Godfredus

Godfred/Gudrød king of the Danes came to power someplace around the year 804. Here he is mentioned for the first time in the Frankish annals called Godfredus.
The timeframe would make it nearly impossible for him to be the brother of Sigfred which is already mentioned for the first time in 777, as a King, so at this time he must have been a grown man. Godfred is mentioned for the first time as King of the Danes in 804, if the brother of Sigfred he would have been an old man at that time, also since one of his sons was King until 854. It was unusual to grow very old in the timeframe. So, chronologically it fits that he is the son of Sigfred. It is debated if Sigfred is the same as Sigurd Ring who is the father of Ragnar Lodbrog according to the Sagas. If so, that would make Gudrød the nephew of Ragnar Lodbrog but that can not be proven with the sources. But the facts are that he was related to Sigfred. Ragnar is also mentioned as helping the sons of Godfred to power. He was also likely related to Angantyr (Danish king), Danish king in the early 700s, mentioned as Ongendus in Willibrord's writings. The name is passed down in another branch of Gudrøds royal line.
In 845 Count Kobbo of Saxony (who was visiting Horik (The son of Godfred) writes that Regnar Lodbrog (referred to here as "Reginarius") supposedly was paid to leave Paris in 845. The same year that Hamburg was burned down. A fleet of 600 ships had been sent up the Elb. Horik claimed he had nothing to do with it, but many point to him being part of it, though it is said that the men who did the deed were apprehended by him. However, a fleet of 600 is no small amount, so it was a large army that arrived at Hamburg at that time.
When Gudrød is murdered in 810, his sons choose to flee to Sweden. It is thought that the murder was done by one of his own instigated by Charlemagne who feared what he would do. Gudrøds nephew Hemming is named king after him and he makes peace with Charlemagne. However, Hemming dies two years later and Gudrøds sons return home from Sweden wanting revenge. One of those sons of five was Horik 1. The other was not named in the stories by name. They pushed out the Kings Harald Klak and Ragnfred. They had been busy fighting a rebellion in the farmost part of their Kingdom in Vestfold in Norway. Upon their return Godfread’s sons attacked them. Though Harald Klak managed to be Co-king for a period of time, he was finally pushed out in 827.
“During the winter, Louis ordered the Saxons Obodrites to prepare for the invasion of Denmark. In May 815 the troops moved northward over the Elbe and reached Sinlendi (in South Jutland). Then they marched for seven days until they reached a shore, three miles from a certain island (possibly Funen). The four brother kings had gathered a fleet of 200 ships and were posted on the island, refusing to offer the imperial troops battle. The imperial envoy Baldrich let his troops ravage the districts in the neighbourhood, took 40 hostages, and returned without having achieved much. “
This event seems to have been proven with archaeology. The place called Erritsø, recently excavated, was a centre of power at the timeframe and was burned down. Perhaps by the imperial forces. The distance fits with this.
The Franks about the Kings Sigfred and that of Godfredus/Gudrød.

