| Eirik Bloodaxe | |
| King of Norway | |
| Reign | c. 931 – c. Events By Place Europe Ramiro II of Leon becomes the King of León. 933 |
|---|---|
| Born | c. Events By Place Europe Cotentin and Jersey are seized by William Longsword, Duke of Normandy. 895 |
| Died | 954 |
| Place of death | Battle of Stainmore |
| Predecessor | Harold Fairhair |
| Successor | Håkon the Good |
| Consort | Gunnhild Ossursdotter |
| Issue | Gamle Guttorm Harald Greyhide Ragnfrød Ragnhild Erling Gudrød Sigurd Sleva |
| Dynasty | Fairhair dynasty |
| Father | Harold Fairhair |
| Mother | Ragnhild Eiriksdotter |
Eirik Bloodaxe (Old Norse: Eiríkr blóðøx, Norwegian: Eirik Blodøks), (c. Births Athelstan of England King Eric I of Norway Gaozu of Later Han Liu Min Events By Place Europe King Máel Coluim I of Scotland is killed in battle against the Highlanders The Battle of Stainmore was a battle likely between the Earldom of Bernicia led by Osulf, and the forces of the last Norse king of Jórvík ( Harald Fairhair or Harald Finehair ( Old Norse: Haraldr hárfagri, Norwegian: Harald Hårfagre) (c Haakon I ( Old Norse: Hákon Aðalsteinsfóstri, Norwegian: Håkon Adalsteinsfostre) (c Gunnhildr konungamóðir ( mother of kings) or Gunnhildr Gormsdóttir (c Harald II Greycloak ( Old Norse: Haraldr gráfeldr, Norwegian: Harald Gråfell, Danish: Harald Gråfeld) (died 976 Ragnhild Erikdotter ?(d 984 She was the daughter of Eric Bloodaxe and his wife Gunhildr. StOlav dynasty, Hardrada dynasty, Gille dynasty and Sverre dynasty all redirect here Harald Fairhair or Harald Finehair ( Old Norse: Haraldr hárfagri, Norwegian: Harald Hårfagre) (c Ragnhild Erikdotter ?(d 984 She was the daughter of Eric Bloodaxe and his wife Gunhildr. Old Norse is the North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age Norwegian ( norsk) is a North Germanic Language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is an official language 895–954), was the second king of Norway (930–934) and the eldest son of Harald Fairhair. Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional Events By Place Europe With the establishment of the Althing, now the world's oldest Parliament, the Icelandic Commonwealth Events By Place Asia The Goryeo army defeats Hubaekje forces in present-day Hongseong County. Harald Fairhair or Harald Finehair ( Old Norse: Haraldr hárfagri, Norwegian: Harald Hårfagre) (c Once the power was in his hands, he began to quarrel with his other brothers and had four of them killed, including Bjørn Farmann and later Olaf and Sigrød in battle at Tønsberg. Bjørn Farmann ("Bjørn the Tradesman" also called Bjørn Haraldsson, Farmand and Kaupman, c is a town and municipality in the county of Vestfold, Norway The town of Tønsberg was established as a municipality 1 January 1838 (see Formannskapsdistrikt) A Latin text describes him as fratris interfector (brother-slayer), and it is entirely conceivable that the "blood" component of his cognomen refers to his propensity for fratricide. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. The cognomen (plural cognomina) was originally the third name of an Ancient Roman in the Roman naming convention. Fratricide (from the Latin word frater, meaning "brother" and cide meaning to kill is the act of a person Killing his or her
In 920, he undertook a Viking expedition to Bjarmaland, in northern Russia. Bjarmaland (also spelled Bjarmland or Bjarmia) was a territory mentioned in Norse sagas up to the Viking Age — and beyond In 930, be began his conquest by sailing down the Dvina River into Russia. The Northern Dvina (Се́верная Двина́ is a river in Northern Russia flowing through the Vologda Oblast and Arkhangelsk Oblast into the There he sacked the small trading port of Permina. In Denmark he was invited to a feast by King Gorm the Old; it was at this feast where he met Gunnhild and married her the next night. Gorm the Old (Gorm den Gamle Gormr gamli) also called Gorm the Sleepy (Gorm Løge dvaske was King of Denmark from c Gunnhildr konungamóðir ( mother of kings) or Gunnhildr Gormsdóttir (c
Gunnhild had some reputation of being a witch. Witchcraft, in various historical anthropological religious and mythological contexts is the use of certain kinds of Supernatural or magical powers One account described her as living in a hut with two Finnish wizards and learning their magic, and when they quarreled over her favors she set Eirik to kill them and then married him. The terms Finns and Finnish people ( Finnish: suomalaiset, Swedish: finländare) are used in English to A magician, wizard, sorcerer or a person known under one of many other possible terms in fiction is someone who uses or practices magic There were also accounts which ascribed to her a part in killing some of her husband's brothers and other enemies by poisoning or raising storms to drown their ships. On occasion, she was reputed to go into prolonged trances in her chamber, and by some accounts she was believed at such times to be able to transform herself into a bird and in that guise cross great distances over land and sea, spy out the movements of hostile armies from the air or listen to the conversations of unsuspecting enemies. Whatever the factual basis for such stories, Erik might have found his wife's fearsome reputation useful.
