Fra Geni. Kludder??
Beskæftigelse Konge i Sverige, Prins, King of Uppsala, Konge av Sverige, konge i Sverige, King, sveakung ca 785 - 800, Kung, Roi, d'Uppsala, 794, Konge, King of Upsala/Sweden, Kung i Sverige, Unknown GEDCOM info: Konge i Upsala 794 Unknown GEDCOM info: 0, Sweden
About Björn Ragnarsson «Ironside» Järnsida
Björn Järnsida
Björn Ironside (Old Norse and Icelandic : Björn Járnsíða, Swedish: Björn Järnsida) was a semi-legendary king of Sweden who would have lived sometime in the 9th century.[1] Björn Ironside is said to have been the first ruler of a new dynasty, and in the early 18th century a barrow named after a king Björn on the island of Munsö was claimed by antiquarians to be Björn Ironside's grave.
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Björn Järnsida, latin bier cotae ferrae, Björn Járnsíða, var en viking som härjade i Frankrike på 800-talet.
Enligt Hervarar saga skulle han ha varit en av Ragnar Lodbroks söner, och skall ha deltagit i faderns erövring av Paris.
Björn erhöll enligt sagan sitt tillnamn järnsida eftersom han aldrig blev skadad i strid. Detta förklarades med hans mors användning av sejd för att göra honom osårbar. Enligt Hervarar saga fick han Svitjod i arv från sin far medan brodern Sigurd Ormiöga ärvde resten av Skandinavien. De andra Lodbrokssönerna hette Ivar Benlös och Vitsärk.
Enligt legenden anses Björn ha grundat Munsöätten, något som dock inte har kunnat bekräftas av forskningen. Enligt Johan Peringskiöld var Björn begravd i Björnshögen vid Husby på Munsö i Mälaren. Flera av hans ättlingar kom att ges namnet Björn. Han fick två söner, Refil och Erik Björnsson, och den sistnämnde skulle enligt sagan ärva Svitjods tron efter honom.
He led the great Viking raid around Spain into the
Mediterranean, 859.
Bjørn Ironside certainly played an important role in France. His father Ragnar Lodbrok can be identified in contemporary Frankish annals with his nickname Lodbrok translated to Hoseri (in German language Hosen), meaning fur or leather breeches. Variations are Ogier and Oschery. He operated from the Seine to the border of Spain from 840 to 851. He conquered Aquitania from the Franks, and he used Bordeaux as his stronghold for years. This conquer, one out of more, included Poitou, which in the sagas is called Peita. Saxo is saying Petiæ and that Ragnar conquered Petiæ. this is confirmed in annals. This is the district in the Loire area. In Western Europe his sons are more reported. Ragnar Lodbrok himself were operating more in East Europe
Björn Järnsida
Björn Ironside (Old Norse and Icelandic : Björn Járnsíða, Swedish: Björn Järnsida) was a semi-legendary king of Sweden who would have lived sometime in the 9th century.[1] Björn Ironside is said to have been the first ruler of a new dynasty, and in the early 18th century a barrow named after a king Björn on the island of Munsö was claimed by antiquarians to be Björn Ironside's grave.
Continue:
Björn Järnsida, latin bier cotae ferrae, Björn Járnsíða, var en viking som härjade i Frankrike på 800-talet.
Enligt Hervarar saga skulle han ha varit en av Ragnar Lodbroks söner, och skall ha deltagit i faderns erövring av Paris.
Björn erhöll enligt sagan sitt tillnamn järnsida eftersom han aldrig blev skadad i strid. Detta förklarades med hans mors användning av sejd för att göra honom osårbar. Enligt Hervarar saga fick han Svitjod i arv från sin far medan brodern Sigurd Ormiöga ärvde resten av Skandinavien. De andra Lodbrokssönerna hette Ivar Benlös och Vitsärk.
Enligt legenden anses Björn ha grundat Munsöätten, något som dock inte har kunnat bekräftas av forskningen. Enligt Johan Peringskiöld var Björn begravd i Björnshögen vid Husby på Munsö i Mälaren. Flera av hans ättlingar kom att ges namnet Björn. Han fick två söner, Refil och Erik Björnsson, och den sistnämnde skulle enligt sagan ärva Svitjods tron efter honom.