Pompous Asses or Ferocious Kings?
“Looking at the epithets attached to these two kings helps us to get a feeling for how the Carolingian court envisaged these men. Fundamentally, they were regarded as savages. Thus, in the poem by Peter of Piso, Sigfred was characterised as a king with more bluster than muster. Pompifer, he is called. Not an adjective often used, it derives from pompa, which means
procession or just in general ‘pomp’ as in ‘Pomps and Circumstances’. Cicero used it to describe a kind of rhetoric, which had gone off the wall. To this should be added the list of adjectives applied to the king by Paul the Deacon, in his poetical reply to the first poem. Here Sigfredd is characterised as truculentus, brutus, indocto and hirsutus, that is as a ferocious, brutish, ignorant and hairy (unkempt) “kind of animal”.
This slightly “insane” quality may also be found in the characterisations dealt out to his son (or brother), Godfred, whom we are variously told was filled with vain ambition (vana spe) as well as pride (superbia) and ostentatious bragging (iactantia); or might even be considered mad (vaesenus). Especially Einhard in his biography of Charlemagne writes of a braggart filled with idle threats, who believed that he was lord of not only Frisia and Saxony but intended to take all Germany.” From medievalist article.
This name-calling is of course due to him being a power they had to consider, on top of the fact that he was not a Christian. In fact, this was the case early on with the first missionaries to the Danish realm. Angantyr was called "more savage than any beast and harder than stone" by the missionary Willinbrord. Though he lived to tell the tale about it.
- 731 Dannevirke extended. Perhaps initiated by Angantyr? Fits the timeframe. At the beginning of the 700s, he was visited by the missionary Wilibrord. Ribe was also founded as a trading town at the beginning of the 8th century. Along with the Kanhave Canal at Samsø was built in the same timeframe. A larger unification of the Danish Kingdom largely as we know it today plus north Germany and that of Scania is likely already seen at this point.
- 772-804 The Frankish wars against the Saxons.
- 774. According to the Annals – “When he arrived at Ingelheim, he sent for detachments to Saxony. Three of the fought the Saxons and with God's help had the Victory; The fourth did not see battle but returned home with much booty and no losses.”
According to the Annals “775, While the King spent the winter at the villa of Quierzy, he decided to attack the trecious and treaty-breaking tribe of the Saxons and to persist this war until they were either defeated and forced to accept Christianity or entirely exterminated.”
This entry makes it very clear that the Saxons faced a choice of either being forcefully converted at the tip of the sword or being killed. This attitude was later enforced at the Paderborn.
Widukind is mentioned for the first time in 777. “The lord king Charles for the first time held a general assembly at Paderborn. All the Franks gathered there and from every part of Saxony came Saxons, with the exception of Widukind, who was in revolt with a few others. He fled with his companions into Nordmannia.”
The Franks usually call the Danes for Northmen or the area for Nordmannia, well aware that they speak of the Danes.
- 777-782 Exiled Saxons seek refuge with Sigfred, the Danish king. Widukind the Saxon leader was supposedly related to him by marriage. The Frankish royal annals: About the Danish king Sigfred.
Several revolts are spurred on by Widukind in this timeframe. He continues to be the leader of the Saxons.
From the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: “780. Here the Old Saxons and the Franks fought.”
“782. At the time of King Charles crossed the Rhine at Cologne and held at the place where the Lippe rises; To which came all the Saxons except the rebellious Widukind. There were also Normans, King Sigfreds messengers, namely Halfdan and his fellows.”
“In either 782 or 785, the Carolingian ruler issued the Capitulatio de Partibus Saxoniae, an unprecedented series of legal directives which called for the deliberate and forcible conversion of the Saxon people to Christianity on pain of death.”
As can be seen by the entry in 775, the King had already made that decision and the later regulations were merely made to enforce them to the fullest. Not many from the church at this time argued against this forced conversion. Very few raised a voice against it. One such was Alquin, though praising the King in many ways and his counsellor on religious matters, he argued in a letter.
“Faith is a thing of will, not of necessity.”5 Alcuin continues, stating that “a man can be led into faith, not forced; he can be forced to baptism, but it will not help in faith.”
So, Alquin was against the forced conversion, though he supported the King and the wars against the Saxons. Charlemagne also had the full support of the Pope and of other religious leaders of the church. Also, his complaints did not come until 796, which means years after the beginning of the Saxon wars. So, he was not so eager to stop the mission as much as the letter might lead you to believe.
An entry of what leads up to the Massacre at Verden. Here some of the Franks are killed in battle seemingly due to being overconfident.
