Gunnhild konungamóðir (
mother of kings) or
Gunnhild Gormsdóttir (c. 910 – c. 980) is a character who appears in the
Icelandic Sagas, according to which she was the wife of
Eric Bloodaxe (
king of Norway 930–34,
'King' of Orkney c. 937–54, and king of
Jórvík 948–49 and 952–54). Many of the details of her life are disputed, including her parentage. Although she is treated in the sagas as a historical person, even her historicity is a matter of some debate. Gunnhild appears prominently in many
Norse sagas, including
Fagrskinna,
Egils saga,
Njáls saga, and
Heimskringla. What details of her life are known come largely from
Icelandic sources, which generally asserted that the Icelandic settlers had fled from Harald's tyranny. While the historicity of such sources as the
Landnámabók is disputed, the perception that Harald had exiled or driven out many of their ancestors led to an attitude among Icelanders generally hostile to Erik and Gunnhild. Scholars such as
Gwyn Jones therefore regard some of the episodes reported in them as suspect.