Ingjald Illråde

660 - 685  (25 years)

• Name	Ingjald Illråde
  Birth	660	Uppsala, Sweden
  Gender	Male
  Name	"Ingjald Onundsson", "Ildråde", "The Ill-Advised", "/Illråde/", "Braut the Wicked", "\Braut The Wicked\", "Ingjald", "Ingjal...", "In...", "Ingjaldr `Ill-Ruler' BRAUT-ONUNDSON", "Ingiald (Ilradi) Evilheart of SWEDEN", "Ingjald `the Wicked'", "Ingjald "Braut" Onundsson..."
  Death	685	Röning, Tosterön, Sweden
  Person ID	I36958	Master
  Last Modified	13 Jul 2019

  
  

  Father	King of Sweden Anund Ingvarsson,   b. 630, Västergötland, Sweden d. 674, Svitjod, Sweden (Age 44 years)
  Family ID	F8847	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Gauthild
  Children	+ 1. Olof Trätälja
  Family ID	F8845	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	9 Jul 2019

  
  

• Notes

  Ingjald illråde or Ingjaldr hinn illráði (Ingold Ill-ruler or Ill-ready) was a semi-legendary Swedish king of the House of Ynglings, son and successor of King Anund, and the father and predecessor of King Olof Trätälja. Ingjald is mentioned in medieval historiographical sources including Ynglinga saga, Historia Norvegiæ, Hervarar saga, Upplendinga Konungum, Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar and Íslendingabók. The setting of Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar is roughly the 7th century. Johannes Magnus in his 16th-century list of kings places Ingjald (Ingevallus, Ingellus) in AD 883. Ynglinga saga Snorri Sturluson gave an extensive account on the life of Ingjald in the Ynglinga saga which is part of the Heimskringla. The Ynglinga saga relates that the viceroy of Fjädrundaland was named Ingvar and he had two sons, Alf and Agnar, who were of the same age as Ingjald. Svipdag the Blind was the viceroy of Tiundaland, the province of Uppsala where the Tings and the Yule (Midwinter) sacrifices were held (see the Temple at Uppsala). One midwinter, when Ingjald and Alf were six years old, many people had assembled at Uppsala for the sacrifices. Alf and Ingjald played, but Ingjald found that he was the weaker boy and became so angry that he almost started to cry (which was strange because people named Ingjald were known to be stronger than average). His foster-brother Gautvid led him to his foster-father Svipdag the Blind and told Svipdag about Ingjald's lack of manliness and strength. Svipdag said that it was a shame and the next day he gave Ingjald a roasted wolf's heart to eat. From that day, Ingjald became a very ferocious person and had a bad disposition and breath. Anund arranged a marriage for his son Ingjald with Gauthild, the daughter of the Geatish king Algaut, who was the son of Gautrek the Mild and the grandson of Gaut. Gautrek consented as he believed that Ingjald had inherited his father's disposition. Gauthild's maternal grandfather was Olof the Sharp-sighted, the king of Närke. Snorri Sturluson relates that when his father Anund had died, Ingjald became the king of Sweden. The kings at Uppsala were the foremost among the kings of the various provinces since Odin ruled the country, and they were the supreme chiefs of the other kingdoms since the death of Agne and Sweden was divided between Erik and Alrik. The descendants of these two kings had spread, cleared land and settled new territories, until there were several petty kings. In honour of his own ascendance to the throne, Ingjald invited the kings, the jarls and other important men to a grand feast in a newly built hall, just as large and sumptuous as the one in Uppsala. It was called the hall of the seven kings and had seven high seats. Algaut the Geatish king of West Götaland, King Ingvar of Fjädrundaland with his two sons Agnar and Alf, King Sporsnjall of Nerike and King Sigvat of Attundaland came but not King Granmar of Södermanland. The kings filled all seven seats but one. All the prominent people of Sweden had seats, except for Ingjald's own court whom he had sent to his old hall in Uppsala. According to the custom of the time, for those who inherited kings and jarls, Ingjald rested at the footstool until the Bragebeaker was brought in. Then he was supposed to stand up, take the beaker and make solemn vows, after which he would ascend his father's high seat. However, when the beaker was brought in, he took a bull's horn and made the solemn vow that he would enlarge his own kingdom by half towards all the four-quarters, towards which he pointed his horn, or die. When all the prominent guests were drunk, he ordered Svipdag's sons, Gautvid and Hylvid, to arm themselves and their men and to leave the building. Outside, they set fire to the building which burnt down and those who tried to escape were killed. Thus Ingjald made himself the sole ruler of the domains of the murdered kings. Granmar won allies in his son-in-law the sea-king Hjörvard of the Ylfings and his father-in-law Högne the Geatish king of East Götaland. They successfully withstood Ingjald's invasion where Ingjald realised that the men from the provinces he had conquered were not loyal to him. After a long standstill there was peace for as long as the three kings lived. However, one night Ingjald and his men surrounded a farm where Granmar and Hjörvard were at a feast and burnt the house down. He later disposed of five more kings, and he thus earned the name Illråde (ill-ruler) as he fulfilled his promise. Snorri Sturluson tells that it was a common saying that Ingjald killed twelve kings by deceiving them that he only wished for peace, and that he thus earned his cognomen Illråde (ill-ruler or ill-adviser). Downfall Ingjald had two children, a son Olof Trätälja and a daughter Åsa. His daughter had inherited her father's psychopathic disposition. She married King Guðröðr of Skåne. Before she murdered her husband she managed to make him kill his own brother Halfdan the Valiant, the father of the great Ivar Vidfamne. In order to avenge his father, Ivar Vidfamne gathered a vast host and departed for Sweden, where he found Ingjald at Ræning. When Ingjald and his daughter realized that it was futile to resist, they set the hall on fire and succumbed in the flames.