King Sweyn Forkbeard was the son of Harald Bluetooth and Gyrid, and proclaimed king of England for just 40 days from Christmas 1013-February 1014. He was never crowned. A vicious and dangerous Viking, Sweyn led a life of violence, not only against his father, but also the English. His brutality and revenge for his sister’s murder, enabled him to captured London, forcing Aethelred II to flee. But his reign did not last long, as he died a few weeks later falling of his horse at Gainsborough, Lincolnshire.