NORTHUMBRIA Ælfgifu b. 0970 Wessex, England d. Bef 1001 England: Freeman-Smith Family Tree

0970 - Bef 1001 (~ 30 years)

Name	NORTHUMBRIA Ælfgifu
Birth	0970	Wessex, England
Gender	Female
Death	Bef 1001	England
Notes	Ælfgifu was the first wife of Æthelred the Unready.[1] There are no contemporary sources naming her father. The Chronicle formerly attributed to Florence of Worcester and now regarded as the work of a John of Worcester, compiled in the first decades of the 12th century, refers to her as daughter of an Ealdorman called Ægelberht - probably meaning Æthelberht (this would be the only known instance of an Anglo-Saxon name starting with Ægel...), while Ailred of Rievaulx, also writing in the 12th century, names her father as Thored, Ealdorman of York.[2] The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography regards it as rather more certain that her father was Thored.[1] Her birth date is not known. Ælfgifu and Æthelred probably had the following children: Athelstan[1][2] Ecgberht[1][2] Edmund Ironside[1][2] Eadred[1][2] Eadwig[1][2] Eadgar,[1] Eadgyth[1][2] Ælfgifu[1][2] Wulfhild[1][2] a daughter who married the Athelstan killed in battle against the Danes in 1010 and described in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles as Æthelred's son-in-law[3] Ælfgifu presumably died by about 1000, when her husband was betrothed to marry his second wife, Emma of Normandy.[1][2] Research Notes Charles Cawley speculates, without strong supporting evidence, that Æthelred's first marriage may have been a semi-official relationship, and that there could have been another wife whom Æthelred married before Emma and who may have been the mother of some of his children: Eadgar, Ælfgifu, Wulfhild, the daughter who married the Athelstan killed in 1010.[2] The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry for Æthelred mentions just two wives, Ælfgifu and Emma.[1] Sources ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry by Simon Keynes for 'Æthelred II [Ethelred; known as Ethelred the Unready]', print and online 2004, revised online 2009 ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 Charles Cawley. ÆTHELRED, son of EDGAR "the Peaceable", entry in "Medieval Lands" database (accessed 14 April 2021) ↑ Michael Swanton (translator and editor), The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, p. 140
Person ID	I59208	Freeman-Smith
Last Modified	27 Jan 2026

Father	GUNNARSSON Thored, b. 0938, Wessex, England d. 0992, Wessex, England (Age ~ 54 years)
Relationship	natural
Mother	UNKNOWN Hilda, b. Abt 0948, Wessex, England d. 0970, England (Age 22 years)
Relationship	natural
Family ID	F26328	Group Sheet \| Family Chart

Family WESSEX Æthelred, b. Abt 0966, Wessex, England d. 23 Apr 1016, London, England (Age 50 years)

Marriage 0985

Children

1. WESSEX Edmund, b. Bef 0990, Wessex, England

d. 30 Nov 1016, England

(Age > 26 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural]

Family ID F26327 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Last Modified 27 Jan 2026