Björn Järnsida av Munsöätten: Sveakonung ca 785 - 800. Son till Ragnar Lodbrok och Aslög. Grundaren av Munsöätten på Svea rikes tron. Sannolikt höglagd i Björnshögen vid Husby på Munsö.
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Home > Library > Reference > Wikipedia Björn Ironside
Björn Ironside (Old Norse and Icelandic : Björn Járnsíða, Swedish: Björn Järnsida) was a legendary Swedish king who would have lived sometime in the 9th century.
Ragnarssona þáttr
Ragnarssona þáttr tells that Björn was the son of the Swedish king Ragnar Lodbrok and Aslaug, the daughter of Sigurd and Brynhild, and that he had the brothers Hvitserk, Ivar the Boneless and Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye, and the half-brothers Eric and Agnar.
Björn and his brothers left Sweden to conquer Zealand, Reidgotaland (here Jutland), Gotland, Öland and all the minor islands. They then settled at Lejre with Ivar the Boneless as their leader.
Ragnar was jealous with his sons' successes, and set Eysteinn Beli as the jarl of Sweden, telling him to protect Sweden from his sons. He then went east across the Baltic Sea to pillage and to show his own skills.
Ragnar's sons Eric and Agnar then sailed into Lake Mälaren and sent a message to king Eysteinn that they wanted him to submit to Ragnar's sons, and Eric said that he wanted Eysteinn's daughter Borghild as wife. Eysteinn said that he first wanted to consult the Swedish chieftains. The chieftains said no to the offer, and ordered an attack on the rebellious sons. A battle ensued and Eric and Agnar were overwhelmed by the Swedish forces, whereupon Agnar died and Eric was taken prisoner.
Eysteinn offered Eric as much of Uppsala öd as he wanted, and Borghild, in wergild for Agnar. Eric proclaimed that after such a defeat he wanted nothing but to choose the day of his own death. Eric asked to be impaled on spears that raised him above the dead and his wish was granted.
In Zealand, Aslaug and her sons Björn and Hvitserk, who had been playing tafl, became upset and sailed to Sweden with a large army. Aslaug, calling herself Randalin rode with cavalry across the land. In a great battle they killed Eysteinn.
Ragnar was not happy that his sons had taken revenge without his help, and decided to conquer England with only two knarrs. King Ella of Northumbria defeated Ragnar and threw him into a snake pit where he died.
Björn and his brothers attacked Aella but were beaten back. Asking for peace and wergild, Ivar the Boneless tricked Aella into giving him an area large enough to build the town of York. Ivar made himself popular in England and asked his brothers to attack again. During the battle Ivar sided with his brothers and so did many of the English chieftains with their people, in loyalty to Ivar. Ella was taken captive and in revenge they carved blood eagle on him.
Later Björn and his brothers pillaged in England, Wales, France and Italy, until they came to the town Luna in Italy. When they came back to Scandinavia, they divided the kingdom so that Björn Ironside took Uppsala and Sweden.
Ragnar Lodbrok's saga
To be completed
Hervarar saga
The Hervarar saga tells that Eysteinn Beli was killed by Björn and his brothers as told in Ragnar Lodbrok's saga, and they conquered all of Sweden. When Ragnar died Björn Ironside inherited Sweden. He had two sons, Refil and Erik Björnsson, who became the next king of Sweden.
Historical sources
His existence as a historic figure is supported by three non-Scandinavian sources. The Annales Bertiniani and the Chronicon Fontanellense tell of a Viking leader named Berno who pillaged on the Seine in the 850s, and c. 1070, William of Jumièges referred to him as Bier Costae ferreae (Ironside) who was Lotbroci regis filio (son of king Lodbrok)[1].