-“ After Theodoric had pitched camp in this locality, the east Franks, as they had planned with the count, crossed the river, so as to be able to pass more easily around the mountains and pitched up camp at the riverbank. When they discussed matters among themselves, they feared that the honour of the Victory might be Theodoric’s alone if they should fight at his side. Therefore, they decided to engage the Saxons without him. They took up their arms and as if he were chasing runaways and going after booty instead of facing an enemy lined up for battle, everybody dashed as fast as his horse would carry him for the place outside of the Saxon camp where the Saxons were standing in battle array. The battle was as bad as the approach. As soon as the fighting began, they were surrounded by Saxons and slain almost to a man.”
“Two of the Frankish Envoys Adalgis and Gailo, four counts and up to twenty other distinguished nobles had been killed.”
In the entry, it continues.” When he heard of this Lord King Charles rushed to the place with all the Franks that he could gather on short notice and advanced to where the Aller flows into the Weser. Then all the Saxons came together again, submitted to the authority of the King and surrendered the evildoers who were chiefly responsible for this revolt to be put to death -Four thousand five hundred of them. This sentence was carried out. Widukind was not among them since he had fled into Nordmannia.”
So likely it was hostages and other Saxons that were executed at Verden. Many must have followed Widukind to the Danes and taken refuge here. It is also here that we begin to hear more of the Danish king and the Danes. They had had extensive trade with the Franks before this. But basically, the Saxon wars brought the Danes into contact with the Franks in a different way than before. There had been extensive trade between the Danes and Christian Europe. These wars brought the empire of the Franks to the doorstep of the Danes. And apparently, Sigfried was not as easy to handle as Charlemagne would have liked. Of Course, Sigfred would also have been aware that he would be next to be incorporated into the Frankish empire in the same manner as that of the Saxons and would do what he could for it not to be the case.
- 783-787 Known to the court of Charlemagne from 782 when Sigfrid was harbouring both the Saxon rebel Widukind and numerous other fugitives, this Danish king later came to feature in a couple of poems as a pompous or grandstanding (pompifer) man, who waved his spectre over a godless and accursed kingdom and whose comeuppance was secure: in the end, they prophesied, Sigfred was bound to arrive at court with his hands tied behind his back. Neither Thor nor Odin (Thonar et Waten) would help him, they claimed. These two sniggering poems were written sometime between 783 and 787 by Peter of Pisa (AD 744 – 799) and Paul the Deacon (AD 720 – 799). Characterised as occasional poems, their main objective was to stage the authors’ civilised superiority towards this northern king, whom they compare to a wild and hairy “beast”. As an undercurrent, we nevertheless get the impression that Sigfred was regarded as a significant opponent. During the Saxon wars, he seems to have aided and abetted his southern neighbours against Charlemagne. Why else write derogatory and defamatory poetry about him? The Carolingians must have been wary of Sigfred as they came to be of his son Godfred. Charlemagne had demanded that the Danes turn over the refuges. The Danes refused and prepared for war.
-789 The Franks discussed forcefully converting the Danes.
In The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle here the first Danish raid is mentioned.
- “789, And his days came first 3 ships of Northmen from Hordaland and then then the reeve rode there and wanted to compel them to go to the king’s town because he did not know what they were, and then they killed him. These were the first ships of the Danish men who sought out the land of the English race.”
Note that they do say Hordaland which is in Norway, but southern parts of Norway were under Danish control in the Viking age, so these might well be connected to the Danish fight with the Franks.
- In 798 Sigfred is mentioned for the last time in the Annals in passing. “They spared only a few to obtain ransom for them. With the others, they also put to death Godescal, the King’s envoy, whom the king a few days before had sent to Sigifrid, king of the Danes.
- 804 Sometime between AD 799 and 804, his son Gudfred must have taken over. In AD 804, we meet him mustering his fleet as well as cavalry at Sliesthorp (the bottom of the Schlei near the future Haithabu). Godfred is undoubtedly prepared to defend his realm against the Carolingian transgressors, who not only intend to control the region north of the Elbe by setting up the Duke of the Abodrites, Thrasco, as a buffer against the Danes but also want to stop the fleeing Saxons to find refuge up north.
“In 804, At the same time Godofrid, king of the Danes, came with his fleet and his entire cavalry to the border of his kingdom and Saxony. He promised to show up for a conference with the emperor but was made vary by the council of his men and did not venture any closer. Instead, he communicated through envoys what he wanted to say. The emperor stayed at Hollenstedt on the river Elbe and sent an embassy to Godofrid to discuss the return of fugitives.”
- 808 Godfred/Gudrød attacked the Frankish allies the Abodrites, who had previously paid tribute to the Danes, and moved the merchants from Reric to Schleswig and reinforced Dannevirke. The Gate of Dannevirke - At that time, the Danish king Godfred waged war against Charlemagne. The Frankish king's historian tells of how Godfred destroyed the Slavic Baltic port of Reric and built a rampart. "It was to have only one gate, through which horses and carriages could be sent out and received", it says.
