1/23/2024 0 Comments Kings battle axe![]() While the sagas call him 'Bloodaxe', one of the Latin texts calls him fratris interfector (brother-killer), so it seems likely that 'blood' in this context refers to family, just as today we refer to 'blood relations' as distinct from relations by marriage or adoption.Įric's rule in Norway was apparently harsh and unpopular, and his kingship was challenged by his one surviving brother Hakon. It was probably this that earned him his nickname. ![]() Harald's kingdom was not sufficient to provide much of an inheritance for so many sons, and Eric secured the succession for himself by gradually murdering all of his brothers in turn. Modern historians now agree that Harald's kingdom was more limited, and probably confined to the west and south-west, although he may have exercised some power in other areas through alliance with other rulers. The saga tradition credits Harald with a round total of 20 sons, as well as the unification of Norway. However, the Latin texts are both briefer and less fantastic than the great kings' sagas of the early 13th century.Įric was the favourite, and probably the oldest, of the many sons of King Harald Finehair of Norway. Like the earliest of the sagas, they were written in the late 12th century, and there are some textual relations between the Latin histories and the Icelandic sagas. Together with the sagas, there are two Latin accounts of the history of the kings of Norway. However, although we have to be sceptical of all the details provided by the sagas, there is nothing inherently unlikely in their broad outline of events. Our knowledge of Eric's life in Norway relies exclusively on the sagas, which are extremely unreliable for the early tenth century. Like his near contemporary, Thorfinn Skullsplitter of Orkney, the name Eric Bloodaxe conjures up an immediate image of the archetypal Viking warrior huge, hairy and heroic, and the proud owner of a large axe.Įxtensive excavations at the Coppergate, York, have provided us with a good understanding of what Jorvik (York) would have been like at the time of Eric's rule The sagas use the 'Bloodaxe' nickname, and this is generally seen in the context of his Viking raids in Scotland, and his glorious end as the last independent king of Northumbria. He also features in a number of later sagas, along with his wife Gunnhild, who is generally portrayed as an evil witch. His death in 954 brought the independence of Viking Northumbria to an end, but his sons later succeeded in establishing themselves as kings in Norway.Įric is mentioned briefly in a number of contemporary or near contemporary sources, and he also left visible traces of his own - in the coinage issued in his name at York. There he divided his time between raiding in Scotland and around the Irish Sea, and establishing himself as ruler of the Viking kingdom of Northumbria. ![]() However, when his younger brother Hakon claimed the kingship with the support of Athelstan of Wessex, Eric moved to the British Isles. ![]() The favoured son of Harald Finehair, who was credited by the Viking sagas (composed mostly in Iceland, in the 13th century) with the unification of Norway, he became king of western Norway after his father. Eric Bloodaxe is probably one of the best-known names in Viking history, at least in the British Isles.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |