Aelfgifu of Northampton (active around 1013-1037) was a noblewoman in England who tied the knot with King Cnut, who ruled both England and Denmark from 1016 to 1035. She was also the mother of Harold I Harefoot, who was king from 1035 to 1040. Aelfgifu really made a name for herself in the 1030s when she co-governed Norway with her older son, Sweyn, and helped get Harold onto the English throne.
Early Life & Marriage to Cnut
We don’t really know when Aelfgifu was born, but she was the daughter of a well-known English ealdorman named Aelfhelm. He was in charge of the southern part of Northumbria from 994 to 1006 during the long and troubled reign of Aethelred the Unready (who ruled from 978-1013 and then again from 1014-16), a time that saw a lot of Viking invasions. In 1006, Aelfhelm was killed, and two of his sons were blinded on the king’s orders. Thankfully, Aelfgifu didn’t seem to experience the same brutal fate as her dad and brothers, though what happened to her right after all this chaos is a bit of a mystery.
When Sweyn Forkbeard from Denmark invaded England in 1013, he wanted Aelfgifu to marry his son, Cnut. They probably tied the knot sometime in late 1013 or early 1014. After the Danish took over England, Aethelred was forced to flee, and Sweyn became the new king.
However, King Sweyn passed away unexpectedly on February 3, 1014. His Viking crew declared Cnut as king, and Aelfgifu might have thought she’d be stepping up in rank as the new queen. But not everyone was on board with that; some English nobles wanted to bring Aethelred back instead of accepting Cnut as the new ruler.
England to Denmark
After Aethelred got his act together, he led an army that pretty much wiped out a lot of Cnut’s troops in Lincolnshire. With his support crumbling, Cnut made a run for Denmark. It looks like Aelfgifu was left behind since the Encomium Emmae Reginae mentions an unnamed English woman who took Sweyn’s body from England to Denmark after Cnut had already bolted. Another source from the continent, Thietmar of Merseburg, tells a similar tale about this mysterious English woman transporting Sweyn’s remains across the sea.
Even though these accounts don’t name the woman, Aelfgifu is probably the only known English lady with the power and resources to dig up a Danish king’s body and bring it straight to the royal court in Denmark. So, modern historians consider Aelfgifu of Northampton the top contender for being the one who brought Sweyn’s body back.
Later on, Cnut gathered another fleet to try and take back England in 1015, kicking off the war again. By the winter of 1016, both Aethelred and his successor Edmund Ironside were dead, which finally made Cnut the undisputed king of England, with Aelfgifu as his queen. Around this time, they had two kids, Sweyn and Harold, named after Cnut’s Danish predecessors.
Two Royal Wives? Aelfgifu & Emma of Normandy
Things got pretty messy when Cnut married Emma of Normandy, who was Aethelred the Unready’s widow, in 1017. There’s no proof that he ever annulled his marriage to Aelfgifu or ditched her, which means he might have had two wives at the same time.
These two royal ladies were rivals for life, each playing their own part in Cnut’s rule. In 1030, Cnut named Aelfgifu as the ruler of Norway, even after marrying Emma, and she had more power than Emma ever did. But Emma kept the title of queen (which she also had from her time with Aethelred), something Aelfgifu never got, and there are even artworks from that time showing Emma alongside Cnut.
Aelfgifu’s position changed a lot once Emma came into the picture, and this has sparked a lot of discussion among medieval writers and historians. The Encomium Emmae, which Emma had commissioned, tries to downplay Aelfgifu’s importance. Emma had a son with Cnut named Harthacnut, and it was clear she saw Aelfgifu as a threat. The Encomium refers to Aelfgifu as a concubine and even claims Cnut wasn’t the father of her kids. But it kind of backfires when it says Emma’s kids would be ranked higher than those from any wife or partner (coniugis). So, it seems even the writer knew Aelfgifu wasn’t just a concubine.
Back in the 19th and 20th centuries, some historians took a cue from Emma and assumed that Aelfgifu was just a concubine, making her kids seem less legitimate compared to Emma’s. Others believed Cnut and Aelfgifu were married, but in a Danish way (more danico), a term coined by Norman writer William of Jumieges. The specifics of what a Danish-style marriage really meant are pretty murky. Nowadays, not many scholars think Aelfgifu was just a mistress or had a lesser form of marriage; they see that idea as a myth. Some modern historians argue that Cnut was actually a bigamist, while others believe he and Aelfgifu were legitimately married but didn’t live together or have more kids after Emma came into the picture. Historian Timothy Bolton even proposed a middle ground, suggesting that Aelfgifu’s status is something we don’t really have a clear term for today (Bolton, Ælfgifu of Northampton: Cnut the Great’s Other Woman, 258).
No matter what her exact role was, Aelfgifu was still closely linked to Cnut. Her name pops up in the Thorney Abbey Liber Vitae right next to her son Harold and the rest of the royal family, right after Queen Emma.