- 810 Godfred/Gudfred is murdered by one of his own men. It is speculated that Charlemagne was behind it – His nephew Hemming makes peace with Charlemagne.
- 811 or 812, Hemming Danish king from 810, a time characterized by civil war and several contemporary kings. Hemming was Gudfred's nephew and became king after he was killed. He immediately made peace with Charlemagne in 811; the killing of Gudfred was possibly agreed upon between Hemming and the Franks.
- 812 Two brothers become King of the Danes with Co-rule. Harald and Reginfred
- 812-813 Harald Klak, king. Harald was the nephew of a former King Harald and belonged to the branch of the royal family that came to power after the murder of Godfred in 810. When the sons of Godfred returned home from Sweden, Harald sought Frankish support to retain a share in power; he was baptized in 826 and returned home with Ansgar in his entourage but was expelled finally in 827.
- 813 Godfred’s sons had rebelled and Horik 1, son of Godfred became the ruler of the Danes. It is said that Ragnar Lodbrog helped them with this. They did not want to recognize the peace made with the Franks. They wanted revenge. And the Franks also helped the throne contester Harald Klak, who had been baptized. A new peace agreement had been made between the Franks and that of the two newly chosen kings, but this peace would not last. Later in the year, Harald and his brother were driven from their kingdom by Godfred's sons, who returned home from exile with the Swedes, accompanied by many nobles. After a failed attempt to regain power, during which Reginfred was killed, Harald appealed to the Franks for help. They had just had a new emperor, Louis the Pious, the only surviving son of Charlemagne who had died in January 814.
- 814 Charlemagne dies.
- 815 The Franks seeks a final conquest of the Danish area. Erritsø is believed to be the place they reached. Here a royal hall has been excavated in recent years. in the spring of 815, Louis sent an army of Saxons and Abodrites to occupy Jutland, the army failed to confront Godfred's sons who retreated with the fleet to an island, probably Funen. According to the Frankish royal annals, Emperor Ludwig's troops did not succeed in contacting the Danes' army and navy in 815. After seven days of travel, they reached what we think could be the Little Belt. They waited here for three days while Godfred's sons, with a fleet of 200 ships, had gone 30 miles away, according to the annals "on an island thirty miles from the mainland." So basically, plundering the area. In fact, the Feudal system of the Franks was built that way. They received plunder as payment.
- The forces "returned to the emperor of Saxony" after having ravaged the whole of the surrounding country and had been given forty hostages by the people. " The crucial thing here, however, is that the studies that the Vejle Museums carried out together with the National Museum and funds from the Ministry of Culture's Research Committee and the Beckett Foundation show that the place may have played a role. Either as a defence against the advancing Imperial forces or by the fact that it was burned down at this very time by Emperor Ludwig's troops, who according to the sources ravaged the area.
- 817 A Danish fleet together with an army of both Slavs and Danes made an unsuccessful attack on the Itzehoefort.
- 819 Harald Klak becomes co-king for a while, together with Godfred's sons. The annals of 821 Repeat this statement above.
- 820 Raiders of 13 ships went up the Seine but were defeated.
- 823 Harald asks the emperor to help him against the other kings. He did not receive the help he had hoped for.
- 825 A peace agreement was made between the Danish Kings and of the emperor.
- 827 Harald Klak was baptized.
- 827 Harald Klak was expelled from Denmark.
- 831 became archbishopric under Ansgar and the centre of the mission in the north.
- 814-840 – Louise the Pious whose reign continued the prosperity and stability of the region and who held the Danes at bay through bribes and favours
- 840 – Louis the Pious 3 sons fight for power.
- 841 – The first major attack by the Norsemen came in this year. Viking chief Asgeir sacked and burned Rouen and looted the Monastery of Fontenelle and the Abbey of Saint-Denis. The amount of plunder and the number of captives taken was significant. Those prisoners whose families or friends could pay the Vikings a ransom were returned; the others were sold as slaves. Asgeir left the region a wealthy chieftain
- 843 – The 3 sons of Louise divided the empire between them.
- 845 – Danish King Horik I, son of Godfred, conquered Hamburg, ravaged the town and burned down its church, the relics of which Ansgar just managed to save. In March of the same year, the Vikings of Ragnar Lodbrog sailed up the Seine and plundered Paris with 120 ships. He was paid to leave. “The emperor held two assemblies. One was at Nijmegen because Horic, son of Godfrid, had falsely promised to appear before the emperor…In the meantime the kings of the Danes, that is, the sons of Godfrid, deprived Harald of his share in the kingship and forced him to leave Nordmannia (trans. Scholz, p.137)” The Franks, that had not won terrain with the military tried to gain influence by politics and helping contenders that were favourable to them. This is likely the cause of Horik’s attack on Hamburg. The missionary took years to rebuild and for the time after it was moved to Bremen.”
Pictures of a coin found at Ribe and from the timeframe of Godfred.

