Ragnhild of Tälje is a local saint

Saint

A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...

 whose veneration

Veneration

Veneration , or veneration of saints, is a special act of honoring a saint: an angel, or a dead person who has been identified by a church committee as singular in the traditions of the religion. It is practiced by the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic, and Eastern Catholic Churches...

 is attested in late Medieval Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 and whose name was particularly associated with the church in Södertälje

Södertälje

Södertälje is a city and the seat of Södertälje Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 86,069 inhabitants in 2010.The industrial city, about south of Stockholm, is the home to truck maker Scania AB and a top 10 pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca....

 in the province of Södermanland

Södermanland

', sometimes referred to under its Latin form Sudermannia or Sudermania, is a historical province or landskap on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Östergötland, Närke, Västmanland and Uppland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic sea.In Swedish, the province name is...

 and the diocese of Strängnäs

Diocese of Strängnäs

The Diocese of Strängnäs is a part of the Church of Sweden and has its seat in Strängnäs Cathedral in Strängnäs, south of Lake Mälaren. The diocese is made up of the two provinces Närke and Södermanland .The diocese was first a suffragan of the Diocese of Lund, which in 1104 was elevated to...

. According to tradition, she was also Queen, married to King Inge II of Sweden

Inge II of Sweden

Inge the Younger was King of Sweden in 1110–1125 and the son of king Halsten and he was probably Halsten's youngest son. According to unreliable traditions Inge would have ruled together with his brother Philip Halstensson after the death of their uncle Inge the Elder:Hallstein's sons were Philip...

. A year given for her death is 1117.

Biography

Ragnhild is said to have founded the church of Södertälje and have her burial place there. If she is a historical person, she probably lived during the late 11th or early 12th century, but no sources that mention her can be dated earlier than the 15th century. An epitaph in the church, probably dating from that period, was later copied by the late 17th century antiquarian Elias Palmskiöld. In various 15th century literary sources, she is claimed to have been a queen, the daughter of a certain Halsten (it is uncertain whether the king Hallsten Stenkilsson is intended) and queen of either Inge the Elder

Inge I of Sweden

Inge the Elder was a King of Sweden.-Biography:Inge was the son of the former King Stenkil and a Swedish princess. Inge shared the rule of the kingdom with his probably elder brother Halsten Stenkilsson, but little is known with certainty of Inge's reign...

 or Inge the Younger

Inge II of Sweden

Inge the Younger was King of Sweden in 1110–1125 and the son of king Halsten and he was probably Halsten's youngest son. According to unreliable traditions Inge would have ruled together with his brother Philip Halstensson after the death of their uncle Inge the Elder:Hallstein's sons were Philip...

 (either of which would for genealogical and chronological reasons contradict her being the daughter of king Halsten). 15th century wall-paintings depicting Ragnhild can be found in the churches of Börje

Börje

Börje is a male given name and a variant of Birger. Børge is the Danish and Norwegian spelling.- People with the given name Börje :*Börje Ahlstedt , a Swedish actor*Börje Ekedahl , a Swedish bobsledder...

 and Viksta in Uppland

Uppland

Uppland is a historical province or landskap on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic sea...

, and Enånger

Enånger

Enånger is a locality situated in Hudiksvall Municipality, Gävleborg County, Sweden with 652 inhabitants in 2005.Enånger Court District, or Enångers tingslag, was a district of Hälsingland in Sweden. The provinces in Norrland were never divided into hundreds and instead the court district served...

 in Hälsingland

Hälsingland

' is a historical province or landskap in central Sweden. It borders to Gästrikland, Dalarna, Härjedalen, Medelpad and to the Gulf of Bothnia...

 (all three in the archdiocese of Uppsala

Archdiocese of Uppsala

The Archdiocese of Uppsala, Lutheran 'successor' to the former Roman Catholic Swedish province, is one of the thirteen dioceses of the Church of Sweden and the only one having the status of an archdiocese.-Lutheran archdiocese:...

).

The interest in Ragnhild (as in some other medieval local saints) was revived after the Protestant Reformation

Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

 through the general interest in Swedish antiquities that flourished in 17th century Sweden. In her case, the publication of Vitis aquilonia by Johannes Vastovius

Johannes Vastovius

Johannes Vastovius was a Swedish priest and writer in the late reformation period....

in 1623 caused a re-interpretation of the human figure in the seal of the City of Södertälje as a depiction of Ragenilda.