Gunnhild, Mother of Kings (c. 910 - c. 980) was the wife of Erik Bloodaxe
(king of Norway 930–34, "king" of Orkney c. 937–54, and king of Jórvík
948–49 and 952–54). Gunnhild is a prominent figure in many Norse sagas,
including Fagrskinna, Egil's Saga, Njal's Saga, and Heimskringla. Many of
the details of her life are disputed, including her parentage. Gunnhild
lived during a time of great change in Norway. Her father-in-law Harald
Fairhair had recently united much of Norway under his rule. Shortly after
his death, Gunnhild and her husband were overthrown and exiled. She spent
much of the rest of her life in exile in Orkney, Jorvik and Denmark. A
number of her many children with Erik became co-rulers of Norway in the late
tenth century. What details of her life are known come largely from
Icelandic sources; because the Icelanders were generally hostile to her and
her husband, scholars regard some of the more negative episodes reported in
them as suspect.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunnhild,_Mother_of_Kings
_________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1853:
Gadsden Purchase: The United States bought approximately 29,600 square miles
(77,000 km2) of land south of the Gila River and west of the Rio Grande from
Mexico for US$10 million.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadsden_Purchase)
1896:
Philippine Revolution: Nationalist José Rizal was executed by a firing squad
in Manila after Spanish authorities convicted him of rebellion, sedition,
and conspiracy.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Rizal)
1922:
The Treaty on the Creation of the USSR, legalizing the creation of a union
of several Soviet republics in the form of the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics, was ratified.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_on_the_Creation_of_the_USSR)
1927:
The Ginza Line, the oldest underground subway line in the Far East, opened
in Tokyo.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Metro_Ginza_Line)
1947:
King Michael I was forced to abdicate as Romania became a People's Republic.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_I_of_Romania)
_______________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
jubilantly (adv) With jubilation or triumph.
(
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/jubilantly)
______________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The greatest book is not the one whose message engraves itself on the brain,
as a telegraphic message engraves itself on the ticker-tape, but the one
whose vital impact opens up other viewpoints, and from writer to reader
spreads the fire that is fed by the various essences, until it becomes a
vast conflagration leaping from forest to forest. --Romain Rolland
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Romain_Rolland)