Which Macbeth character is based on a son from The Danish House of Knytlinga?
Svein Knutsson Svein Knutsson (Old Norse: "Sveinn Knútsson") c. 1016–1035, was the son of Cnut the Great, king of Denmark, Norway, and England, and his first wife Ælfgifu of Northampton, a Mercian 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, and they were expelled in 1034. They imposed new taxes and harsh laws that made them unpopular. In William Shakespeare's "Macbeth", there is a character called "Sweno, the Norways' king" based on Svein.
Macbeth Macbeth ( ; full title The Tragedy of Macbeth) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare; it is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake. Of all the plays that Shakespeare wrote during the reign of James I, who was patron of Shakespeare's acting company, "Macbeth" most clearly reflects the playwright's relationship with his sovereign. It was first published in the Folio of 1623, possibly from a prompt book, and is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy.