MS 991's impact on Leif Eriksson

From: Inger E Johansson (inger_e.johansson_at_notelia.com)
Date: 07/17/04 

Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004 02:14:44 GMT

In an other thread I sent the groups an url to one of the most important
documents from 10th century for the discussions we have had over the years
dealing with all from Eirik the Red's son Leif Eriksson's voyage to NA up to
KRS, Ivar Bardson and on to King Erik's call for England to pay tax and
damages caused by English merchandisers and fishermen not having payed their
tithes in Greenland and Iceland nor the merchandise-tax to the King of
Norway but also for the pirates who stolen ships sailing from Greenland and
Iceland loaded with cargo to Bergen, Copenhagen resp. the Orkneys.

Anyhow the first major impact of the trakta came to be that Anlaf (Olav) of
Norway became baptised. If he hadn't the bishop of Orkney mentioned in the
text might not have visited him in Norway, thus Olav wouldn't have had Leif
Eriksson baptised and sent back to Greenland to tell about the new Christian
faith. But of course most of you already drawn that conclusion so I guess we
have to look a little bit closer to the Royal Dynasty circus of Scandinavia
in those days.

King Olof Skötkonung who in year 1000 AD was baptised of the same bishop on
his voyage home, was the son of Gunhild from Poland(Obodrites in Adam's
work) and not Sigrid Storråda which the Icelandic Sagas later said. Sigrid
who had been a concubine of Olof's father was Olof's nanny but that's an
other story. Gunhild remarried after her husband's death. She married the
Danish King and in that marriage two children are known to have been born -
Knut/Cnut by the English called Canute the Great the Dane who became English
King in 1016 and Estrid who was married at least twice once to the Duke of
Normandy and once to Jarl Ulf, Jarl of England as well as of Västergötland.
So what you didn't know is that Canute the Great of Denmark-England and King
Olof Skötkonung of Sweden with roots in Västergötland were halfbrothers but
also rivals.

More in part 3 where the impacts on the Royal Dynasties of Sweden from the
MS 991's mentioned bishop of Orkney, called Sigfrid instead of Sigeric here
in Sweden, and the baptising of King Olof Skötkonung.

Inger E

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