Godfredus er det han bliver kaldt i de Frankiske annaler.
Godfredus is what he is called in the Frankish annals.

This is what they say about him

Frankiske rigsannaler: Om Godfred og Danevirke (omkr. 820)
År 804. Kongen tilbragte vinteren i Aachen. Men om sommeren førte han en hær til Saxen og overflyttede alle saxer, som boede hinsides Elben og i Wihmuodi, med kvinder og børn til Franken og gav landskaberne nord for Elben til abodriterne. På samme tid kom danerkongen Godfred med sin flåde og hele rigets rytteri [Equitatus] til stedet, der kaldes Sliesthorp, i grænselandet mellem hans rige og Saxen. For han havde lovet at komme til en forhandling med kejseren, men ængstet ved sine folks råd kom han dog ikke nærmere, men viderebragte sine ønsker gennem sendemænd. Kejseren havde slået lejr ved Elben, ved Holdunsteti, og efter at have sendt et budskab til Godfred angående udlevering af overløbere kom han ved midten af september til Køln og tog derefter til Ardennerne. [...]

År 808. [...] Da det nu meddeltes, at danerkongen Godfred [regem Danorum] med en hær var gået ind i abodriternes land, sendte han sin søn Karl til Elben med en kraftig styrke af franker og saxer og med befaling at gøre modstand mod den afsindige konge, hvis han skulle gøre forsøg på at angribe saxisk område. Men da kongen i nogle dage med vagthold havde overvåget kysten samt dertil stormet og erobret nogle slaviske borge, vendte han med store tab for sine tropper atter hjem. For skønt han havde jaget abodriterhertugen Drasco, der selv ikke stolede på sine landsmænds troskab, bort og ved svig havde fanget en anden hertug, Godelaib, og hængt ham på galgen og havde gjort to trediedele af abodriterne skatskyldige under sig, mistede han dog de bedste og tapreste af sine krigere og med dem sin brodersøn Reginold, som under belejringen af en by faldt med mange danske stormænd [cum plurimis Danorum primoribus] [...]

På Godfreds side stod under dette felttog også de slaver, som kaldes wilzer, og som på grund af det gamle fjendskab, de nærede til abodriterne, frivilligt havde sluttet sig til hans styrker; da han nu vendte hjem til sit rige, drog også de med det bytte, de havde taget hos abodriterne, hjem til sig. Men før Godfred vendte tilbage, ødelagde han den ved havet anlagte handelsplads, som i danernes sprog [lingua Danorum] hedder Reric, og som havde indbragt hans rige store fordele ved inddrivelse af skatter. Idet han også tog de derværende købmænd med sig, lod han flåden lette anker og kom med hele hæren til havnebyen Sliesthorp. Her opholdt han sig nogle dage og bestemte, at han ville befæste sit riges grænse [limitem regni sui] mod Saxen med en vold, således at der fra den østlige havbugt, som danerne kalder Ostersalt, til Vesterhavet og langs Ejderens hele nordbred skulle strække sig en forsvarsvold kun afbrudt af én port, gennem hvilken kærrer og ryttere kunne komme ud og atter vende hjem. Efter at han nu havde fordelt arbejdet mellem sine anførere, vendte han hjem. [...]

English:
Frankish royal annals: About Godfred and Danevirke (circa 820)
Year 804. The king spent the winter in Aachen. But in the summer he led an army into Saxony, and transferred all the Saxons who dwelt beyond the Elbe and in Wihmuodi, with women and children, to Franconia and gave the lands north of the Elbe to the Abodrites. At the same time Godfred, king of the Danes, came with his fleet and all the cavalry [Equitatus] of the kingdom to the place called Sliesthorp, in the borderland between his kingdom and Saxony. For he had promised to come to a negotiation with the emperor, but, anxious at the advice of his people, he did not come nearer, but conveyed his wishes through messengers. The emperor had encamped on the Elbe, at Holdunsteti, and after sending a message to Godfred concerning the extradition of deserters, he came to Cologne about the middle of September, and then went to the Ardennes. [...]

