Åsta Gudbrandsdatter
Encyclopedia
Åsta Gudbrandsdatter was the mother of two Norwegian kings, King Olaf II of Norway
Olaf II of Norway
Olaf II Haraldsson was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. He was posthumously given the title Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae and canonised in Nidaros by Bishop Grimkell, one year after his death in the Battle of Stiklestad on 29 July 1030. Enshrined in Nidaros Cathedral...

 and King Harald III of Norway.

According to the sagas
Norse saga
The sagas are stories about ancient Scandinavian and Germanic history, about early Viking voyages, the battles that took place during the voyages, about migration to Iceland and of feuds between Icelandic families...

, Åsta Gudbrandsdatter was from Vestfold
Vestfold
is a county in Norway, bordering Buskerud and Telemark. The county administration is in Tønsberg.Vestfold is located west of the Oslofjord, as the name indicates. It includes many smaller, but well-known towns in Norway, such as Larvik, Sandefjord, Tønsberg and Horten. The river Numedalslågen runs...

. Åsta's father was Gudbrand Kula from Oppland
Oppland
is a county in Norway, bordering Sør-Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The county administration is in Lillehammer. Oppland is, together with Hedmark, one of the only two landlocked counties of Norway....

. Åsta may have been baptised at Ringerike
Ringerike
oskar er kjempe kulRingerike is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Ringerike...

 by Olav Tryggvason, circa 998.

Åsta Gudbrandsdatter was married to Harald Grenske
Harald Grenske
Harald Grenske was the petty king in Vestfold in Norway.Harald Grenske was the son of Gudrød Bjørnsson. Gudrød was a grandson of Harald Fairhair and the king of Vestfold. Harald's cognomen Grenske is due to his being raised in the district of Grenland, Norway. When Harald was only 11 years old,...

 (Grenski). Their son was King Olaf II , renowned as St. Olaf
St. Olaf
-People:* Saint Olaf, King Olaf II of Norway* Saint Olaf of Sweden, King Olof Skötkonung-Institutions:*St. Olaf College, a private, liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota*St. Olaf Choir, the a cappella choir of St. Olaf College-Places:...

, who reigned as King of Norway from 1015 to 1028.

From her second marriage to Sigurd Syr
Sigurd Syr
Sigurd Syr Halfdansson was a petty king in northern Ostlandet in Norway.Sigurd was subking of Ringerike, an ancient territory in the county of Buskerud, southern Norway. Through his marriage with Åsta Gudbrandsdatter, he was the stepfather of King Olav II of Norway and father of King Harald III...

, she became the mother King Harald III, famous in the Heimskringla
Heimskringla
Heimskringla is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorri Sturluson ca. 1230...

as Harald Hardrada, who reigned from 1047 to 1066.

According to the sagas, Åsta and Sigurd Syr had the following children:
  1. Guttorm
  2. Gunnhild - married Ketil Kalv of Ringnes in Stange
    Stange
    is a municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hedmarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Stangebyen.-Name:...

  3. Halfdan
  4. Ingerid - married Nevstein, mother of Tore, foster-father of King Magnus Barefoot
  5. Harald- future King of Norway

Other Source

  • Weis, Frederick Lewis
    Frederick Lewis Weis
    Rev. Frederick Lewis Weis, Th.D. reverend, author of a number of well-known genealogical books.Born in Cranston, Rhode Island to John Peter Carl Weis and his wife Georgina Lewis, both natives of Massachusetts. Second child of four children.In April 1913, he entered the United States Naval...

      Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700 (Genealogical Publishing Company. 1992)
  • Koht, Halvdan
    Halvdan Koht
    Halvdan Koht was a Norwegian historian and politician representing the Labour Party.As a politician he served as the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1935 to 1941. He was never elected as a member of the Parliament of Norway, but was a member of Bærum municipal council in 1917–1919 and...

    The Old Norse Sagas (Periodicals Service Co. 1931)
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