Anund from Russia

Anund from Russia (Swedish: Anund Gårdske) was the king of Sweden around 1070 according to Adam of Bremen's Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum.[1] According to this source, Anund came from Kievan Rus',[1] presumably from Aldeigjuborg. Gårdske means that he came from Gardariki which was one of the Scandinavian names for Kievan Rus'. [2]

As a Christian he refused to carry out the public sacrifice to the Norse gods, presumably at the Temple at Uppsala, and was consequently deposed.[1] He "left the Thing in joy, for having been found worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus". This happened shortly before the completion of Adam of Bremen's chronicle in the mid-1070s.[3]

A hypothesis suggests that Anund and Inge the Elder were the same person, as several sources mention Inge as a fervent Christian, and the Hervarar saga describes how Inge also was rejected for refusing to administer the blóts and that he was exiled in Västergötland.[4]

Notes and references
  1. The article Anund in Nationalencyklopedin.
  2. "Anund från Ryssland". tacitus.nu/svenskhistoria. Archived from the original on 2016-01-06. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
  3. Adam av Bremen (1984), Historien om Hamburgstiftet och dess biskopar. Stockholm: Proprius, p. 252 (Book IV, Scholion 140).
  4. The article Inge in Nordisk familjebok (1910).
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