Ingjaldr (King of Sweden)

Ingjaldr hinn illráði (Ingold Illruler or Illready) was a semi-legendary Swedish king of the House of Ynglingar, son and successor of King Anundr, and the father and predecessor of the Norwegian King Óláfr trételgja. As with many of the 5th-7th century Yngling Kings of Sweden, his historicity is contested.

Ingjaldr is mentioned in medieval historiographical sources including Ynglinga saga, Historia Norwegiæ, Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks, Upplendinga Konungum, Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar and Íslendingabók. The setting of Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar is roughly the 7th century. Johannes Magnus in his 16th-century list of kings places Ingjaldr (Ingevallus, Ingellus) in AD 883.

Ynglinga saga
Snorri Sturluson gave an extensive account on the life of Ingjaldr in the Ynglinga saga which is part of the Heimskringla.

Youth
The Ynglinga saga, a part of the Heimskringla, relates that the viceroy of Fjaðrundaland was named Ingvarr and he had two sons, Álfr and Agnarr, who were of the same age as Ingjaldr. Svipdagr the Blind was the viceroy of Tíundaland, the province of Uppsalir where the þings and the Jól sacrifices were held.

One midwinter, when Ingjaldr and Álfr were six years old, many people had assembled at Uppsalir for the sacrifices. Alf and Ingjaldr played, but Ingjaldr found that he was the weaker boy and became so angry that he almost started to cry (which was strange because people named Ingjaldr were known to be stronger than average). His foster-brother Gautviðr led him to his foster-father Svipdagr the Blind and told Svipdagr about Ingjaldr's lack of manliness and strength. Svipdagr said that it was a shame and the next day he gave Ingjaldr a roasted wolf's heart to eat. From that day, Ingjaldr became a very ferocious person and had a bad disposition and breath.

Anundr arranged a marriage for his son Ingjaldr with Gauthildr, the daughter of the Geatish king Algautr, who was the son of Gautrekr the Mild and the grandson of Gautr. Gautrekr consented as he believed that Ingjaldr had inherited his father's disposition. Gauthildr's maternal grandfather was Ólǫf the Sharp-sighted, the king of Næríkr.

The deceit
Snorri Sturluson relates that when his father Anundr had died, Ingjaldr became the king of Svíþjóð. The kings at Uppsalir were the foremost among the kings of the various provinces since Óðinn ruled the country, and they were the supreme chiefs of the other kingdoms since the death of Agna and Svíþjóð was divided between Eiríkr and Alrekr. The descendants of these two kings had spread, cleared land and settled new territories, until there were several petty kings.

In honour of his own ascendance to the throne, Ingjaldr invited the kings, the jarls and other important men to a grand feast in a newly built hall, just as large and sumptuous as the one in Uppsalir. It was called the hall of the seven kings and had seven high seats. Algautr the Geatish king of West Gautland, King Ingvarr of Fjaðrundaland with his two sons Agnarr and Álfr, King Sporsnjallr of Næríkr and King Sigverkr of Áttundaland came but not King Granmarr of Suðrmannaland. The kings filled all seven seats but one. All the prominent people of Svíþjóð had seats, except for Ingjaldr's own court whom he had sent to his old hall in Uppsalir.

According to the custom of the time, for those who inherited kings and jarls, Ingjaldr rested at the footstool until the Bragafull was brought in. Then he was supposed to stand up, take the beaker and make solemn vows, after which he would ascend his father's high seat. However, when the Bragafull was brought in, he took a bull's horn and made the solemn vow that he would enlarge his own kingdom by half towards all the four-quarters, towards which he pointed his horn, or die.

When all the prominent guests were drunk, he ordered Svipdagr's sons, Gautviðr and Hulviðr, to arm themselves and their men and to leave the building. Outside, they set fire to the building which burnt down and those who tried to escape were killed.

Thus Ingjaldr made himself the sole ruler of the domains of the murdered kings.

Wars
Granmarr won allies in his son-in-law the sea-king Hjǫrvarðr of the Ylfingar and his father-in-law Hǫgni the Geatish king of East Gautland. They successfully withstood Ingjaldr's invasion where Ingjaldr realised that the men from the provinces he had conquered were not loyal to him. After a long standstill there was frith for as long as the three kings lived. However, one night Ingjaldr and his men surrounded a farm where Granmarr and Hjǫrvarðr were at a feast and burnt the house down. He later disposed of five more kings, and he thus earned the name Illráði (Old Norse "ill-ruler") as he fulfilled his promise.

Snorri Sturluson tells that it was a common saying that Ingjald killed twelve kings by deceiving them that he only wished for frith, and that he thus earned his cognomen Illráði (ill-ruler or ill-adviser).

Downfall
Ingjaldr had two children, a son Óláfr trételgja and a daughter Ása. His daughter had inherited her father's psychopathic disposition. She married King Guðrǫðr of Skáni. Before she murdered her husband she managed to make him kill his own brother Hálfdan the Valiant, the father of the great Ívarr víðfaðmi.

In order to avenge his father, Ívarr víðfaðmi gathered a vast host and departed for Svíþjóð, where he found Ingjaldr at Ræningr. When Ingjaldr and his daughter realized that it was futile to resist, they set the hall on fire and succumbed in the flames.

Ynglingatal and Historia Norwegiae
The citation from Ynglingatal does not appear to describe Ingjaldr as an evil king. It calls his life a brave life frǿknu fjǫrvi:

The Historia Norwegiæ presents a Latin summary of Ynglingatal, older than Snorri's quotation (continuing after Anundr):

Archaeological Evidence
Rällinge is hill fort in Raä Helgarö 32:1, Helgarö parish, Södermanland that has small ramparts near Lake Mälaren that is thought to be a misinterpretation or incorrect spelling for the hill fort Ræningr of the sagas. According to Norse legends, Ræningr was the place where Ingjaldr and his daughter Ása had both met their ends at the hands of the semi-legendary Ívarr víðfaðmi. Throughout the last century thermoluminescence dating has found evidence of a burning that happened at the Rällinge hill fort from the supposed time of Ingjaldr's demise (600-650 A.D.). Moreover, the dating of the fort burning and heating does not contradict assumptions about where and when Ingjaldr was arsoned to death.