Gorm the Elder

Gorm the Elder
The First King by Tomas Hermansson (1833)
King of Geatland
Reign	944 – 961
Successor	Gorm Gormsson
King of Lågland
Reign	c. 929 - 944
Predecessor	Axel of Lågland
Born	891
Died	961
Burial	Esholm
Consort	Grunhild of Morlik
Issue	Gorm Gormsson
House	House of Lågland
Father	Björn Axelsson
Religion	Pagan

Gorm the Elder (Geatish: Gorm den äldre), also known as Gorm I, was a Geatish monarch from ca. 929 until 961. He is considered the first king of Geatland.

Gorm was born at the height of the Age of Ghaillish Piracy on the Geatish Islands. He succeeded his grandfather as King of Lågland in 929. Inspired by the legendary culture hero Alrik, Gorm convinced neighboring Geatish tribes and kingdoms to unite under him as a counterbalance against the Ghaillish rader kingdoms in the North. Gorm later defeated the Gutes in the Städ War, integrating them into his kingdom. In 944, Gorm declared himself King of all the Geats and founded the First Kingdom of Geatland. The rest of Gorm's reign was devoted to weakening the power of Ghaillish pirates until his death from smallpox in AD 961.

Gorm is the namesake of Gormö ("Gorm's Island"), the largest Geatish island.

Biography

Early life

Little is recorded of Gorm the Elder's upbringing and early life. He was born Gorm Björnsson in Esholm, the capital city of the Kingdom of Lågland, in 891, though the exact date has been lost Gorm was the son of Björn Axelsson and grandson to Axel of Lågland, the reigning king of Lågland. At the age of sixteen, Gorm married Grunhild of Morlik, the daughter of a neigboring chieftan. After Björn Axelsson was killed defending against Ghaillish pirates in 909, Gorm became the heir apparent.

In 1913, Grunhild bore the couple's first son, Gorm Gormsson after a series of miscarriages.

King of Lågland

Gorm is recorded to have become king of Lågland after his grandfather's death in 929, though some documents place his ascension as early as 924. He was crowned the forth king of Lågland.

The beginning of Gorm's reign saw the rise in popularity of Sotirianism, particularly the Solarian Catholic Church. Although there is no evidence to suggest that Gorm or any of his predecessors until Olaf I converted to Christianity, Gorm was tolerant of the foreign faith and encouraged it as a way to connect with mainland Euclea. Gorm would continue these policies as king of Geatland.

Gorm was the first king of Lågland to establish a foreign mission in Euclea, which he did in 935.

The legendary King Alrik was a strong influence on Gorm.

Mounting tensions with Ghaillish raiders convinced Gorm to campaign against the Ghailles directly. Between 933-937, these campaigns were laregly ineffective and unsucessful. On one occassion, Gorm was nearly killed in a Ghaillish ambush in 1936. These events reportedly convinced Gorm of the need to unite the Geatish tribes. Gorm contended that only a unified Geatish force could overwhelm the Ghaillish raiders. In this effort he was inspired by Alrik, a fabled Geatish king who united the Geatish tribes c. 100 BC - AD 100.

Gorm began negotiations with other Geatish chiefdoms and kingdoms in 938. Because Lågland has grown to become the Geatish hegemon, assention into a union with Lågland was the most preferable option for the weaker Geatish rulers, who were facing constant bombardment and assault by Gaillish pirates. By 941, most of the Geatish tribes, as well as a foth other minor Sea Weranic tribes were united. A few holdover Geatish tribes in the kingdom's far west would join by AD 950.

Städ War

Main article: Städ War