Hildr Hrólfsdóttir

Hildr[1] or Ragnhildr[2] Hrólfsdóttir (Hild Rolvsdatter) was a 9th-century woman who is referenced in various Old Norse sources including Óláfs saga, Orkneyinga saga and Landnámabók.

According to the sagas, Hild was the daughter of Rolv Nefia (Hrólfr nefja) jarl at Trondhjem (modern day Trondheim). In the Orkneyinga saga, the daughter of Rolv Nefia was called Ragnhild, although in the Heimskringla she was called Hild. Her father used to go on Viking expeditions. One summer he plundered in Vík. This aroused king Harald Fairhair's anger and he was banished. Hild appealed unsuccessfully for clemency for her father. On this occasion she composed a scaldic stanza (lausavísa), which is one of the few testimonies of scaldic poetry composed by a woman that has come down to us.

She was married to Rognvald Eysteinsson (Ragnvald Øysteinsson Mørejarl) who was the jarl of Møre. They had three sons: Ívarr, Þórir and Hrólfr. Thorir (Þórir) succeeded his father as jarl of More. Rolv (Hrólfr), nicknamed Gange-Rolv, became known as Rollo of Normandy. The death of Ivar (Ívarr) during an earlier campaign in support of King Harald Finehair resulted in the Northern Isles (Norðreyar) being gifted to his family as compensation. According to the Historia Norvegiae, Rognvald's family conquered Orkney and Shetland Islands in the late ninth century.[3][4][5][6]

References
  1. In Haralds saga hárfagra (24) and Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta (95)
  2. In Landnámabók (S 309 / H 270) and Orkneyinga saga (4).
  3. Claus Krag. "Ragnvald Øysteinsson Mørejarl". Norsk biografisk leksikon. Archived from the original on January 17, 2015. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  4. Claus Krag. "Rollo Gange-Rolv Ragnvaldsson". Norsk biografisk leksikon. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  5. "The Norse colonisation". Orkneyjar. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  6. "Viking Stories Of Rognvald's Family". teleport.com. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  • Crawford, Barbara (1987) Scandinavian Scotland (Leicester University Press, Leicester) ISBN 0-7185-1282-0
  • Muir, Tom (2005) Orkney in the Sagas: The Story of the Earldom of Orkney as told in the Icelandic Sagas (The Orcadian. Kirkwall) ISBN 0954886232.
  • Pálsson, Hermann and Edwards, Paul Geoffrey (1981) Orkneyinga Saga: The History of the Earls of Orkney (Penguin Classics) ISBN 0-14-044383-5
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