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Emma of Normandy (referred to as Ælfgifu in royal documents; [3] c. 984 – 6 March 1052) was a Norman-born noblewoman who became the English, Danish, and Norwegian queen through her marriages to the Anglo-Saxon king Æthelred the Unready and the Danish king Cnut the Great.
Based largely on the careers of her sons, Ælfgifu's marriage has been dated approximately to the (mid-)980s. [8] Considering Thored's authority as earl of York and apparently, the tenure of that office without royal appointment, the union would have signified an important step for the West-Saxon royal family by which it secured a foothold in the north. [9]
Emma of Normandy Ælfred Æþeling ( c. 1012–1036), was one of the eight sons of the English king Æthelred the Unready . He and his brother Edward the Confessor were sons of Æthelred's second wife Emma of Normandy . [ 1 ]
Æthelred's first name, composed of the elements æðele 'noble', and ræd 'counsel', [2] is typical of the compound names of those who belonged to the royal House of Wessex, and it characteristically alliterates with the names of his ancestors, like Æthelwulf 'noble-wolf', Ælfred 'elf-counsel', Eadweard 'rich-protection', and Eadgar 'rich-spear'.
Æthelred (died 911) became Lord of the Mercians in England shortly after the death or disappearance of Mercia's last king, Ceolwulf II, in 879. He is also sometimes called the Ealdorman of Mercia. Æthelred's rule was confined to the western half, as eastern Mercia was then part of the Viking-ruled Danelaw. His ancestry is unknown.
The novel opens with the wedding of 13-year-old Emma to Æthelred, a 34-year-old man with a grown son of his own. The early years of their marriage are barren, and Æthelred considers ending said marriage. He is then depicted in a "drunken fury", first killing Emma's dog, then engaging in a night of domestic violence and marital rape.
Ælfgifu was born into an important noble family based in the Midlands ().She was a daughter of Ælfhelm, ealdorman of southern Northumbria, and his wife Wulfrun.Ælfhelm was killed in 1006, probably at the command of King Æthelred the Unready, and Ælfgifu's brothers, Ufegeat and Wulfheah, were blinded.
Ælfgifu (also Ælfgyfu; Elfgifa, Elfgiva, Elgiva) is an Anglo-Saxon feminine personal name, from ælf "elf" and gifu "gift". When Emma of Normandy, the later mother of Edward the Confessor, became queen of England in 1002, she was given the native Anglo-Saxon name of Ælfgifu to be used in formal and official contexts.