Sigefrid, King of Denmark

SIGEFRID [Sigurd] ([750]-798). First "King of Haithabu". The Annales Fuldenses record that "Sigifridi regis Danorum" sent "Halbdani…cum sociis suis" as missi to a council held by Charles I King of the Franks at "Lippia"[9]. One child:

a) ONUND ([790]-).

http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/DENMARK.htm#GevaMWidukindSaxonydied810

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SAXONS & DANES

The RFA’s first mention of Widukind is linked to its first mention of Norsemen. The initial appearance of Widukind in the RFA declares that he was “in revolt along with a few others” and was the only Saxon not to attend the general assembly Charlemagne held at Paderborn in 777. The original entry states that Widukind had “fled with his companions into Nordmannia,” and the revised entry glosses this by saying that he “had fled to Sigifrid, king of the Danes.”

Widukind escaped the mass Saxon execution in 782 by again fleeing into “Nordmannia,” after he was once more the lone Saxon absent from Charlemagne’s assembly, this time “at the source of the River Lippe.” As in the 777 entry, Widukind is linked to the Danes; “Norse emissaries of King Sigifrid, Halptani with his companions, also appeared at this assembly.”

The Saxon-Danish connection continued. In 798, Saxons rebels killed Charlemagne’s envoy as he returned from a visit to Sigifrid, leading to Charlemagne becoming “savagely aroused.” It has been suggested that Charlemagne’s negotiations with the Danes specifically concerned their continued harboring of Saxon fugitives, and that the forced relocation of Saxons from Nordalbingia to closer to the Rhineland area was to prevent them from escaping into Denmark or being encouraged to further rebellion by the Danes. As late as 823, there seems to have been a dispute between Franks and Danes over the Norsemen harboring Saxon fugitives.https://www.norsemyth.org/2015/12/charlemagnes-saxon-war-religio-cu...

Primary/ Earliest Sources for Sigurd

• c795 Royal Frankish Annals - Annales Laurissense Maiores, annalerne fra Lorsch-klostre Anno 777 Nam cuncti ad eum venerant praeter winichindum, unum ex primoribus westfalaorum, qui multorum sibi facinorum, et ob id regem veritus, ad Sigfridum Danorum repartibus Nordmanniae confugium fecit una cum sociis suis. Annales Laurissenses [p157-8 MGH SS 1] (For all had come to him, except Winichindus, one of the chief of the Westfalians, who, having done many deeds to him, and for that reason fearing the king, took refuge with Siegfried of the Danes in the detachments of Nordmannia, together with his companions.) https://www.dmgh.de/mgh_ss_1/index.htm#page/156/mode/1up; https://archive.org/details/annalesregnifran00anna/page/50/mode/2up
• c 800 The Annales Fuldenses - based on the Frankish Annals 782 "Sigifridi regis Danorum" sent "Halbdani…cum sociis suis" as missi to a council held by Charles I King of the Franks at "Lippia"
• 783 - 787 Peter of Pisa and Paulus, Diaconus prophesy that Sigfred was bound to arrive at [Charlemagne's] court with his hands tied behind his back. Neither Thor nor Odin (Thonar et Waten) would help him, they claimed. ..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”.
• c1000?Thjódólf of Hvinir in Ynglingatal. Does anyone have ‘direct’ quotes referencing Sigurd?
• c1200 Snorri Sturluson in Ynglinga saga. Does anyone have ‘direct’ quotes referencing Sigurd?

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Sigfred is mentioned in the Frankish sources. He for one had negotiations with Charlemagne's envoy
In the summer of 782, Charlemagne led his armed forces to the sources of the Lippe River, staying there for some time. On this occasion, he received envoys from Sigfred,
In 798 Charlemagne sent one of his trustees, Godeskalk, on a diplomatic mission to Sigfred. On his return, Godeskalk was slain by the rebellious Saxons living to the north-east of the Elbe
According to D. Schwennicke (1984), Europäische Stammtafeln, Vol. II. Marburg. Tafel 104. he was married to Sigfreds daughter Geva.
https://www.medieval.eu/sigfred-and-godfred-804-810-ferocious-vikin...