Borghild Olavsdotter

Borghild Olavsdatter (fl. 1115), was the royal mistress of king Sigurd the Crusader and the mother of king Magnus IV of Norway. She is one of few Christian women mentioned in Heimskringla by Snorre Sturlasson.

Borghild was the daughter of a wealthy farmer in Østfold. One winter, Sigurd the Crusader spent a period as a guest at her father, and the close friendship developed between Borghild and Sigurd gave rise to rumours that they were lovers. Borghild regarded these rumours as offensive, and voluntarily demanded to perform a trial by ordeal to prove that they were slander. She successfully did so. When Sigurd heard of this, he made her his mistress.

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