives Erik a son: Olaf the Swede. Shortly thereafter, Erik succumbs to an unspecified illness. Olaf the Swede is the earliest Swedish king with significant historical evidence attesting his existence, and yet the identity of his mother remains controversial.^[11] We can infer from the uncertain chronology of Sigrid’s marriage to Erik and Erik’s subsequent death—we know that no more than ten years elapsed between the two events, but not the specific dates—that her son Olaf was too young to rule at the outset of Sigrid’s widowhood. Very likely, Sigrid served as his regent, although the sagas do not say so directly.^[12]

The next time we meet Sigrid, it is when Olaf is already the king of Sweden, and she, a wealthy widow with multiple properties who is still regarded as beautiful. In this anecdote, Sigrid’s foster-brother, a minor Norwegian jarl named Harald Grenske, visits Sweden. Sigrid invites him and his men to a banquet at one of her palaces, during which everyone—Sigrid included—gets quite drunk. Snorri does not say outright due to the moral constraints of the church at his time of writing, but a sexual liaison between Sigrid and Harald is heavily implied: “And when the king was undressed and lying down, then the queen came to him there and served him herself and enticed him hard to drink and was most agreeable.”^[13] The next morning, Sigrid sends Harald and his men on their way.

Evidently, Harald enjoyed his time with Sigrid, because after an excursion in the Baltics, he returns to Sweden and proposes to her. Sigrid rebuffs the proposal, reminding Harald that he is already married to a worthy woman named Ásta, who has no idea Harald is off suggesting marriage to another.^[14] Since divorce was a possibility under Norse law, perhaps Harald wished to secure his next wife before setting aside the first. Nevertheless, Harald is not content to suffer rejection. Ignoring the advice of his men, he visits Sigrid a third time. Unbeknownst to Harald, a prince is also on his way with amorous intentions: Vsevelod, a kniaz’ of Rus’. Vsevelod arrives at Sigrid’s palace the very same evening as Harald. Hardly the first widowed queen to entertain unwanted offers of marriage—Tomyris and Olga also dealt with men proposing marriage as a means to take what was theirs—Sigrid feigns gratitude for the uninvited attention, despite being inwardly insulted that vassal kings of such minor territories would deem themselves her equals. Thus, she hosts a lavish party, plying both kings and their retinues with an abundance of mead. Once they are asleep in a drunken stupor, she locks the building and sets it ablaze. Her men kill any who escape the fire.^[15] While she was described as a proud woman prior to this incident, it is her actions regarding the unfortunate suitors that earn her the epithet “the Proud.”

Although she answered unwanted proposals with such dramatic finality, Sigrid continues to receive offers of marriage. The next offer, however, she does not dismiss outright. Rather, after exchanging several messages, Sigrid agrees to marry Olaf Tryggvason, the Christian king of Norway.^[16] To honor their engagement, Olaf sends Sigrid a golden ring. Sigrid, along with the rest of her court, is initially pleased by the gift, yet upon closer examination her goldsmiths declare the ring a counterfeit. When she gives them permission to break the ring, they discover it is only gilded brass. Sigrid concludes that Olaf is untrustworthy and decides to remain watchful, but she does not yet break the engagement. Later, when Olaf arrives in person to arrange the details of their wedding, he demands she convert to Christianity. Sigrid refuses. Olaf slaps her and calls her a heathen dog, and here is where Sigrid utters the prediction for which Snorri dubbed her a prophetess. She tells Olaf, “That could well cost you your life.”^[17] It soon does.

Sigrid’s second husband, King Sveyn Forkbeard of Denmark, is a widower. The sagas do not go into details about their courtship; maybe it was not as interesting as her prior courtships nor as eventful as their marriage’s aftermath. After Sveyn’s previous wife, Gunnhild, passes away, he marries Sigrid. Sigrid then births two more sons: Knut the Great, who becomes in turn the King of England, Denmark, and lastly Norway; and Harald II, who succeeds his brother as King of Denmark. Along with Olaf of Sweden, Sigrid’s younger two sons share an illustrious set of titles, and their exploits are well chronicled, lending further historicity to Sigrid’s narrative. Sigrid’s second marriage initiates an alliance between her eldest son Olaf and her new husband Sveyn, which, as she had predicted, leads to the death of her former fiancé. Olaf Tryggvason not only insulted and hit Sigrid, but he had once raped Sveyn’s sister, and according to Viking law this is sufficient grounds for war.^[18] Sigrid uses her considerable persuasive powers to incite her husband and son to violence, and they gladly oblige.^[19] Sigrid does not take part in the battle personally, but without her insistence, it would not have occurred. During what came to be known as the Battle of Swold, Olaf Tryggvason is killed.^[20] The war Sigrid orchestrates to avenge her own honor, as well as that of her sister-in-law, ensures their violator is never heard from again.

Scholars have observed multiple parallels between Olga of Kyiv and Sigrid the Proud, so many so that some suggest Sigrid is essentially a Scandinavian copy of Olga, or at a minimum, that her narrative was modeled after the queen of the Rus’.^[21] They were both widows whose royal status earned them unwanted marriage proposals. Both served as regents for underage sons. Both took revenge upon those who slighted them, orchestrating bloody wars in the process. However, one of the most striking parallels between the narratives of Olga and Sigrid is their chosen method of revenge, in particular, their decisive use of fire. Olga burns alive the messengers of an unwanted marriage proposal, and later, she burns their whole city. Sigrid likewise burns alive the unfortunate suitors who earned her ire. Another connection between Olga and Sigrid is their inverted role with respect to Christianity. Olga of Kyiv is credited as the first Christian in Rus’, having converted later in life, and her grandson Vladimir I as the one who officially converted all of Rus’. However, if we assume Sigrid the Proud was based on the historical figure of Świętosława, then it was her father Mieszko I who adopted Christianity for Poland.^[22] Furthermore, by rejecting Olaf Tryggvasson, Sigrid also rejects Christianity, thereby taking the opposite path as Olga. Olga is duly sainted; Sigrid, like Vlasta, is deemed a villainess. Christian chroniclers only appear to tolerate violent women when they can temper their narratives through religion.

