Sveinn Haraldsson tjúguskegg or Sweyn Forkbeard was born in April 963; his father was the famous Harold Bluetooth, King of Denmark and Norway, probably more famous now because of the Bluetooth connection system than then. Sweyn’s mother may have been of a lower class or servant status. Sweyn came to power by being part of an uprising against his father, who subsequently died and Sweyn filled the empty throne. Sweyn had more than one wife. The second may have been Sigrid the Haughty! Around the year 994 Sweyn led a series of raids against the English. On one occasion Ethelred the Unready paid Sweyn £16,000 in silver to leave the country. This didn’t work as a strategy and the raids continued. Ethelred, in the year 1002 retaliated for the continued raiding by ordering the killing of all Danes living in Britain. This became known as the St Brice’s Day massacre. The idea was to remove any support the raiding Danes had from their kin living in Britain. Unfortunately, Sweyn’s sister Gunhilda was killed along with a great number of others. From that date to 1013 Sweyn mounted repeated raids against Britain and Ethelred who repeatedly paid Sweyn to go back home. Ethelred strategy never worked and over time Ethelred lost more and more of Britain to Sweyn and in 1013 Sweyn proclaimed himself King of England. Ethelred had fled to Normandy with his family. Sweyn was the first Danish king of England. Unfortunately for Sweyn he died by falling of his horse after being King for just 5 weeks. It was rumoured he had been killed by the ghost of St Edmund who pierced his side with a spectral spear.\ After Sweyn’s death his son Canut succeeded him to the throne.
Link to the Sweyn Forkbeard figure in the A12North.co.uk Shop. Link to Sweyn on Wikkipedia. Link to Sweyns Timeline
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