Year 808. [...] Now when it was announced that the Dane king Godfred [regem Danorum] had entered the land of the Abodrites with an army, he sent his son Charles to the Elbe with a strong force of Franks and Saxons and with command to do resistance to the mad king should he attempt to attack Saxon territory. But when the king had watched the coast with guards for a few days and stormed there and captured some Slavic castles, he returned home again with great losses for his troops. For although he had chased away the Abodrite duke Drasco, who himself did not trust the fidelity of his countrymen, had captured another duke, Godelaib, by treachery, and hanged him on the gallows, and had made two-thirds of the Abodrites liable to taxes under him, yet he lost the best and bravest of his warriors, and with them his brother's son Reginold, who during the siege of a city fell with many Danish nobles [cum plurimis Danorum primoribus] [...]

On Godfred's side during this campaign were also the slaves who are called wilzers, and who, because of the old enmity they harbored towards the Abodrites, had voluntarily joined his forces; when he now returned home to his kingdom, they also went home with the booty they had taken from the Abodrites. But before Godfred returned, he destroyed the sea-side trading post, which in the language of the Danes [lingua Danorum] is called Reric, and which had brought great benefits to his kingdom in the collection of taxes. Also taking the merchants there with him, he let the fleet drop anchor and came with the whole army to the port town of Sliesthorp. Here he stayed for a few days and decided that he would fortify the border of his kingdom [limitem regni sui] against Saxony with a rampart, so that from the eastern bay of the sea, which the Danes call Ostersalt, to the North Sea and along the entire north bank of the Eider a defensive rampart interrupted only by one gate, through which carts and horsemen could exit and return home again. Having now divided the work among his captains, he returned home. [...]

Fra Annales Regni Francorum. Overs. Erling Albrechtsen Vikingerne i Franken. Skriftlige kilder fra det 9. århundrede. Odense 1976., s. 16 Latinske tekst i Scriptores rerum Germanicarum in usum scholarum, bnd VI 1895 ed. F. Kurze / G. H. Pertz s. 125.

776

• The Annales Ryenses record that "Karolus Imperator" came with all his army against "Godefrith regem Daciæ" in 776 [Annales Ryenses, MGH SS XVI, p. 397.].
• Adam of Bremen names "rex Godafridus" as the Danish leader against whom Emperor Charlemagne made war [Adami, Gesta Hammenburgensis Ecclesiæ Pontificum I.16, MGH SS VII, p. 291.].

804

• The Royal Frankish Annals record that King Godefrid exchanged envoys with Emperor Charles in Schleswig in 804 [RFA, 804, p. 83.].

808

• Einhard records a dispute between "Drasconem ducem Abodritorum" and "Godelaibum alium ducem…et cum eis filium fratris sui…Reginoldum", the latter being killed in 808 [Einhardi Annales 808, MGH SS I, p. 195. ].
• The Royal Frankish Annals record that King Godefrid attacked the Obotrites in 808 and destroyed their commercial centre at Reria [RFA, 808, p. 88. ].

809

• Einhard records that "Thrasco dux Abodritorum" was killed by "hominibus Godofridi" in "emporie Rerie" in 809[Einhardi Annales 809, MGH SS I, p. 196. ].

810

• The Royal Frankish Annals record that King Godefrid attacked the Frisians in 810 [RFA, 810, pp. 91-2. ].
• The Royal Frankish Annals record that King Godefrid was murdered by one of his retainers [RFA, 810, pp. 91-2. ].
• Einhard records the death of "Godefrido Danorum rege" in 810 and the succession of "Hemmingus filius fratris eius"[ Einhardi Annales 810, MGH SS I, p. 198. ].

