Anund Jacob, Swedish: Anund Jakob (Old Swedish: Æmundær colbrænnæ ("Emund coal-burner"), Old Icelandic: Ǫnundr Óláfsson) was King of Sweden from 1022 until around 1050. He is believed to have been born on July 25, in either 1008 or 1010 as Jakob.[1] When the Swedish Thing was to elect him the co-ruler of Sweden, the people objected to his non-Scandinavian name. They then gave him the pronomen Anund, which they did when they found a name too difficult. (See also the later Anund Gårdske). The line of kings appended to the Westrogothic law says that he was called Kolbränna ("Coal-burner") as he had the habit of burning down the houses of his opponents.
His political agenda included maintaining the balance of power in Scandinavia, which is why he supported the Norwegian kings Olaf II and Magnus I against Denmark's king Cnut the Great during the 1020s and 1030s. At the Battle of the Helgeå, Anund and Olaf were defeated by Cnut. Archeological finds have shown that Cnut minted coins in Sigtuna, so some historians have inferred that he subjugated the core provinces of Sweden around lake Mälaren for some time.
When Magnus I became king of Norway and Denmark in 1042, Anund Jakob supported him until the death of Magnus in 1047. Anund Jakob's reign has traditionally been dated from 1022 to approximately 1050, but there is a great uncertainty over the year he died. He was probably alive 1049, and his brother and successor Emund is certain to have ruled Sweden in the summer of 1060.
Two skalds are known to have served Anund Jacob: Sighvatr Þórðarson and Óttarr svarti.
The Hervarar saga has very little to tell about Anund:
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Önundr hét sonr Óláfs konungs sænska, er konungdóm tók eptir hann ok varð sóttdauðr. Á hans dögum fell Óláfr konungr inn helgi á Stiklastöðum. Eymundr hét annarr sonr Óláfs sænska, er konungdóm tók eptir bróður sinn.[2] |
King Olaf the Swede had a son called Önund who succeeded him. He died in his bed. In his day fell King Olaf the Saint at Stiklestad. Olaf the Swede had another son called Eymund, who came to the throne after his brother.[3] |
According to Gudmund Jöran Adlerbeth of the Swedish Academy, not long after 1024 the king (as Jakun), blind and dressed in a gold suit, led a Swedish expedition eastward to the other side of the Baltic Sea and provided military reinforcements to his brother-in-law Yaroslav I the Wise in a battle against Mstislav of Chernigov.[4]
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Anund Jakob
Born: July 25 1008 Died: 1050 |
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| Regnal titles | ||
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| Preceded by Olof Skötkonung |
King of Sweden 1022–1050 |
Succeeded by Emund the Old |