Thyra Danebot ~898–

Personanteckningar

We have no dates for Thyra. She was the wife of Gorm the Old, who was born about 890/900 and died about 958/61. She certainly died before he did. He erected a rune stone in her honor. She is called Thyra Danebod (or Dannebod), 'Denmark's ornament'. This nickname is derived from a phrase on the Jelling stones, but it is not clear whether the phrase applies to Thyra or whether this is a correct translation.

Dispute About Her Parents

Thyra’s ancestry is uncertain. The Jelling stones, the only contemporary source, do not name her parents. They say:

“King Haraldr ordered this monument made in memory of Gormr, his father, and in memory of Thyrvé, his mother; that Haraldr who won for himself all of Denmark and Norway and made the Danes Christian.”

“King Gormr made this monument in memory of Thyrvé, his wife, Denmark's adornment.”

Later sources given conflicting information about her parents.

Snorri Sturluson (Heimskringla, 13th century) and Jómsvíkinga saga (also 13th century) say she was a daughter of Harald Klak, who died about 846/52, but that’s not possible. Thyra’s husband Gorm the Old was born about 890/900. She cannot have been the daughter of a man who died in 852. She would have been 50 years older than her husband.

Saxo Grammaticus (early 13th century) says she was a daughter of Aethelred, King of England, and a sister of Aethelstan. It is not clear which Aethelred this might have been. Aethelred I (c837-871) is too early. Thyra would have been 20 years older than her husband. Aethelred II (c968-1016) is too late. He was born after Thyra died. Saxo’s story and chronology fit for Thyra to have been a sister of Aethelstan (c893-893), but he was son of Edward the Elder (869-924) not Aethelstan.

There are a number of theories that attempt to reconcile the problems. These include the following:

She was a descendant of Harald Klak, not his daughter. In this case, her parents are unknown.

She was the daughter of a different Harald, perhaps a daughter of Harald Parcus, which would mean that she was a maternal granddaughter of Aethelred I. In this case, Snorri and Saxo were both wrong. Snorri identified the wrong Harald, and Saxo was wrong about her relationship to Aethelred.

She was the daughter of a different Aethelred, perhaps a daughter of Aethelred (d. 912) who was Ealdorman of Mercia. He seems to have had an ambiguous status that would have made it possible for Saxo to call him a king. In this case, Thyra’s mother could have been Æthelflæda, so Thyra would have been a great niece of Aethelred I and a cousin of Aethelstan.

She was the sister of Aethelstan, so she was the daughter of Edward not of Aethelred. In this case, she fits very well into the politics of both England and Denmark. If she was Christian, as the story says, it is more likely that she was English than Danish. Also, Edward married his daughters into many foreign families. However, the English royal family at this time almost exclusively used names that began with the letters Ae, A, and E. All of Edward’s other known children have names that follow this pattern. If Thyra was a daughter of Edward, her name was probably not Thyra originally.

Jomsvikings saga, http://vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Saga%20of%20the%20Jomsvikings.pdf