Battle of Helgeå facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Battle of the Helgeå |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Olav den helliges saga GM15 |
|||||||
|
|||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Denmark England |
Sweden Norway |
||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Cnut the Great Ulf the Earl |
Anund Jacob Olaf Haraldsson |
||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| ~600 ships | ~480 ships | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Heavy | Minimal | ||||||
The Battle of Helgeå, also known as the Battle of the Holy River, was a big sea fight that happened in the year 1026. It was fought between the combined navies of Denmark and England against the combined navies of Norway and Sweden. The battle took place near a river called Helge (which means Holy River) in either Sweden or Denmark.
Who Was Involved?
The main leaders in this battle were:
- King Cnut the Great (from Denmark and England)
- King Olaf II of Norway (also known as Olaf Haraldsson)
- King Anund Jacob of Sweden
King Olaf of Norway and King Anund Jacob of Sweden saw that King Cnut was busy in England. They decided this was a good chance to attack the Danish lands around the Baltic Sea.
The Clever Plan
The Swedish and Norwegian navies, led by Kings Anund Jacob and Olaf II, waited hidden up the Helge River. They were waiting for King Cnut's navy, which was commanded by a Danish earl named Ulf Jarl.
King Cnut's navy was huge! It's even said that his own ship was about 80 meters (260 feet) long. The Swedish and Norwegian kings came up with a smart plan. They ordered their men to build a large dam across the river using peat (a type of soil) and wood.
When the Danish navy sailed into the river, the kings released the water from the dam. A huge flood of water rushed down the river, and many Danish and English sailors drowned.
What Happened Next?
However, most of King Cnut's powerful fleet was still outside the river's harbor. After the ships inside the river were destroyed, the rest of Cnut's fleet gathered together.
Kings Olaf and Anund Jacob realized they had won as much as they could for now. They decided to pull their ships back. If they had kept fighting, they would have lost many more men because Cnut had so many more ships. King Cnut did not chase after them.
After this battle, King Cnut became the most powerful ruler in Scandinavia. He even took control of some important parts of Sweden around Lake Mälaren. He even had his own coins made in a Swedish town called Sigtuna.
Learning from History
We know about the Battle of Helgeå from old poems and historical writings. Some of the most important old books that tell us about it are:
- The Danish book Gesta Danorum by Saxo Grammaticus
- The Icelandic Saga of Olaf the Holy by Snorri Sturluson
Historians still debate exactly where the battle happened. Some think it was at Helgeå in Uppland, Sweden. Others believe it was at the Helge River in eastern Scania, which was part of Denmark at the time.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, an old English history book, says the battle happened in 1025 and that the Swedes won. It says: A.D. 1025. This year King Cnut went to Denmark with a fleet to the holm by the holy river; where against him there came Ulf and Eglaf, with a very large force both by land and sea, from Sweden. There were very many men lost on the side of King Cnut, both of Danish and English; and the Swedes had possession of the field of battle.
