Name Asa of Died 834 AD | Children Halfdan the Black Grandchildren Harald Fairhair | |
Role Halfdan the Black\'s mother Great grandchildren Eric Bloodaxe, Haakon the Good, Bjorn Farmann, Olaf Haraldsson Geirstadalf, Guttorm Haraldsson People also search for Gudrod the Hunter, Halfdan the Black, Ragnhild Sigurdsdotter, Harald Fairhair, Sigurd Hart | ||
Åsa Haraldsdottir of Agder (died ca. 834?) was a semi-legendary Norwegian Viking Age queen regnant of the petty kingdom of Agder. According to sagas referencing the clan Yngling (Ynglingaätten), she was the mother of Halfdan the Black (Halvdan Svarte) and grandmother of King Harald Fairhair (Harald Hårfagre).
Biography
Åsa was the daughter of King Harald Granraude of Agder and a reputed beauty. King Gudrød the Hunter (Gudrød Veidekonge) of Borre in Vestfold proposed marriage to her after the death of his first wife, but her father refused the marriage. Gudrød Veidekonge then killed her father and her brother, abducted her and married her. One year later, she became the mother of Halfdan the Black. One year after this, Åsa took her revenge and had her servant kill her husband.
She left the kingdom of Borre to her stepson Olaf Geirstad-Alf and took her own son with her to the kingdom of Agder, her birth country, where she took power. Åsa ruled Agder for twenty years, and after this she left the throne to her son, Halvdan. He also demanded half of his father's kingdom from his half-brother.
There are theories that queen Åsa was the woman buried with the famous Oseberg ship from 834, but this has not been confirmed.