or Sweyn Forkbeard
died Feb. 3, 1014, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, Eng.
King of Denmark (с 987–1014) and Viking conqueror of Norway and England.
He rebelled against his father, Harald Bluetooth (987), chasing him from Denmark. With Swedish and Norwegian allies, he defeated Olaf I Tryggvason (с 1000), becoming virtual ruler of Norway. Sweyn led raids on England in 1003–04 and became king after a successful military campaign in 1013, forcing Ethelred II into exile. Norway reverted to Norwegian rule after Sweyn's death, but the Anglo-Danish empire continued under his son Canute the Great .