Helena (wife of Inge the Elder)
| Helena | |
|---|---|
| Queen consort of Sweden | |
| Tenure | c. 1079–c. 1084 and c. 1087–c. 1110 |
| Born | 11th century Sweden |
| Died | early 12th century possibly Vreta Abbey, Sweden |
| Burial | Sweden |
| Spouse | Inge the Elder |
| Issue |
Christina, Grand Duchess of Kiev Ragnvald Ingesson Margaret, Queen of Norway and Denmark Katarina Ingesdotter |
| House | Stenkil |
| Father | Sigtorn? Prince Ingvar of Sweden? |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Queen Helena or Elin, possibly also known as Maer, Mär or Mö (Old Norse for Maiden) (born in the 11th century – Floruit c. 1105/10), was a Swedish queen consort, spouse of King Inge the Elder and the supposed sister of King Blot-Sweyn of Sweden.
The background of Queen Helena is not confirmed, but her activities as queen show that she had an affiliation to Östergötland. The Icelandic Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks (late 13th century) has the following to say about Inge I's spouse: "King Inge married a woman called Maer [or Mö]; the name of her brother was Sweyn. Noone was as beloved by Inge as Sweyn, and Sweyn therefore became a very powerful man in the kingdom". However, an older source, a Danish royal genealogy from c. 1194, gives another name: "The abovementioned Christina, the grandmother of Valdemar [I], was the daughter of the Swedish King Inge and Queen Helena". While "Helena" is the usual Latin spelling of the Swedish Christian name Elin, Maer is simply an old Nordic word for "maiden", "girl" (in modern Swedish, mö), and may not be an actual name; at any rate it is extremely rare as a Scandinavian personal name. Because of this it is sometimes assumed that Inge was married two times. Alternatively, however, they have been assumed to be one and the same person; the maiden Elin, to Christian foreigners spelled as Helena in Latin, sister to Sweyn. According to a third opinion, the sibling pair Maer and Sweyn is legendary or rather allegoric, since it simply translates as "maiden" and "swain".
According to the Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks, and the Swedish Legend of Saint Eskil (13th century), Sweyn usurped power from Inge I, who was King of Sweden or parts of Sweden a few times in the interval 1080-1110. Inge is well-known as the king who defeated the Swedish pagans in the final stages of a religious strife that took place in Sweden between c. 1020 and the 1080s. To a large extent his faction abolished freedom of religion by suppressing old ritual practices and requiring the population to profess the Christian faith. Still, traces of the Nordic religion survived far into the 12th century. Inge's greatest opponent in this fight turned out to be his brother-in-law Sweyn who was enthroned as pagan ruler in Svealand, being known as Blot-Sweyn (Sweyn the Sacrificer). Inge withdrew to Västergötland, but the sources do not tell whether he brought Maer with him. If indeed Maer was identical with Helena and a historical figure, we are left in the dark about which side she favoured in the contest between the pagans and Christians. The queen would have witnessed how the war between her Christian spouse and her pagan brother resulted in Inge's triumph in c. 1083/84 or c. 1087. Perhaps she mourned the death of her supposed brother and the end of paganism; what is known is that she was, or gave the impression to be, a pious Christian in her later life.
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