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A few Icelandic sagas tell about kings that ruled in Kvenland.

Icelandic sagas

Despite the fact that the legendary title "King of Kvenland" appears widely used in various contexts, it is mentioned only once in that particular form/spelling in sagas:

In Egils saga Faravid is directly said to be the "King of Kvenland". He also appears to have been a Kven himself.

Two other sagas that mention Kvenland, Hversu Noregr byggðist and Orkneyinga saga, do not use that specific title.

In Orkneyinga saga, Fornjót is said to be "a king". It is stated that he "reigned over Gotland, which we now know as Finland and Kvenland". The specific term "King of Kvenland" is not used. Unlike Egils saga, Orkneyinga saga does not provide clues about the ethnicity of Fornjót or any of his descendants.

Hversu Noregr byggðist has very similar usage for the title. This time, the great-grandson of Fornjót (who is said to be "a man"), Snær, and his son Thorri are told to be kings. Kvenland now appears in relation to Thorri, of whom it is said that "he ruled over Gothland, Kvenland (Kænlandi), and Finland". Fornjót's great-grandson Snær is also mentioned in Ynglingasaga, in relation to Finland.

Again, the ethnicity of the kings is not directly discussed. However, interpretations of their ethnicity have been made based on other information provided. For instance, according to Hversu Noregr byggðist the Kvens made sacrifices to Thorri. This, along with similar pieces of information from other sources, has led many experts to believe that Thorri, who ruled over Kvenland, was himself of Kven origin as well.

However, whether or not Fornjót and his closest followers, mentioned in other medieval accounts as well, were actual historical people has been debated. Kyösti Julku notes that no geographical errors have been found in the descriptions of the Orkneyinga saga. He asks why therefore the people described in the account should be considered not to have existed.

Records on Fornjót's offspring

According to the medieval Orkneyinga saga, Fornjót was a king. It is stated that he "reigned over Gotland, which we now know as Finland and Kvenland". According to the account of Hversu Noregr byggðist, Fornjót's great-grandson Snær and his son Thorri were also "kings". Snær is also mentioned in Ynglingasaga, in relation to Finland. According to Hversu Noregr byggðist, Thorri "ruled over Gothland, Kvenland (Kænlandi), and Finland". According to the information given, the Kvens made sacrifices to Thorri.

The medieval accounts that discuss the lineages sprung from Fornjót and his descendants - mainly Nór and Gór - leading to the later rulers of Sweden and other countries, include the following:

Beowulf (8th-10th century), Íslendingabók (8th-10th century), Ynglingatal (late 9th century), Historia Norvegiæ (late 12th century), Skáldskaparmál (c. 1220), Hyndluljóð (13th century), Gesta Danorum (started c. 1185, finished c. 1216), Ynglinga saga (c. 1225), Orkneyinga Saga (c. 1230), Hversu Noregr byggðist (c. 1387), and its appended Ættartölur (1387).

Charles IX of Sweden

It is often stated that King Charles IX of Sweden would have called himself "King of the Kvens". The king expanded his already lengthy title in 1607 CE to be as follows:

Carl then nijonde, Sweriges, Göthes, Wendes, finnars, carelers, lappers i nordlanden, the caijaners och esters i Lifland, etc. Konung

That title does not use the term "Kvens" with that spelling, but instead the term "Caijaners", a Swedish name for the inhabitants of Kainuu. However, several historians have seen an etymological link between Kven and the Finnic term kainulainen/kainuulainen.

The absence of the term Kven - with that or close to that spelling - from the above-mentioned Swedish language title of the king is usually explained by the fact that the term was never used in old written Swedish accounts, for the following reason:

As a name for a country, Kvenland seems to have gone out of ordinary usage around the end of the Viking Age, unrecognized by scholars by the 14th century. As the first ever account written in Swedish, Eric's Chronicle, was published as late as the 14th century, no medieval references to "Kvenland" or the "Kvens" are available from Swedish literature.

Charles IX's son dropped the term "Lappers j Nordlanden, the Caijaners" from the title in 1611 CE, when he succeeded his father as king, and it was not readded. Charles IX's use of it is seen as related to the construction of the Kajaani castle in 1604 close to Sweden-Finland's border with Russia.

See also

• Kvenland
• Ancient kings of Finland
• Birkarls

References

1. Egil's Saga, Chapter XIV
2. Hversu Noregr byggdist
3. Orkneyinga saga (broken link)
4. Ynglingasaga (broken link)
5. ^ Julku, Kyösti: Kvenland - Kainuunmaa. With English summary: The Ancient territory of Kainuu. Oulu, 1986.
6. Nils Chesnecopherus, Fulkommelige skäl och rättmätige orsaker, så och sanfärdige berättelser, hwarföre samptlige Sweriges rijkes ständer hafwe medh all fogh och rätt afsagdt Konung Sigismundum uthi Polen och storfurste i Littowen, etc. sampt alle hans efterkommande lijfs arfwingar ewärdeligen ifrå Sweriges rijkes crone och regemente, och all then hörsamheet och lydhno, som the honom efter arfföreeningen hafwe skyldige och plichtige warit, och uthi stadhen igen uthkorat, annammat och crönt then stormächtige, höghborne furste och herre, her Carl then nijonde, Sweriges, Göthes, Wendes, finnars, carelers, lappers i nordlanden, the caijaners och esters i Lifland, etc. Konung, sampt alle H. K. M.s efterkommande lijfs arfwingar, til theres och Sweriges rijkes rätte konung, Stockholm: Gutterwitz, 1607 OCLC 247275406
7. 1608 example: Titles of European hereditary rulers - Sweden Konung Christoffers Landslag. Edictum Regis Caroli IX eius iussu edito textui praescriptum. (not in cited page)
8. Korhonen, Olavi: "Håp - vad är det för en båt? Lingvistiska synpunkter. Bottnisk kontakt I. Föredrag vid maritimhistorisk konferens i Örnsköldsvik 12-14 februari 1982. Örnsköldsvik 1982."

• History of Finland
• Finnish monarchy
• Kven