Kings and kingship in Viking Northumbria
Rory McTurk
(University of Leeds)
In this paper, to be delivered in York, I should like to discuss two Viking kings of York, Ívarr (d. 873) and Rögnvaldr (d. 920). Historically, these two were in all probability grandfather and grandson (Downham, 2004, 71), but in the X and Y versions of Ragnars saga loðbrókar, dating respectively from the middle and second half of the thirteenth century (McTurk, 1991a, 54-55), they appear as brothers, and as sons of Ragnarr loðbrók. This latter, as I have argued elsewhere, is a legendary combination of two ninth-century historical figures: on the one hand Reginheri, a Viking leader who attacked Paris in 845; and, on the other, a woman, Loðbróka, who was named after a fertility goddess with whose cult she was associated, as may be deduced, I believe, from two stanzas spoken by a trémaðr (wooden man) in the final chapter of the Y version of Ragnars saga, numbered 39 and 40 in Olsens edition of the saga (1906-08, 174, 221-22) and thought to date from c.1100, as well as from the fact that, in the Maeshowe runic inscription now numbered 23, and dating most probably from c.1150 (Barnes, 1994, 39-40, 47-48, 178-86), Loðbrók appears to be referred to as female (McTurk, 1991a, 16-39).
In the first of the two relevant stanzas in Ragnars saga, the trémaðr, speaking in the first person, claims to have been set up near the sea (hjá salti) by the sons of one Loðbróka (synir Loðbróku) and to have been the object of a cult, the practice of which involved peoples deaths (blótinn til bana mönnum), in the southern part of the Danish island of Samsø (í Sámseyju sunnanverðri). In the second stanza the trémaðr indicates that he was bidden (presumably by those who set him up) to stand (þar báðu standa), covered with moss, by a thorn-bush for as long as the coast endured, and states that the tears of the clouds (skýja gráti) now rain down upon him, and that neither flesh nor clothing (hold né klæði) protects him.
The main arguments for regarding Ívarr as a son of Reginheri/Ragnarr and Loðbróka may now be summarised (cf. McTurk, 1991a, 39-50). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records the death in Devon in 878 of the brother of Inwære and Healfdene. This shows clearly that Inwære (whose name corresponds to Ívarr) and Healfdene were brothers, and there are good reasons for thinking that the unnamed third brother was Hubba, who appears in the late tenth-century Passio Sancti Eadmundi by Abbo of Fleury as a close associate of Hinguar (= Inwære), and as his brother in the Annals of St Neots and in the accounts of Gaimar and Geoffrey of Wells, all from the twelfth century. There are also good reasons for doubting the accuracy of Æthelweards late tenth-century account of the events in Devon in 878, which appears to contradict that of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle with regard to the identity of the brother who died in that year; and also for dismissing Æthelweards information that Iuuar (= Inwære, Ívarr) died in 869, shortly after the slaying of King Edmund of East Anglia; if this information can indeed be dismissed, then Inwære/Ívarr may safely be identified with Imhar, the Viking king of Dublin, who according to the Annals of Ulster died in 873, rex Nordmannorum totius Hiberniae et Britanniae.
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The Healfdene mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle seems to be identical with one Albann, who according to the Annals of Ulster died in Ireland at Strangford Lough in 877; and the twelfth-century Irish Cogadh Gaedhel re Gallaibh appears to speak of this Albann, king of the dark heathens, as the son of Ragnall, a name which corresponds, albeit loosely, to Ragnarr. If the identification of this Ragnall with Ragnarr can be accepted, then it may argued that Inwære/Ívarr/Imhar and Healfdene, and perhaps Hubba also, had a father named Ragnarr.
It may further be noted that Adam of Bremen, writing in c.1076, speaks of what appears to be this same Inwære/Ívarr/Imhar as Inguar filius Lodparchi, clearly seeing him as the son of someone with a name corresponding loosely to loðbrók; and that William of Jumièges, writing c.1070, refers to a certain Bier Costae ferreae (Ironside) as Lotbroci regis filio, as the son, that is, of a king whose name corresponds to loðbrók very closely. This Bier, whose name, nickname and parentage clearly link him with Björn járnsíða (Ironside), who appears in Ragnars saga as a son of Ragnarr loðbrók, seems to have shared with that Björn a historical prototype in the Viking leader Berno, who, according to the contemporary and near-contemporary Annales Bertiniani and Chronicon Fontanellense respectively, was active on the Seine in the eight-fifties.