The Slavic warrior queens who lived during the Viking Age and were described centuries later in medieval literature do not owe their warriorhood to a Scandinavian legacy. They were born into cultures that certainly bore the marks of Scandinavian influence, but they did not inherit their warrior spirit from the Vikings. Though they may share traits with legendary Norse figures like the Valkyries, they did not descend from a line of Swedish or Danish or Norwegian skjaldmeyjar. Such Scandinavian shieldmaidens were extreme exceptions, if they existed at all outside of literature, and as previously discussed, archaeological evidence suggests that any skjaldmeyjar were not ethnically Scandinavian in the first place. Instead, it is from the Scythians, and their own Slavic heritage as evidenced by Libuše’s matriarchal reign, that these Slavic queens inherited a tradition of powerful women. Certainly, literary depictions of Viking skjaldmeyjar and Valkyries influenced the recorded narratives of these Viking Age Slavic queens, but the Scythians provided a stronger historical precedent.

Scythian and Amazon queens imparted their narratives to their Slavic successors, as the classically trained medieval scribes were inevitably familiar with the ancient stories.^[23] Saxo and Cosmas both composed their chronicles in Latin, the Dalimil author invokes Scythians and Amazons in his account of the Maidens’ War, and references to warrior maiden kingdoms in the north pepper Scandinavian literature. Like Tomyris, both Olga and Sigrid claim their power only after becoming widows. Additionally, Olga and Sigrid receive ill-intentioned proposals of marriage and deal with them in violent, spectacular fashion: through fire and war. Like the Sarmatian queen Amage, Libuše holds functional power over her kingdom even though her husband lives. In an inverse of the typical pattern, Přemysl does not come into his own as a ruler until after his wife’s death. Finally, like Penthesilea, Vlasta rides heedless into battle while mourning the loss of a friend. Hippolyte’s death triggers Penthesilea’s path to self-destruction; for Vlasta, it is Libuše’s death.

While not all warrior queens rode into battle personally like Antiope, Penthesilea, or Vlasta, they all played key roles in military endeavors, from instigator to strategist. However, another important quality all these women, whether Amazon, Scythian, or Slav, share is their royal status. First and foremost, they were queens. They had states to rule, responsibilities to fulfill, larger pictures to keep in mind. A ruler riding into battle personally would have been not only unnecessary, but downright foolhardy. Sound strategy is a far more vital component of winning a war than the addition of one more soldier on the battlefield, and these queens were in position to provide such strategic oversight. Thus, these Viking Age Slavic queens illustrate one aspect of the Scythian-Amazon legacy, an aspect required by their royal status: orchestrators of war. In the next chapter, I will explore the non-royal inheritors of that same legacy, who were thus free to participate directly on the battlefield: the daring polianitsy.

Citations:

[1] Rafal Prinke, “Świętosława, Sygryda, Gunhilda: Tożamość córki Mieszka I i jej skandynawskie zwia,zki,” Roczniki Historyczne (2004): 89; Niels Lund, “Sven Estreidsen’s Incest and Divorce,” Viking and Medieval Scandinavia 13 (2017): 131.

[2] Prinke, “Świętosława, Sygryda, Gunhilda,” 82; Hieronim Chojnacki, “Świętosława – skandynawistka: o znaczeniu północnego wymiaru w polskiej kulturze i polityce,” Folia Scandinavica 19 (2016): 36.

[3] Bergitta Fritz, “Sigrid Storråda,” Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon 32 (2006): 185.

[4] Prinke, “Świętosława, Sygryda, Gunhilda,” 93.

[5] Sawyer, “Sigrid Storråda,” 78.

[6] The Romanized Danish spelling of her name is Siritha, which is how Saxo refers to her, but Siritha and Sigrid are the same woman. Sigrid’s title in the original Norse is storråda, which in English is usually translated to either “proud” or “haughty.” As the more neutral term, I have chosen to use “proud.”

[7] Sawyer, “Sigrid Storråda,” 86.

[8] Sturluson, Heimskringla, trans. by Finlay and Faulks, 178.

[9] Fritz, “Sigrid Storråda,” 185; Prinke, “Świętosława, Sygryda, Gunhilda,” 82.

[10] Chojnacki, “Świętosława – skandynawistka,” 36.

[11] Bagge, Cross and Scepter, 55.

[12] Sawyer, “Sigrid Storråda,” 84.

[13] Sturluson, Heimskringla, Finlay and Faulks, trans., 178.

[14] Ibid.,179.

[15] Sturluson, Heimskringla, Finlay and Faulks, trans., 179.

[16] Ibid., 192.

[17] Ibid., 193.

[18] Ibid., 217.

[19] Ibid., 218.

[20] Ibid.

[21] Lund, “Sven Esreidsen’s Incest,” 131; Sawyer, “Sigrid Storråda,” 81.

[22] Gardeła, “Vikings in Poland,” 220.

[23] Sawyer, “Women in Viking-Age Scandinavia,” 5.