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Svein Knutsson ( ; c. 1016–1035) was the son of Cnut the Great, king of Denmark, Norway, and England, and his first wife Ælfgifu of Northampton, a noblewoman. In 1017 Cnut married Emma of Normandy, but there is no evidence that Ælfgifu was repudiated, and in 1030 Cnut sent her and Svein as regents to rule Norway. However, their rule was considered oppressive by the Norwegians. They imposed new taxes and harsh laws that made them unpopular and they were expelled in 1034.Pauline Stafford, "Ælfgifu of Northampton", Oxford Online Dictionary of Biography, 2004M. K. Lawson, "Cnut", Oxford Online Dictionary of Biography, 2005Derry, T. K., A history of Scandinavia: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland, University of Minnesota Press, 2000, p. 40.
The 1030s were difficult years in Europe. Danish policy in Norway changed – there was closer royal involvement and strict regulations in many areas. This created the basis of a popular resistance against the new regime which can be characterised as being of the same ilk as that which Saint Olav had earlier come up against. According to the Sagas, Ælfgifu's and Svein's tax-demands and new laws created resentment.
Snorri writes that "King Svein brought in new laws on many subjects. They were modelled on Danish laws but some were much stricter. No man was allowed to leave the country without the King's permission; if he did so his property would become the King's. A person who committed murder would lose the right to land and property. If an outlaw was due an inheritance, the King would take it. At Christmas every farmer had to give the king a measure (between 15 and 20 litres) of malt from every hearth and the thigh of a three-year-old ox, this was called vinjartodde (land tax) in Old Norse, and also a bucket of butter."Snorri Sturlasson: Heimskringla, Life of St. Olaf §240
According to the Heimskringla, the Battle of Soknasund occurred during 1033 in Ryfylke. Tryggve the Pretender came with an army from England. He said he was the son of Olav Tryggvason and therefore claimed the kingdom as his own. When word reached Sveinn Alfífuson and Aelgifu that Tryggve's invasion was imminent, they summoned the landholders of Halogaland and the Trondheim district to join the royal army in resisting Tryggve. Svein Knutsson and his army, probably including elite Danish troops stood against them. Sveinn and his forces made their way south to Agder, believing that Tryggve would attempt to slip through the Skagerrak and join his supporters in Viken. Tryggve, however, landed instead in Hordaland, then sailed to Rogaland to attack Sveinn's navy. The two fleets met off the island of Bokn. Svein won the Battle of Soknasund and Tryggve Olavsson was killed.
Later that same winter Kalv Arnesson and Einar Tambarskjelve met and decided to travel to Gardarike to fetch Olav Haraldsson's son Magnus. When Magnus came to Norway the people sided with him and against the Danes. Svein had to flee home to Denmark where he died a short time later. Thus the King of Denmark had to give up his claim on Norway. Saga of Magnus the Good ( Heimskringla, translated by Samuel Laing)
Svein is a back-story character in the first act of Macbeth, where Shakespeare calls him Sweno. His army arrived in Fife and began massacring Scots.Hudson, Henry, Introductions To Shakespeare's Tragedies, pp. 407–408. He besieged Macbeth in the castle of Bertha. Duncan, the Scottish king, sent food and drink to the Norwegians, but laced it with a potion that caused them to become sleepy. Macbeth then slaughtered Sweno's army, but Sweno himself escaped. Canute and the Danes arrived to avenge this defeat, but they agreed to a truce:
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