Battle of Helgeå

The Battle of Helgeå (Norwegian: Slaget ved Helgeå, Swedish: Slaget vid Helgeå), or Battle of the Holy River, was a naval engagement that took place in 1026 between joint Danish and English forces and a combined Norwegian and Swedish force, at the estuary of a river called Helge (Holy River) in Denmark or Sweden.

King Olaf II of Norway and King Anund Jacob of Sweden took advantage of the commitment of Danish King Cnut in England and began to launch attacks on the Danish in the Baltic Sea. The Swedish and Norwegian navies, led by kings Anund Jacob and Olaf II, lay in wait up the river for the navy of King Cnut, which was commanded by Danish earl Ulf Jarl.

Cnut's navy was massive; his own ship is said to have been 80 metres long. The Swedish and the Norwegian kings ordered a large dam to be made of peat and lumber on the river. When the Danish navy sailed in, the water was released, and a great many Danes and Englishmen drowned in the deluge. However, the main strength of Cnut's fleet lay outside the river harbour. After the ships in the harbour were destroyed, the rest of the fleet gathered together from all quarters. The kings Olaf and Anund Jacob, seeing they had got all the victory that fate permitted them to gain for the moment, let their ships retreat. If the battle had been renewed, they would have suffered a great loss of men because Cnut had more ships. King Cnut did not pursue them.

Olaf II of Norway, however, sought to continue the war against Denmark, requesting Swedish assistance. The Swedes and their king, after suffering more casualties than the Norwegians, did not want to pursue the war and made peace with Denmark. While Olaf II of Norway and the Norwegians were left on their own.

This left Cnut as the dominant leader in Scandinavia. It has been speculated that the Swedish city Sigtuna was held by Cnut; there were coins struck there that called him king, but there is no narrative record of his occupation. These coins are, however, usually regarded as copies of coins minted in Denmark. Coins stating that the Swedish king Olof Skötkonung was King of England have also been found in Sigtuna.