In the next Spring Eirik slaughtered the combined forces of his brothers and regained his throne of Norway.
His youngest brother, Haakon, returned from England and won support from the Norwegian nobles to oust Eric in 934; Eric's rule was hard and despotic, and this would account for the alacrity with which the nobles joined forces to oust him. Haakon I ( Old Norse: Hákon Aðalsteinsfóstri, Norwegian: Håkon Adalsteinsfostre) (c England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland
After waging unsuccessful campaigns to regain the throne, Eirik moved to the Orkney Islands and later to the Kingdom of Jorvik. Orkney (also known as the Orkney Islands or incorrectly the Orkneys) is an Archipelago in northern Scotland, situated 10 miles (16 km north He was initially met warmly by Athelstan, who made Eirik ruler in Northumbria, with a brief to provide a defence against the ravages of the Scots, and the Irish. His rule in Northumbria soon degenerated, however, and he was expelled by the populace and betrayed by the Earl of Bernicia, Osulf, to one Earl Maccus and killed on Stainmore, Westmorland, in 954 along with his son, Haeric. Northumbria, a kingdom of Angles in northern England, was initially divided into two kingdoms Bernicia and Deira. Osulf I (d 963 was Earl of Bernicia from 930 and of all Northumbria from 954 until his death The Battle of Stainmore was a battle likely between the Earldom of Bernicia led by Osulf, and the forces of the last Norse king of Jórvík ( Westmorland (formerly also spelt Westmoreland, an even older spelling is Westmerland) is an area of north-west England and one of the 39 Historic counties
Conflict with Egil Skallagrimsson
Through the instigation of his wife, Queen Gunnhild, King Eirik became involved in a prolonged conflict with Egil Skallagrimsson, the well-known Icelander viking and skald. Egill Skallagrímsson (910-c990 was a Viking Skald and the great Anti-hero of Icelandic literature. A Viking is one of the Norse ( Scandinavian Explorers Warriors Merchants, and pirates who raided and colonized wide areas The skald was a member of a group of Poets whose courtly poetry (Icelandic dróttkvæði) is associated with the courts of Scandinavian and Icelandic Details of this affair had been preserved mainly through Egil's poetry (which is admittedly not an unbiased source) and the account—of which a summary follows—seems designed to enhance Egill's abilities as warrior, wizard, and poet.
Egil had killed Bárðr of Atley, one of the king's retainers, thus making an enemy of Queen Gunnhild, who never forgave him and did everything within her power to take revenge. Gunnhild ordered her two brothers to kill Egil and Egil's older brother Þórólfr, who had been on good terms with both her and the king before. However, this plan did not go well, as Egil easily killed the pair when they confronted him, greatly increasing the Queen's thirst for revenge.
All that happened shortly before the death of Harald Fairhair and King Eirik's killing of his brothers to secure his place on the throne. Harald Fairhair or Harald Finehair ( Old Norse: Haraldr hárfagri, Norwegian: Harald Hårfagre) (c He then declared Egill an outlaw in Norway. Berg-Önundr gathered a company of men to capture Egill, but was killed in his attempt to do so.
Escaping from Norway, Egil killed Rögnvaldr Eirikssen,the King's son, and then cursed his parents, setting a horse's head on a pole (níðstöng or "spite-post") and saying,
- "'Here I set up a spite-post, and declare this curse against King Erik and Queen Gunnhildr,'—he turned the horse-head to face the mainland—'I declare this curse at the land-spirits there, and the land itself, so that all will fare astray, not to hold nor find their places, not until they wreak King Erik and Gunnhild from the land. '"
He set up the pole of spite in the cliff-face and left it standing; he faced the horse's eyes on the land, and he rist runes upon the pole, and said all the formal words of the curse. (ch. 57) ("níð" has been translated as "scorn", "spite" or "curse").
Gunnhild, also put a spell on Egill, which made him feel restless and depressed until they met again.
The last encounter happened when Erik and Gunnhild were living in England. Egil was shipwrecked on a nearby shore and came before Erik, who sentenced him to death. But Egill composed a drápa in Eirik's praise in the dungeon during the night, and when he recited it in the morning, Eirik gave him his freedom and forgave any vengeance or settlement for the killing of Rögnvaldr.
Glúmr Geirason, another Icelandic skald, also composed poetry on Eric. Glúmr Geirason was a 10th century Icelandic poet. He composed poems on King Erik Bloodaxe and his son King Harald Greyhide.
In popular culture
- Chris Goggans, former daring hacker and present internationally-recognized expert on information security, had in his wilder days taken up the nickname "Eirik Bloodaxe" in honor of the Viking king. Chris Goggans, who used the name Erik Bloodaxe in honor of the Viking king of a similar name, is a founding member of the Legion of Doom group and Information security means protecting information and information systems from unauthorized access use disclosure disruption modification or destruction
- Poul Anderson, a Danish-American writer of science fiction and fantasy, wrote The Mother of the Kings, a fictionalised biography of Queen Gunnhild, including myths as well as historical facts, and telling a lot about her husband and their children as well—especially the many efforts of Gunnhild and Eirik's sons to regain the throne of their father. Poul William Anderson ( November 25, 1926 – July 31, 2001) was an American Science fiction author who wrote during a Golden Fantasy is a Genre that uses magic and other Supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting A biography (from the Greek words bíos (βίος meaning "life" and gráphein (γράφειν meaning "to write" is an account
- Bloodaxe is one of many historical personages who feature prominently in the Riverworld series of Bangsian science fiction novels by Philip José Farmer. Riverworld is a Fictional universe and the setting for a series of Science fiction Books written by Philip José Farmer. Bangsian fantasy is the school of fantasy writing that sets the plot wholly or partially in the afterlife Philip José Farmer (born January 26 1918) is an American Author, principally known for his Science fiction and fantasy On the Riverworld, Bloodaxe is sailing upRiver with Samuel Clemens and his prehistoric friend, and engages in a power struggle with King John of England. Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30 1835 – April 21 1910 better known by the Pen name Mark Twain, was an American Humorist, satirist A king is a male Monarch, or a Head of state, who may or may not depending on the style of government of a nation exercise monarchal powers over a territory usually John (24 December 1167 &ndash 19 October 1216 reigned as a King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death
- Eirik Bloodaxe appeares in the historical Yorkshire building "York Dungeons" where he talks of killing his relatives, to tour of the room ends when he shouts them to leave before he "changed his mind" (suggesting he would have been wanting to kill them).
External links
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Eric Bloodaxe
Born: c. StOlav dynasty, Hardrada dynasty, Gille dynasty and Sverre dynasty all redirect here 895 Died: 954 |
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| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Harald Fairhair |
King of Norway 930-934 |
Succeeded by Haakon the Good |
| Preceded by Edred |
King of Jórvík 948-949 |
Succeeded by Edred |
| Preceded by Olav II |
King of Jórvík 952-954 |
Succeeded by Edred |
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