How the daughter of a Viking ruler retrained as a pirate queen (5 photos)

Life’s paths sometimes take on such zigzags that it’s difficult to navigate believe. And the story of this girl is clear proof of this.





The reliability of all the events described is questionable due to their age, but the fact of Alvilda’s existence has been partially proven. And her name often appears in books on the history of piracy.



Gotland

The girl was the daughter of Sinard, the king who ruled in fifth century Swedish island of Gotland. The time has come to marry off your daughter. AND The father's choice fell on the influential Danish prince Alf. Political marriage was supposed to strengthen relations between rulers.

But proud Alvilda had her own opinion on this matter. She had no intention of getting married. Not for Alpha, not for anyone else. And I decided become a sea Amazon. With the help of her mother, she sneaked out of the house and quickly put together a squad of the same desperate girls, with courage and courage not inferior to real sea wolves.



Ladies could look like this

During the next journey, the pirates met a ship that has lost its captain. And the ladies unanimously chose Alvilda for this position, boarded and set off to ply the seas open spaces, simultaneously entertaining himself with robbery and robbery.

An unexpected meeting and its outcome



The life of a pirate queen is full of adventures and dangers

The entertainment of the sea Amazons caused serious damage trade. And the Danish king sent his son to deal with it women's lawlessness. Alf successfully completed the task and was surprised I recognized the fearless leader of the pirates as my runaway bride.

Further events are described by Charles Elmes in The Pirate's Own Book as follows:

She withstood his attacks with great courage and talent; but during a fierce battle in the Gulf of Finland, Alf boarded her ship and, killing most of her crew was captured by the captain, namely herself; which, however, he didn't know because she had a mask covering her face.

Taking off his helmet, the prince was pleasantly surprised to recognize his beloved Alvilda; and it seems that now his valor recommended him to the beautiful princess, as he convinced her to accept him hand, married her on board, and then brought her to share the wealth and throne.

In general, the story received an unexpected, but also natural completion. An impromptu wedding ceremony took place here on board, among the bodies of unlucky comrades. Newly minted the husband swore an oath to his soul mate to remain faithful until the end of his days, and she responded with a promise to never go to sea without him again.



Saxon Grammar

Some historians consider this story to be nothing more than beautiful legend. But it was first recorded by the Danish chronicler Saxo Grammarian (1150-1220), who outlined the ancient Scandinavian sagas. They, accordingly, also had some kind of historical basis. Therefore, given the considerable number of stories about women warriors in Scandinavian mythology, the existence of a real Alvilda's prototype cannot be excluded.