Ruler of Norway
Not a whole lot is known about Aelfgifu’s life during the 1020s, but there’s a late Scandinavian mention of her having some control over areas east of Denmark by the Baltic Sea. In 1030, she pops back up when Cnut names her the ruler of Norway. Cnut had taken over Norway in 1028 and turned to Aelfgifu to lead after the first regent, Haakon Ericsson, passed away at sea.
During Cnut the Great’s North Sea Empire from 1016 to 1035, Aelfgifu brought along her older son Sweyn, who later sagas remember as a king of Norway. These sagas suggest that Aelfgifu was seen as the main authority in Norway; it was referred to as her era rather than Cnut’s or Sweyn’s, and it was remembered for famine, heavy taxes, and strict laws. She managed to stay in power for five years before she and Sweyn were ousted.
Around the time Aelfgifu lost her position, Sweyn also died. By then, Cnut had made Harthacnut, his son with Emma, the king of Denmark. Aelfgifu still had her younger son, Harold Harefoot, but it’s unclear what role he played in Cnut’s vast empire. That situation would shift after Cnut’s death.
More Affairs
Winning the Throne for Harold
Cnut passed away in England in 1035, leaving two possible heirs—one from each of his wives. The influential Earl Godwin backed Emma’s son Harthacnut, while Aelfgifu rallied support for her son Harold from her connections in northern England. Earl Leofric and other nobles north of the Thames, along with the English fleet in London, joined her cause. There’s a pretty harsh letter to Emma’s daughter Gunnhilda that paints Aelfgifu as scheming to get Harold on the throne:
Your terrible step-mom is trying to cheat your brother Harthacnut out of the kingdom. She threw a big party for all the important guys and tried to bribe them or sweet-talk them into swearing loyalty to her and Harold.
Emma managed to keep Wessex safe for Harthacnut, who was busy ruling Denmark at the time. Meanwhile, Emma’s crew spread rumors claiming Harold wasn’t really Aelfgifu and Cnut’s kid. Still, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle suggests that more and more people were backing Harold.
In the end, Aelfgifu and Harold’s side came out on top. Even Earl Godwin switched teams, helping Harold fend off an attack from one of Aethelred’s long-gone sons in 1036. By 1037, Harold was officially crowned, which wrapped up the whole power struggle. To add insult to injury, he exiled Emma.
While Aelfgifu was definitely crucial for Harold becoming king, historian Frank Stenton took it a step further, suggesting she was basically running England during his reign. But since Harold’s time isn’t well-documented, that claim is a bit shaky. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle shows Harold ruling independently, and there’s only one surviving document from his reign that hints at Aelfgifu’s involvement—a bishop’s will mentioning “my lady” alongside King Harold, though it’s unclear if that’s about Aelfgifu or another wife of Harold’s. With so little info left from that period, it’s hard to pin down Aelfgifu’s exact role in her son’s administration, even though she was clearly vital to his rise.
Harold’s Death & Aftermath
Harold passed away in 1040, which cleared the way for Harthacnut to take over the English throne. Harthacnut made a pretty gruesome move by having Harold’s body dug up, executed, and tossed into the Thames. What happened to Aelfgifu after Harold died is still a mystery.
Now, there are a couple of hints about her later on. A son of Harold Harefoot named Aelfwine pops up as an abbot in Aquitaine in 1060 and 1062, and he’s said to have been born in London to someone named Aelfgifu. This Aelfgifu could either be Harold’s wife or mistress, but some folks think it might actually be a mix-up with Aelfgifu of Northampton, who would be Aelfwine’s grandma. This opens up the idea that Aelfgifu of Northampton might have fled to southern France at some point. There’s also a theory that the mysterious Aelfgifu shown in the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the Norman conquest of England in 1066, could be Aelfgifu of Northampton. But honestly, even with these theories, it’s tough to pin down what Aelfgifu’s life was like after Harold Harefoot’s time.
A Divisive Figure
Medieval records often paint Aelfgifu in a pretty negative light. For instance, she’s depicted as the classic evil stepmother in a letter to Gunnhilda and as a deceitful mistress who tricked Cnut in the Encomium. The Norwegians remembered her as a harsh foreign ruler.
On the flip side, some sources are more neutral about her. Different versions of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle mention her during the succession crisis of 1035-37 without passing any judgment. There’s also a bishop’s will from Harold’s time that, if it does refer to Aelfgifu, treats her with respect by calling her “my lady” and including her in bequests. If the Aquitaine source is indeed talking about her, that’s another straightforward mention. Still, since no one really defended her, this powerful noblewoman faced criticism from various sides that mostly went unanswered.
Even today, Aelfgifu stirs up debate. Eric John labeled her a complete disaster, while W. H. Stevenson thought she was tougher and more ruthless than Emma. It’s tough to look at Aelfgifu without comparing her to Emma, mainly because they shared a lot of similarities—like being married to the same guy and wanting their sons to inherit the throne. The biggest difference might just be that Emma had people writing nice things about her, while Aelfgifu didn’t get that kind of support.
