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Birth:           958 Kvam, Norway
Death:          Feb 1018 Bonsnes, Ringerike, Norway

Notes
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jweber&id=I20830
Information copied from Wayne Iverson, World Connect db=wiversrm, rootsweb.com
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He fostered King Olaf the Saint while young. Once he asked Olaf to go saddle his 
horse and Olaf saddled a large billy goat as a joke. When Olaf came home from his 
journeys and announced that he intended to win back lands from the Swedes and 
Danes, Sigurd assisted by talking to the district kings and asking for support. He died 
during the winter of 1018.

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The following information was provided in a post-em by Curt Hofemann, curt_hofemann 
AT yahoo.com:

Sigurd Sow (Syr), a chieftain in eastern Norway [Ref: Ency Britannica online]
Sigurd Syr Kg v Ringerike [Ref: ES II:108] King of Ringeringe [Ref: ES II:109]
Sigurd Sır Petty King of Oplandene [Ref: Medieval Scandanavia] Oplandene = the 
Uplands... Curt

d. 1018 [Ref: ES II:109, Tompsett]

Harald Grenske was slain in approximately 996 AD, and Åsta soon after remarried to a 
petty king called Sigurd Sır of Oplandene. Oplandene is the inland districts north of 
Viken, a location that is rather uncertain due to the size of it.

Sigurd Sır was a petty king, which at the time was a common description of someone 
who had hereditable rights to the throne. His father was Halfdan Grå (the Gray), who 
was the son of Sigurd Hrise (the Giant), who was the son of Harald Hårfagre (Harold 
Fairhair) according to Snorri and others. Sigurd had a farm that supposedly was 
situated at Ringerike (perhaps Stein), which we believe was a part of Oplandene at 
the time. Some may question this however, because we do not know for sure.

It's obvious that Snorri and his contemporaries didn't knew the meaning of Sigurd's 
nickname Sır, because they tend to justify his lack of interest in politics and rank by 
tell(ing) us that Sigurd was more found (fond) of his farm and crop. This would 
supposedly also explain the disparaging nickname of being called a sow or pig, but we 
have good reasons to believe differently.

A man of that high rank would never been called a sow we believe. At least not if he 
had a ancestry as described, which we believe in. Åsta would not have married a man 
of a lower rank to be the future stepfather of her child, whose rights stretched towards 
the throne of Norway. We feel confident that the meaning of Sır must have a different 
meaning, something more honorable to his rank. Ottar Grønvik may indeed be the man 
to answer this question. He did a transcription of a runic inscription in 1987, of which 
the runes dates to the 6th century AD. These runes are found on a runic stone, called 
the Noleby-stone of Västergötland in Sweden.

Grønvik discover a word 'syhyr', which represents a younger version of the Old Norse 
language and means 'as belong to father-in-law', which would mean 'the family of my 
father-in-law'. This word 'syhyr' would in a more modern language have been written 
'sır(r)', a derivation of Old Norse 'swehuraR'. Indeed a word that is covered by most of 
the old Indo-European languages ('swehur' = Old German) and even is recognizable in 
Latin ('socor'). This word is according to etymological dictionaries made up by basic 
pronoun fundament 'swe', which literally means 'belonging to', as in 'their own family'. 
However, the original meaning is of a female line of family. This may be confusing, but 
hang on please!

Most people those days had a nickname and by reading the sagas we soon discover 
that some of those nicknames are differently written, but have the same meaning 
anyway. Sigurd Sır's nickname is deeply founded in the family tradition according to 
the strict agnatic system of the family heritage. When a woman married, she was 
included to her new family of hereditable lines, where her father-in-law was the 
undisputable leader of the family. He actually became her virtual master. Her husband 
and in-laws were her 'syhyr-' (in-laws). Sigurd Sır was definitely no sow or pig, but 
Åsta's 'sır' - period! It may indeed have been Olaf who gave him this nickname, 
because he may have looked upon Sigurd as the son of his mother's father-in-law 
(Halfdan Gray). [Ref: Medieval Scandanavia: http://www.medsca.org/]

Regards,
Curt

Parents
SIGURDSSON Halfdan ("the Gray") (ABT  924 - AFT  970)
----- ----- ()

Siblings
HALFDANSSON Sigurd ("Syr") ( 958 - Feb 1018)

Marriage To GUDBRANDSDOTTIR Astrid (Asta) (ABT  970 - 1045)
    m.  

Notes

Parents
GUDBIORGSSON Gudbrand "Kula" (ABT  923 - )
THORASDOTTIR Ulfhild (Gunhild) (ABT  928 - )

Children by GUDBRANDSDOTTIR Astrid (Asta) ABT  970 - 1045
SIGURDSSON Halfdan ( 990 - )

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