Siward, Earl of Northumberland, called Digera, or the strong, a Dane, is
said to have been the son of a Danish jarl named Biörn. According to
legend he was descended from a white bear and a lady, etc.[39] As a
matter of fact, he probably came to England with Canute and received the
earldom of Deira after the death of Eadwulf Cutel, the Earl of
Northumbria, when the Northumbrian earldom appears to have been divided.
He married Ælflæd, daughter of Ealdred, Earl of Bernicia, the nephew of
Eadwulf Cutel. In 1041 he was employed by Hardecanute, along with Earls
Godwin and Leofric, to ravage Worcestershire. Later he became Earl of
Northumberland and probably also of Huntingdon.

He upheld Edward the Confessor in his quarrels with Godwin in 1051. In
pursuance of the king's command, Siward invaded Scotland both by sea and
land with a large force in 1054. The King of Scotland was Macbeth, who
had slain his predecessor, Duncan I, the husband of a sister or cousin
of the earl, and Siward's invasion was evidently undertaken on behalf of
Duncan's son Malcolm. A fierce battle took place on July 27th; the Scots
were routed, Macbeth fled, and Malcolm appears to have been established
as King of Cumbria in the district south of the Firths of Forth and
Clyde. Siward died at York in 1055. Siward and his son Osbeorn, called
by Shakespeare "Young Siward," appear in _Macbeth_.

The legendary life of Siward is found in two Latin versions in
Langebek's _Scriptores Rerum Danicarum_, vol. III. These two versions
Olrik designates as A (anonymous; p. 288) and B (Bromton; p. 300).[40]
According to B, an earl of royal descent in the kingdom of the Danes had
an only daughter, who went with her maidens for a walk in a neighboring
wood. They met a bear, whereupon the maidens fled and the daughter was
seized by the bear and carried off. In the course of time she gave birth
to a son, whose name was Bern and who bore marks, in the shape of a