Most likely a legendary character, Sigrid the Haughty (once assumed to be an actual person) is noted for her defiance. The chronicle of King Olaf of Norway says that when it was arranged for Sigrid to marry Olaf, she refused because it would have required her to convert to Christianity. She helped organize opponents of Olaf who, later, defeated the Norwegian King.

According to the stories that mention Sigrid, she was married to Eric VI Bjornsson, King of Sweden, and was mother of Olaf III of Sweden and of Holmfrid who married Svend I of Denmark.  Later, perhaps after she and Eric divorced, she is supposed to have married Sweyn of Denmark (Sveyn Forkbeard) and is cited as mother of Estrith or Margaret of Denmark, who married Richard II "the Good" of Normandy.

Sigrid the Haughty on the Net

• Notable Women Circa the Year 1000 CE
• Queen Sigrid the Haughty - poem by Henry Wadworth Longfellow
• Sigrid storråda

Also on this site

• European Women's History
• Medieval and Renaissance Women's History
• Medieval and Renaissance Queens, Empresses and Female Rulers

About Sigrid the Haughty

• Categories: rebel, princess, pagan, legend
• Places: Sweden, Norway, Denmark
• Period: 10th century

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Text copyright 1999-2006 © Jone Johnson Lewis.