The story of Awilda is doubted by some historical scholars and considered to be a legend.

Awilda was the daughter of a 5th century Scandinavian king, who had arranged a marriage for her to Alf, the crown prince of Denmark. However, Awilda obstinately refused her father's choice. She and some of her female friends dressed like sailors and commandeered a ship, taking it into the Baltic as a way of escape. Europe in 450 The 5th century is the period from 401 - 500 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian Era. ... Scandinavian can mean: a resident of, or anything relating to Scandinavia any North Germanic language a chess opening, Scandinavian Defense the aviation corpotation Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... A Crown Prince or Crown Princess is the heir or heiress apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. ... Map of the Baltic Sea. ...

While sailing, they came across a pirate ship that had recently lost its captain. The girls must have held up valiantly, for four days later, the pirates voted Awilda captain. Look up pirate and piracy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

The pirates had great success and were eventually noticed by most of Scandinavia. The King of Denmark sent his son and his finest men to battle with the irksome pirates. Prince Alf and his men were able to board their ship and gain the upper hand in the battle. Apparently, Awilda was so impressed with the prince's courage that she stopped the battle, revealed her true identity, and agreed to marry Alf.