The Viking Witch Queen

 

Many of you may recognize Gunnhild from the television series Vikings, where she is portrayed as the wife of Bjorn Ironside. However, the historical Gunnhild was quite different. Far from being a shieldmaiden, she was renowned instead for her sorcery and striking beauty. She was the wife of Erik Bloodaxe, son of Harald Fairhair and King of Norway. In time, she came to be known as the Mother of Kings, as her sons would go on to claim power over Norway. Gunnhild appears in more than five Norse and Icelandic sagas, and in nearly all of them, she plays the role of the villain. Her husband, Erik Bloodaxe, is scarcely given his own chapter in the Heimskringla (Saga of the Norwegian Kings), largely because he was deeply unpopular—many believed it was Gunnhild who whispered poison into his ear, steering him with her influence. Snorri Sturleson himself stated, "Of Eirik Blood-axe's five years' reign there is no separate saga. He appears not to have been beloved by the people and his queen Gunhild seems to have had a bad influence on him." In the sagas, Gunnhild is almost always cast in a dark light. She is portrayed as a formidable figure—admired for her beauty and generosity, yet feared for her magic, cunning, and ruthless ambition. She is remembered as a woman of power and cruelty, and as someone whose insatiable desires and sharp intellect made her both captivating and dangerous. This is her story. 00:00 Introduction 01:53 Ancestry & Early Life 04:38 Of Erik Bloodaxe 07:16 Conflict with Egill Skallagrímsson 10:09 Erik & Gunnhild Flee Norway 14:15 The Mother of Kings 18:33 Of Gunnhild's Lover 21:03 Exile, Death & Legacy Music by Noel Malekar