The Albann/Healfdene of the Annals of Ulster and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, mentioned above, may also be identified with an Halbdeni mentioned in the Annales Fuldenses for 873 as the brother of the Danish king Sigifridus and as active on the European continent (in Metz) in that year. The case for the identification is strengthened by the fact that 873 is one of the years in which the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle does not indicate that Healfdene was active in England. If this identification can be established, then Sigifridus, the brother of this Halbdeni (= Healfdene = Albann), son of Ragnall/Ragnarr, may be regarded as historically a brother of Inwære/Ívarr/Imhar (= Inguar, filius Lodparchi), and perhaps also of Hubba, as well as of Berno, Lotbroci regis filius. This same Sigifridus may then reasonably be taken as the historical prototype of Sigurðr ormr-í-auga (Snake-in-eye), who appears in Ragnars saga as a son of Ragnarr loðbrók.
There is thus a case for saying that Inwære, Healfdene, Hubba, Berno and Sigifridus, all of them active in the second half of the ninth century (the first two and the fifth of them as kings, if the relevant identifications can be accepted), were brothers. Of the five, Healfdene is the only one not to appear as a son of Ragnarr loðbrók in Scandinavian tradition; the others appear to have been the historical prototypes of, respectively, his sons Ívarr, Ubbo, Björn and Sigurðr, of whom Ubbo (who appears, like the other three, as a son of Regnerus Lothbrog in Book IX of Saxos Gesta Danorum) seems to be the only one who was known exclusively to East Norse tradition. It may be noted that, in the contemporary and as nearly as possible contemporary sources adduced above, only one, the twelfth-century Irish Cogadh Gaedhel re Gallaibh, provides any evidence for these brothers having had a father named Ragnarr, and that only Adam of Bremen and William of Jumièges, both from the second half of the eleventh century, provide evidence for their having been sons of someone named Loðbrók. None of these sources gives any indication of an awareness of the two names Ragnarr and Loðbrók being used in combination for the same person. The first recorded instance of the names being so used is Ari Þorgilssons reference to Ívarr Ragnarssonr loðbrókar in his Íslendingabók, written between 1120 and 1133 (cf. McTurk, 1991a, 1).
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In the verses spoken by the trémaðr, referred to above and dating quite possibly from before the time of Ari (1068-1148) (McTurk, 1991a, 16-27), reference is made to synir Loðbróku, with no further personal name added; the genitive Loðbróku must presuppose a weak feminine nominative form Loðbróka, which, since bróka is recorded as a poetic term for woman in one of the þulur preserved in manuscripts of Snorris Edda, I take to be a womans name, and a variant of the goddess-name *Loþkona (woman with luxuriant hair), which, as Sahlgren (1918, 28-40) has shown, may be deduced from the Swedish place-name Locknevi (< *Loþkonuvé) and seems to have been a noa-name (that is, a name used in place of one that is tabooed) for the fertility goddess Freyja. In the Maeshowe runic inscription, also referred to above and dating from somewhat after the time of Ari (d.1148), reference is made to the howe or mound of Loðbrók (Loðbrókar; strong genitive singular), and, immediately afterwards, to her sons (synir hennar), a clear indication (in my view at least, McTurk, 1991a, 9-10; see however Barnes, 1994, 184-86) that the Loðbrók in question was female.
In writing earlier on this topic (McTurk, 1976, 101-03, 111-17; 1991a, 47-49) I have, I now suspect, exaggerated the difficulties in the way of identifying Reginheri, the leader of the Viking attack on Paris in 845, as the father of the brothers Halbdeni and Sigifridus. These difficulties have to do with the question of whether or not Reginheri was a member of the family of the Danish king Godofridus I (d. 810), all members of which, with the exception of one boy, Horicus II, appear to have been wiped out in a battle in 854, to judge from the account given in the Annales Fuldenses for that year. If this is to be believed, and if Reginheri, who died in all probability in 845, was indeed a member of that family, then Halbdeni and Sigifridus and any brothers they may have had cannot have been his sons, since the only surviving members of the family after 854 would have been Horicus II and his progeny. I would now acknowledge, however, more emphatically than I did in 1976 (p. 103), the possibility that the Fulda annalist has here presented the succeeding survivor of this royal family as its sole survivor, and that other members of the family may in fact have survived. At the same time I would emphasise that in seeking, as I am now doing, to establish the parentage of the five brothers under discussion, it is by no means essential to regard Reginheri as having been a member of the house of Godofridus I.
