Tovi the Proud (also Tofi or Tofig, Tofi pruda), , was a rich and powerful 11th-century Danish thegn who held a number of estates in various parts of southern England. A translation of the legend of Waltham Abbey cites the Lord of Waltham as 'Tovi le Prude', "totius Angliae post regnem primus" (prude = prudent, wise, sagacious). He was staller (a placeman or court office-holder) to King Cnut the Great.
Early life
Little is known about the years of Tovi the Proud pre-1026 though he appears to have had a role in the administration of East Anglia and Essex, these interests and gifted land holdings there indicate that prior to 1017, he was either in Cnut the Great's retinue or in that of Thorkell the Tall who was Jarl of East Anglia 1017 to 1023. By 1017 he was in possession of Reading, he went on to hold crucial roles in court 'guiding the monarch and closest to the king in his counsels'. Chronological problems of documents show Tovi pruda to appear to have been added as a revision to earlier lists of secular officials from 1020-1, his name placed at the head of secular officials, alongside his contemporary Osgod Clapa. Although in good enough health to have travelled from the far side of the kingdom where he had been on business with the king, he was considered already 'old and feeble' in the story of the legend of Waltham Holy Cross in the first half of the 1030s. This Waltham Chronicle also records that Tovi was 'a man of great wealth' (preduies), acquired not only through inheritance and the king's largesse, but also because his relationship with the king enabled him 'to benefit or harm anyone he wished.'
The Legend of the Holy Cross
According to the Waltham Chronicle, it was on his manor at Montacute in Somerset that a black crucifix or Holy Rood was unearthed following a dream in 1030. The account relates that Tovi loaded the life-sized cross onto a cart, but the oxen refused to move until he mentioned another of his estates at Waltham in Essex where he already had a hunting lodge. Tovi rebuilt the church at Waltham to house the cross, on which he bestowed his own sword. His devout second wife Gytha (or Glitha), the daughter of Osgod Clapa, adorned the figure with a crown, bands of gold and precious stones. The cross became the object of pilgrimage, notably by Harold Godwinson. 'Thurkill the Sacristan', an eyewitness to the episode told of the cross giving a sign foretelling the failure of Harold's Battle at Hastings in 1066, as told by the Canon of Waltham author of De Inventione Sancte Crucus Nostre in the 12th century.
1040s
It was at Tovi's wedding at Lambeth on 8 June 1042 that King Harthacnut suddenly died of a convulsion "while standing at his drink". Harthacnut had little support as king and his mother Emma of Normandy, second wife of Cnut the Great, is implicated in bolstering Harthacnut's succession using her links with the East Anglian thegns in Cnut the Great's court. A return of stallers such as Tovi the Proud and Osgod Clapa to witness lists is found at this time.
There is no specific record for Tovi pruda after 1043. The Waltham Chronicle records Tovi and Glytha showering the Holy Cross with gifts which presumably would be in the period following their marriage in 1042. It is possible that Tovi died, simply left court to return to his estates, or was exiled following the dynastic pendulum swing back in favour of the native born Edward the Confessor in the early 1040s. Tovi's contemporary and new father-in-law Osgod Clapa, who appears to have been in opposition to Edward the Confessor's succession and led an unsuccessful revolt, was outlawed around 1046, later apparently to die in exile. Certainly the threat of invasion from Magnus the Good of Norway split the English court and led to King Edward confiscating the property of his mother, Queen Emma, who was planning to use it to help Magnus. However it is unclear if any of the above are reasons for Tovi pruda's absence or if political events elsewhere, in the by now disintegrated North Sea Empire, can account for it.