Ulf the Earl

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King Canute and Earl Ulf as imagined by Morris Meredith Williams in 1913
Ulf (or Ulf Jarl) (Ulf Thorgilsson) was a Danish earl (jarl) and regent of Denmark. Ulf was the father
of King Sweyn II of Denmark and thus the progenitor of the House of Estridsen, which would rule
Denmark from 1047 to 1375, which was also sometimes, specially in Swedish sources, referred to
as the Ulfinger dynasty to honor him. [1]

Contents
[hide]

 1Biography
 2References
 3Other sources
 4Related reading
Biography[edit]
Ulf Jarl was the son of Danish chieftain Thorgils Sprakalägg. His brother Eilaf was an earl of
King Cnut the Greatand his sister Gytha Thorkelsdóttir married Godwin, Earl of Wessex. In 1016, he
participated in Cnut the Great's invasion of England. He participated in the conquest of England as
one of Cnut's most trusted men. From c. 1024 he was appointed the Jarl of Denmark and King
Cnut's appointee as regent of Denmark. In the absense of King Cnut, he ruled as the foster-father
and guardian of Cnut's son Harthacnut.[2]
In 1015-16, he married Cnut's sister, Estrid Svendsdatter of Denmark, by whom he had sons, Svein,
who later became the king of Denmark, and Beorn (Bjørn), who would become an Earl in England.
Chronicler Adam of Bremen also gives Ulf a son, Åsbjørn, but does not explicitly name him as son of
Estrith, as he does with Svein and Beorn. There may have also been a daughter - Harald Hardrådes
saga, part of Heimskringla by Snorri Sturluson gives an account of Åsmund, son of Svein's sister, yet
he is likely the same Åsmund named as son of Beorn in Morkinskinna. [3] [4]
In 1026, Swedish King Anund Jakob and Norwegian King Olaf II took advantage of King Cnut's
absence and launched an attack on the Danish in the Baltic Sea. Ulf convinced the freemen to
elect Harthacnut king, since they were discontented at Cnut's absenteeism. This was a ruse on Ulf's
part since his role as Harthacnut's guardian would make him the ruler of Denmark. When Cnut learnt
what had happened, he returned to Denmark and fought naval engagement against the Swedish
and Norwegian forces at the Battle of the Helgeå. The victory left Cnut as the dominant leader in
Scandinavia. [5]
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which instead places the battle a year earlier in 1025, names the
leaders of the Swedes as Ulf and Eglaf, usually identified with Ulf Jarl and his brother Eilaf. Saxo
likewise would have Ulf fighting Cnut at Helgeå. However Saga of Olaf the Holy in
the Heimskringla gives an account in which while Cnut lost the land battle, he was the overall victor
when Ulf helped him win the accompanying sea battle. One possible explanation for this conflict of
sources is that Ulf fought with the Swedes against Cnut in a 1025 battle not recounted by the saga
because Olaf did not take part, but Ulf switched sides before the battle at Helgeå. [6] [7]
If Eilaf fought against Cnut, he was forgiven as he was retained as Earl in England until Cnut's
death, and then fled, suggesting he was closely linked to the king.[8] Any rapprochement with Ulf was
short-lived. At a banquet in Roskilde, the two brothers-in-law were playing chess and started arguing
with each other. The next day, the Christmas of 1026, Cnut had one of his housecarls kill Earl Ulf in
Trinity Church, the predecessor of Roskilde Cathedral.[9]

References[edit]
1. Jump up^ "Ulf Jarl". Gyldendal. Retrieved 2010-01-22.
2. Jump up^ Peter Lawætz (April 2011). "Ulf jarls herkomst".
vikingekonger.dk. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
3. Jump up^ Heimskringla (1964 ed.). University of Texas Press.
p. 408. ISBN 0292730616.
4. Jump up^ P. A. Munch (1855), Det Norske Folks Historie, vol. 5, no.
5, p. 287
5. Jump up^ Ulf Jarl (Nordisk familjebok. 1920)
6. Jump up^ "Heimskringla by Snorri Sturluson". Wikisource.
Retrieved May 1, 2018.
7. Jump up^ A. S. Napier and W. H. Stevenson, eds. (1895), "The
Crawford Collection of Early Charters and Documents", Anecdota
Oxoniensia Mediaeval and Modern Series, Part VII, pp. 139-140.
 8. Jump up^ M. K. Lawson, Cnut: England's Viking King (2004), p. 94,
says that the identification of the Ulf of Helgeå with the husband of
Estrith (Estrid) (and thus by implication, Eglaf with Eilaf) is commonly
made but not certain.
9. Jump up^ Havhingsten fra Glendalough: The battle of the throne of
England

Other sources[edit]
 Lawson, M. K. (1995) Cnut: The Danes in England in the Early Eleventh Century (Addison-
Wesley Longman Ltd) ISBN 978-0582059702

Related reading[edit]
 Lawson, M. K. (2004) Cnut – England's Viking King (Tempus) ISBN 978-0752429649
 Hollander, Lee M., translator (1991) Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway (University of
Texas Press) ISBN 978-0292730618
 Trow, M. J. (2005) Cnut – Emperor of the North (Sutton Publishing Ltd) ISBN 978-0750933872