On the admittedly bold assumption that we are dealing here with full brothers rather than half-brothers, I would suggest that the father of Inwære, Healfdene, Hubba, Berno and Sigifridus was Reginheri, the leader of the Viking attack on Paris in 845, and that their mother was Loðbróka, a woman named after and associated with the cult of a fertility goddess. In other words, Reginheri and Loðbróka were historically husband and wife, and the parents of these five brothers (McTurk, 1991b, 351). Through confusion of the proper noun Loðbróka with the common noun loðbrók, which it seems could be applied just as easily to a man as to a woman (cf. Haukr hábrók, Hallgerðr langbrók), the common noun loðbrók came to be applied as a nickname to Reginheri (remembered as Ragnarr), and the historical Loðbróka was largely forgotten, though a memory of her may lie behind the development, in the X and Y versions of Ragnars saga, of the figure of Áslaug, presented there as Ragnarrs second wife and the mother of his sons Ívarr, Björn, Hvítserkr, Rögnvaldr, and Sigurðr.
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Of the five last-named sons, the first two and the fifth have been accounted for above. The third of them, Hvítserkr, has, as far as I know, no historical prototype, but the fourth, Rögnvaldr, seems to have had as such a prototype the Viking king of York, Rægnald (d. 920), who, as shown most recently by Downham (2004, 71), was in all likelihood a grandson of Ívarr (d. 873), as indicated above. Contemporary sources leave some doubt as to the precise location (and even date) of the death of this Rægnald (Smyth, 1975, 112-13). The anonymous poem Krákumál, dating most probably from the twelfth century, placed in the mouth of Loðbrók as he dies in King Ellas snake-pit, and clearly presupposing acceptance of the equation of Ragnarr with Loðbrók, records in st. 15 the death of one Rögnvaldr in the Hebrides, without specifying that he was the speakers son. The X and Y versions of Ragnars saga, on the other hand, state that Rögnvaldr, who at this stage of the sagas account was the youngest of Ragnarrs sons by Áslaug (since Sigurðr ormr-í-auga had not yet been born) died at Hvítabr. As referred to in the saga, this Hvítabr is almost certainly the inland town of Vitaby, near Kivik in Skåne. It is possible, however, that the sagas account preserves an imperfectly remembered tradition of the Northumbrian harbour town of Whitby in connection with Rægnald. I have argued elsewhere (McTurk, 1991a, 98-114) that Krákumál and Ragnars saga preserve respectively western and eastern branches of a tradition of Rægnald of York, locating his death in different places.
Returning now to the generation of Inwære and his brothers, I should like to discuss briefly the nicknames of Ívarr, Björn and Sigurðr as preserved in Scandinavian tradition (cf. McTurk, 1991a, 40-41). Björns nickname, járnsíða (Ironside), clearly reflects that of Bier, Costae ferreae, as recorded by William of Jumièges, and there seems little doubt that it refers to a mail-shirt, such as a Viking might be expected to have worn. Ívarrs nickname, beinlauss (Boneless) and that of Sigurðr, ormr-í-auga (Snake-in-eye), are, by contrast, relatively problematic. To deal with Ívarrs nickname first, one theory is that it reflects a misunderstanding of the Latin adjective exosus cruel as exos boneless, an explanation that would accord well with Adam of Bremens description of Inguar as crudelissimus (J. de Vries, 1928, 259-60) . Another theory, recently revived by Nabil Shaban in a television programme entitled The strangest Viking and shown on Channel 4 on 12 June, 2003, is that the nickname refers to the medical condition known as osteogenesis imperfecta, or brittle-bone disease (Seedorff, 1949).
