Ingamoder

Ingamoder is a name invented in modern times for the wife of King Stenkil of Sweden.

Ingemo, who cannot be reliably sourced as the same person as Ingamoder, was a local saint only known from customs at the Ingemo Well near Skövde in Sweden.[1][2] Modern genealogical speculation made her the daughter of King Emund the Old who was married to King Stenkil, and whose given name is not known. The name Ingamoder is an Swedish invention which translates to English as "Mother of Inge" (that is of King Inge the Elder).[3]

Biography and legends

Ingemo was a local Swedish saint in Västergötland. However, she was not an officially sanctioned and recognized saint by the Church. Nothing is known about her life. Ingemo's Well is an old holy well where she was venerated, which may originally have been a Pagan era holy site well. It is located between Skövde and Tidaholm. The well is walled with stone, its dimensions are 1,2 × 0,6 meter. It is covered with a limestone slab.[4] The well was the goal of pilgrimages, where people offered coins for health into the 19th century.[2] The earliest accounts of the customs at the well date from the late 17th century.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b Carl Henrik Martling (2001). En svensk helgonkrönika. ISBN 91 7580 201-5. 
  2. ^ a b Wilhelmina Stålberg (1864). "S:ta Ingemo" (in Swedish). Anteckningar om svenska qvinnor. http://runeberg.org/sqvinnor/0229.html. 
  3. ^ Stenkilsätten (Funderingar över vår 1000-åriga historia)
  4. ^ "object Dala 113:1" (in Swedish). Swedish National Heritage Board. http://www.fmis.raa.se/cocoon/fornsok/search.html?tab=3&objektid=10187301130001. 

Other sources