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Gunnhild konungamóðir (''mother of kings'') or Gunnhild Gormsdóttir〔Or, alternatively, Gunnhild Özurardóttir.〕 (c. 910 – c. 980) is a character who appears in the Icelandic Sagas, according to which she was the wife of Eric Bloodaxe (king of Norway 930–34, 'King' of Orkney c. 937–54, and king of Jórvík 948–49 and 952–54). Many of the details of her life are disputed, including her parentage. Although she is treated in the sagas as a historical person, even her historicity is a matter of some debate.〔''E.g.,'' Downham 112-120; Jones 121–24; Bradbury 38; Orfield 129; Ashley 444; Alen 88; Driscoll 88, note 15.〕 Gunnhild appears prominently in many Norse sagas, including ''Fagrskinna'', ''Egils saga'', ''Njáls saga'', and ''Heimskringla''. What details of her life are known come largely from Icelandic sources, which generally asserted that the Icelandic settlers had fled from Harald's tyranny. While the historicity of such sources as the ''Landnámabók'' is disputed, the perception that Harald had exiled or driven out many of their ancestors led to an attitude among Icelanders generally hostile to Erik and Gunnhild. Scholars such as Gwyn Jones therefore regard some of the episodes reported in them as suspect.〔Jones 121–24.〕 The sagas relate that Gunnhild lived during a time of great change and upheaval in Norway. Her father-in-law Harald Fairhair had recently united much of Norway under his rule. Shortly after his death, Gunnhild and her husband were overthrown and exiled. She spent much of the rest of her life in exile in Orkney, Jorvik and Denmark. A number of her many children with Erik became co-rulers of Norway in the late tenth century. In the sagas, Gunnhild is most often depicted in a negative light; she is described by Jenny Jochens as known for her "power and cruelty, admired for her beauty and generosity, and feared for her magic, cunning, sexual insatiability, and her goading." ==Origins== According to the 12th century ''Historia Norwegiæ'', Gunnhild was the daughter of Gorm the Old, king of Denmark, and Erik and Gunnhild met at a feast given by Gorm. Modern scholars have largely accepted this version as accurate.〔For example, Bradbury 38; Orfield 129; Ashley 444; Alen 88; Driscoll 88, note 15.〕 In their view, her marriage with Erik was a dynastic union between two houses, that of the Norwegian Ynglings and that of the early Danish monarchy (who may have claimed descent from Ragnar Lodbrok), in the process of unifying and consolidating their respective countries. Erik himself was the product of such a union between Harald and Ragnhild, a Danish princess from Jutland.〔Jones 94–95. The purported descent of Gorm from King Ragnar through his son Sigurd Snake-eye comes from, ''inter alia'', ''Ragnarssona þáttr'' §§ 3–4; but many modern scholars regard the tales of Ragnar and his family as confused and unreliable. See, for example, Jones 204–211; Forte 69.〕 Gwyn Jones in particular supported the identification of Gunnhild as the daughter of Gorm, and regarded the stories of her origins in Hålogaland in northern Norway and her tutelage by Finnish wizards as part of a general Icelandic hostility towards Gunnhild and Erik.〔Jones 121–22.〕 ''Heimskringla'' and ''Egil's Saga'', on the other hand, assert that Gunnhild was the daughter of Ozur Toti, a hersir from Halogaland.〔For example, ''Harald Fairhair's Saga'' § 34. The ''Ágrip af Nóregskonungasögum'' calls her father Ozurr lafskegg (beard ), thus also ''Fagrskinna''; Driscoll § 5 & p. 88, note 15.〕 Accounts of her early life vary between sources. ''Egil's Saga'' relates that "Eirik fought a great battle on the Northern Dvina in Bjarmaland, and was victorious as the poems about him record. On the same expedition he obtained Gunnhild, the daughter of Ozur Toti, and brought her home with him."〔''Egil's Saga'' § 37.〕 Gwyn Jones regarded many of the traditions that grew up around Gunnhild in the Icelandic sources as fictional.〔 However, both Theodoricus monachus and the ''Ágrip af Nóregskonungasögum'' report that when Gunnhild was at the court of Harald Bluetooth after Erik's death, the Danish king offered marriage to her; if valid, these accounts call into question the identification of Gunnhild as Harald's sister, but their most recent editors follow Jones in viewing their accounts of Gunnhild's origins as unreliable.〔Theodoricus, § 6 & p. 64, note 54; Driscoll, § 11 & p. 91, note 39.〕 ''Heimskringla'' relates that Gunnhild lived for a time in a hut with two Finnish wizards and learned magic from them. The two wizards demanded sexual favors from her, so she induced Erik, who was returning from an expedition to Bjarmaland, to kill them. Erik then took her to her father's house and announced his intent to marry Gunnhild.〔''Harald Fairhair's Saga'' § 34.〕 The older ''Fagrskinna'', however, says simply that Erik met Gunnhild during an expedition to the Finnish north, where she was being "fostered and educated ... with Mǫttull, king of the Finns".〔''Fagrskinna'' § 8.〕 Gunnhild's Finnish sojourn is described by historian Marlene Ciklamini as a "fable" designed to set the stage for placing the blame for Erik's future misrule on his wife.〔Ciklamini 210-211.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Gunnhild, Mother of Kings」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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