Thorkell the Tall

Thorkell the Tall, also known as Thorkell the High in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (Old Norse: Þorke(ti)ll inn hávi; Norwegian: Torkjell Høge; Swedish: Torkel Höge; Danish: Torkild den Høje), was a prominent member of the Jomsviking order and a notable lord. He was a son of the Scanian chieftain Strut-Harald, and a brother of Jarl Sigvaldi, Hemingr and Tófa. Thorkell was the chief commander of the Jomsvikings and the legendary stronghold Jomsborg, on the Island of Wollin. He is also credited as having received the young Cnut the Great into his care and taken Cnut on raids. The Encomium Emmae, a document concerning significant individuals in the Anglo-Scandinavian court in the early 1040s, describes Thorkell as a great war leader and warrior.

Thorkell notably partook in a campaign that saw him lead an army to Kent in the summer of 1009, where they proceeded to ravage most of Southern England. This soon culminated in the siege of Canterbury in 1011 and the kidnapping of archbishop Ælfheah, who had previously converted Olaf Tryggvason, and Ælfheah's subsequent murder at Greenwich on 19 April 1012.

In the summer of 1015, Thorkell joined Cnut in his successful conquest of England, where he was promptly rewarded with the earldom of East-Anglia.