Åsta Gudbrandsdatter

[3] Åsta Gudbrandsdatter first appears in Snorri's 'Saga of King Olaf Tryggvason' as the wife of Harald Grenske (Grenski), ruler of Vestfold.

Under cover of darkness, she ordered her armed men to set fire to the hall in which Harald slept, and he was killed; those of his companions who escaped the flames were put to the sword.

[5] Soon after Harald Grenske's death, Åsta married Sigurd Syr, king of Ringerike, and brought the child Olaf with her to be raised in the home of his stepfather.

According to Heimskringla, it was custom that a captain of noble descent automatically be afforded the rank 'King'; Åsta thus strategically secured a title for her son although he did not yet have any lands or holdings.

[14] Harald ruled Norway from 1046 until his death in 1066 at the Battle of Stamford Bridge; his famous defeat by the forces of England's King Harold Godwinson has traditionally been considered the end of the Viking Age.