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Who his father is, isn't well (at all?) documented as far as I can see

• ES places him as the son of HALFDAN "Mildi", ([750]-802, bur Borro), King of Vestfold, and LIF of Westmare https://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/DENMARK.htm#GevaMWidukindSaxonydie...
• https://www.medieval.eu/sigfred-and-godfred-804-810-ferocious-vikin... puts him as Sigurd's son or brother, but simply out of his convenient proximity
• Danish Wikipedia https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gudr%C3%B8d_Sigfredsson_Veidekonge puts him as possibly Sigfred's son and describes sources for his territory thusly 'According to Frankish annals, Gudrød founded Hedeby in 808, and in the same year had an earthen embankment built in the area.'
• English Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gudfred sees him as closely related to Sigfred and describes his kingdom thusly: 'The Frankish annals only expressly state that Gudfred ruled in South Jutland, but there are some hints of a wider sphere of royal power in the early 9th century.'Also 'The genealogical poem Ynglingatal, the date of which is disputed, mentions a King Gudrød the Hunter of Vestfold, son of Halfdan the Mild and grandfather of Harald Fairhair of Norway, who was slain by the servant of his vengeful wife Åsa.[22] The apparent similarities to the account of Notker of St Gall have led a number of scholars to assume that the two figures are identical.[23] This may be strengthened by Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla which mentions Gudrød as a Danish king (in Skåne).[24] Most scholars nevertheless dismiss the identification as speculative.[25]'
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gudr%C3%B8d_the_Hunter: ( Gudrød Halvdansson «the Hunter» Veidekonge) 'According to the sagas, he was the father of Halfdan the Black, and thus the grandfather of Harald Fairhair, the first king of unified Norway. He is considered by modern historians to be of a more mythical nature than other ancestors of Harald and Halfdan, and he can not be identified historically.'Gudrød was a member of the House of Yngling. He was the son of Halfdan the Mild, king of Romerike and Vestfold, and Liv, daughter of King Dag of Vestmar.Gudrød is mentioned in the skaldic poem Ynglingatal, and Snorri Sturluson elaborates on Gudrød's story in Heimskringla. According to Snorri, Gudrød was called both "the Magnificent" and "the Hunter", while Ynglingatal only refers to him as "the Magnificent".[1]

ES and therefore Cawley seem here to be following the skaldic tradition of Gudred being fathered by Halfdan the Mild, whereas modern scholarship does not appear to follow this, identifying him with Sigurd instead. There appear to be no primary sources to back up either claim, though.

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https://www.medieval.eu/sigfred-and-godfred-804-810-ferocious-vikin...

https://videnskab.dk/kultur-samfund/vikingeborgen-ved-erritsoe-kan-...

https://vikinghistorytales.blogspot.dk/2013/10/808-king-godfred-declares-war.html'

http://www.fortidensjelling.dk/jellinge83.htm

Gudrød Sigfredsson Veidekonge (? – 810) var en dansk konge i tiden 804-810.

Han er kendt fra flere kilder, så ikke rigtig en savnkonge. Frankerne nævner ham også i deres kilder. Det er kan være tvivl om er hvor meget af Danmark han regerede over, men meget tyder på at han var konge af Danerne som i alle sammen. Altså ikke kun af Jylland. Han bliver også i kilderne kaldt konge af Danerne.
Godfred dukker først op i kilderne i år 804, da han ankom grænsen mellem kongeriget og sakserne i Sønderjylland med sin flåde og hele sit kavaleri. Her udvekslede han gesandter med Karl den Store. Rimeligvis har han været en ny konge, som krævede en ny fredsaftale, da freden mellem stater på den tid var personlige aftaler herskerne imellem. Godfred angreb obotriterne i 808 og indtog bl.a. handelscenteret Reric, hvorefter han deporterede handelsfolkene til Sliestorp (der menes at have ligge ca. fem km øst for Slesvig[10]) eller til Hedeby. Han har ifølge de frankiske annaler bygget Dannevirke,

Gudrød sies å være den yngre sønnen av en kong Sigfred som styrte før ham og det ble også sagt at hans eldre bror Halvdan Sigfredsson ble jarl over noen rike handelsbyer sør for elva Eider i dagens Tyskland. Gudrød krevde at broren skulle betale skatt, noe han nektet og sverget isteden lojalitet til Karl dens store for å få dennes støtte og beskyttelse i 807. Gudrød samlet da sammen en hær og dro sørover.

Gudrød dukker opp i kildene i år 804 da han kom med sin flåte og sine ryttere til grensen mellom Danmark og det saksiske riktet i nåværende Slesvig og hvor han utvekslet slag med den frankiske kongen Karl den store. Gudrød angrep et vendisk og slavisk folkeslag i nordøstlige Tyskland kalt obotritterne i 808 og inntok blant annet handelsbyen Reric og tvang handelsfolkene til å flytte til den nylagte danske handelsstedet Hedeby.

