“King Svein was married to Gunnhild, daughter of Burislaf, King of the Vends, and their sons were Knut (the Great) and Harald. Svein was afterwards married to Sigrid-Storráda (the Proud), daughter of Sköglar-Tosti, and mother of the Swedish king Olaf. She had before been married to King Eirik Sigrsæli (the Victorious) of Sweden.
“The daughter of King Svein and Sigrid was Ástrid, married to jarl Ulf, son of Thorgils Sprakalegg (woman’s leg), who had two sons, Svein and Björn. Gyda, a daughter of King Svein Tjúguskegg, was married to jarl Eirik Hakonsson of Norway; their son was jarl Hakon, whom St. Olaf took prisoner in Saudung’s Sound.[[414]]
“King Svein was at the fall of Olaf Tryggvason with King Olaf the Swedish, his stepson, and with jarl Eirik, his son-in-law. They fought at Svold, and after the fall of Olaf Tryggvason, King Svein of Denmark, King Olaf of Sweden, and jarl Eirik of Norway divided Norway between themselves” (Knytlinga Saga, c. 5).
In the chapter on inheritance we have seen that King Svein made the vow to drive Æthelred from England.
“King Svein was a great warrior and a most powerful king; he made warfare far and wide, both in the east and in Saxland. At last he went with his host west to England, ravaged in many places there, and fought many battles; Adalrad Yatgeirsson was then king there. Svein and he fought many battles, and were alternately victorious. Svein won the greatest part of England; he lived there for many winters, and ravaged and burnt widely in the land; they called him the foe of the English. In that war King Æthelred fled from Svein out of the land” (Knytlinga Saga, c. 6).
“King Svein stayed at home in Denmark; his son Knut was brought up there; Thorkel the high fostered him. Svein made warfare in the land of King Æthelred, and drove him out of the land south across the sea; he put Thingamannalid[[415]] in two places. The one in London (Lundunaborg) was ruled by Eilif Thorgilsson, the brother of Ulf (jarl); he had sixty ships in the Temps (Thames). The other Thingamannalid was north in Slesvik, over which Heming jarl, the brother of Thorkel the high, was ruler also with sixty ships.
“The Thingamen established a law that no report should be spread, and no one should stay away a whole night; they attended the Bura-church, in which was a large bell, that was to be rung every night when only a third of the night was left; then every one was to go to church, but without weapons; such laws as these they had in Slesvik.
“He who had the command in the town (Lundunaborg) was Alrek Strjóna, a brother of Emma, the daughter of Richard (Rikgard of Normandy), the father of Vilhjalm (William); King Æthelred was married to her. Ulfkel Snilling[[416]] ruled over the northern part of England; he was married to Ulfhild, the daughter of King Æthelred. King Svein died in England, and the Danes took his body to Denmark, and buried him in Hróiskelda near his father....” (Jomsvikinga Saga, cc. 50, 51).
“Svein was found one night dead in his bed, and the English say that King Edmund the Saint killed him, in the manner in which the holy Mercurius killed Julianus the Apostate” (Knytlinga Saga, c. 6).
“After the death of Svein the Danish kings retained that part of England which they had won. War then began anew, for when King Svein was dead, King Æthelred, with the assistance of Olaf the Saint (of Norway), returned to the country and regained his realm. At that time the Danes established the host of the Thingamen in England; they were paid warriors, and very valiant. They fought many battles against the English on behalf of the Danes” (Knytlinga Saga, c. 7).