Kildene nevner Gudrød som grunnlegger av Hedeby, og han har ifølge de frankiske årbøker stått for oppførelsen av en stor del av Dannevirke, en 14 km langt forsvarsvold mellom Danmark og Tyskland. Det siste er neppe korrekt i henhold til nyere dendrokronologiske dateringer. Derimot kan han ha iverksatt oppførelsen av den såkalte «Kovirke».

Gudrød Veidekonge støttet sakserne mot Karl den store, men det kom aldri til større militær konfrontasjon mellom de to herskerne.

Angrepene på obotritterne resulterte i en krise i forhold til frankerne. Keiseren sendte en hærstyrke mot nord. En forhandling i 809 mellom forhandlerne til Gudrød og Karl den store førte ikke til enighet, og Gudrød angrep deretter friserne i år 810 med en flåte på rundt 200 skip og herjet den frisiske kysten. Senere det samme året ble han drept av en av sine egne menn. Han ble etterfulgt til tronen av sin nevø Hemming.

https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gudr%C3%B8d_Sigfredsson_Veidekonge

http://www.vikingekonger.dk/Vikingekonger%20HTML/Artikler%20A/Haral...

http://lexopen.dk/biografi/gu/Gudfred.html

Gudfred

King Godfred (ruled 804 - 810), was a Danish Viking king, the younger son of King Sigfred. There are numerous spellings for the king's name, including Godfred, Gudfred, Göttrick (German), Gøtrik (Danish), Gudrød (Danish), and Godofredus (Latin).

[edit] History

It is believed that his elder brother Halfdan became earl of some rich market towns south of the river Eider occupying what became known as North Frisia. Refusing to pay tax to Godfred, Halfdan swore his allegiance to Charlemagne in 807 to get his protection. Charlemagne gave eastern Holstein to the Obodrites and in 804 a Frankish army penetrated as far as the Ejder River, Denmark's traditional boundary at the time. The Frankish invasion never materialized, but it caused Godfred to construct the first sections of the Danevirke which ran from the Schlien toward the west coast of Denmark by means of the Trende River. The wall was built with an earthen embankment topped by a wooden stockade and protected from the south by a deep ditch. Denmark's most important town, Hedeby which apparently already existed on the Schlien was expanded and garrisoned with Danish soldiers and the early sections of the wall were designed to protect it.[1]

Then in 808 King Godfred forced the Obodrites to acknowledge him as their overlord. When they refused, he attacked Reric, modern Lübeck, burnt it down, killed Chief Drożko and ordered the merchants to resettle at Hedeby, which was being integrated into the Danevirke defensive line.[2]

In 810 Godfrid led 200 ships to plunder the Frisian coast, forced the merchants and peasants to pay 100 pounds of silver and claimed Northern Frisia as Danish territory. That same summer he was killed by one of his housecarls. According to Notker of St Gall, the bodyguard who murdered King Godfred was one of his own sons.[3]

To protect the northern coast of the Franikish Empire, the emperor began paying Viking chieftains to protect sections of the coast from the Schlien east to the Weser River.

[edit] Legend

Godfrid appears in the Old French romances as Geoffrey, king of Denmark and father of Ogier the Dane (Holger Danske). Ogier the Dane is mentioned as Charlemagne's court with attendants in 788

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Godfrey, Danish Godfred or Gudfred (d. 810), king in Denmark who halted the northward extension of Charlemagne’s empire. He may have ruled over all of Denmark, but his centre of power was in the extreme south of Jutland. There Hedeby became an important station on the new Frankish trade route to the Muslim states of the East via the Baltic Sea and the Russian rivers.

In 804, during a period of intense Danish-Carolingian warfare, Godfrey destroyed the Sorbian port of Reric (later Lübeck) in retaliation for the Sorbs’ alliance with Charlemagne. The activity of the port was transferred to Hedeby, greatly enhancing its importance. In addition to campaigning successfully against the forces of Charlemagne and his son Louis I (the Pious), Godfrey began construction of the Danevirke, a line of earthwork fortifications along the southern base of the Jutland peninsula, south of Hedeby. He was murdered while on campaign in Frisia.

From http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/236823/Godfrey