A more recent suggestion (McTurk, 1991a, 40-41; 1991b, 357-58) is that the nickname beinlauss (Boneless) reflects a noa-name for the wind, and that it might imply that Ívarr was a skilful navigator; there is evidence in Norwegian folk tradition for the word beinlaus (and sometimes the expression Ivar beinlaus) being used by fishermen as a noa-term for the wind. The so-called Ragnarssona þáttr, preserved in Hauksbók of the early fourteenth century and apparently reflecting an older version of Ragnars saga than either X or Y, indicates that the nickname had to do with its bearers sexual impotence. The evidence of the Old English riddle to which the answer is dough, preserved in the Exeter Book, most probably from the late tenth century, and to which I have recently drawn attention in this context (McTurk, 1999a, 202-04), suggests,
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however, that the expression boneless could be used just as easily in a context of sexual potency as in one of impotence, as I also pointed out in the discussion following my paper at the Tenth International Saga Conference in Trondheim in 1997. Of the various suggestions summarised here, those relating to the wind and to sexual impotence and/or potency are the ones that seem to me most convincing.
As for the nickname of Sigurðr, ormr-í-auga (Snake-in-eye), it has been suggested that this refers to the eye condition known as nystagmus (Reichborn-Kjennerud, 1923, 26). My own suggestion (McTurk, 1991b, 358-59) is that the auga element in the nickname should be understood in the sense of narrow opening (as in vindauga window), and that the nickname alludes to the myth of Óðinn crawling in the form of a serpent (ormr) through the narrow opening (auga) bored for him by Baugi in the mountain Hnitbjörg (as told in the Skáldskaparmál section of Snorris Edda), so that he could gain access to the giantess Gunnlöð and to the poetic mead, a myth which Svava Jakobsdóttir (1988) has linked convincingly to kingship inauguration rituals, in which the king was ritually married to the land in order to bring fertility.
According to Wormald (1982, 147), The Viking Age saw Scandinavian kingship grow from Volkskönigtum [tribal kingship] to Heerkönigtum [military kingship], as that of other Germanic peoples had earlier, and this growth was both cause and effect of Viking activity. The transition from the former kind of kingship to the latter seems to be reflected in the names and activities of the family of Ragnarr and Loðbróka, to judge from what we know of their activities and from what we can deduce from some of their names. Although Reginheri/Ragnarr is nowhere described as a king in contemporary or near-contemporary sources, his attack on Paris in 845 tends to link him with the relatively new type of kingship, Heerkönigtum, whether or not he was a member of the family of Godofridus I; there is clear contemporary and near-contemporary evidence that he was closely connected to the court of Horicus I, who, as one of the sons of this Godofridus, was himself a member of that family (McTurk, 1976, 98-117). Loðbróka, whose name, as explained above, suggests associations with a fertility cult, seems on the other hand to have had links with the older type of kingship, Volkskönigtum, and to been involved in some way with the cult of the fertility goddess after whom she appears to have been named; her association with a trémaðr may indeed suggest that she participated in a ritual marriage in which a wooden effigy of the fertility god Freyr took the place of a human bridegroom. Evidence for rituals of this kind, which are likely to have been practised in the relatively settled, agriculturally-based communities of pre-Viking Scandinavia, is found in Gunnars þáttr helmings, preserved in Flateyjarbók of the late fourteenth century (Orton, 2005, 304; cf. McTurk, 1991a, 27-29) .
The nickname ormr-í-auga, as explained above, also seems to suggest connections with rituals of this kind, and hence with Volkskönigtum rather than with Heerkönigtum. Since the wind can help as well as hinder the growth of the soil, the nickname beinlauss, if understood as a noa-term for the wind, may be seen as having associations of fertility, as may, of course, its possible connotations of sexual potency, mentioned above. Its connections would then be more with Volkskönigtum than with Heerkönigtum. If, on the other hand, the wind meaning is taken to be associated with the navigation of a ship,
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as also suggested above, and hence with Viking activity, then the meaning of the nickname arguably links it more with Heerkönigtum than with Volkskönigtum. The nickname járnsíða, if understood, as it surely must be, as referring to armour, of course has associations predominantly, if not exclusively, with Heerkönigtum, and what little is known for certain of the life (and death) of Rægnald of York tends to associate him with this latter type of kingship also.
Against this background, it may be argued that the basic theme of the two stanzas spoken by the trémaðr, and referred to above, is the transition from Volkskönigtum to Heerkönigtum, which Wormald has shown to be characteristic of Scandinavia in the Viking Age. The trémaðr is lamenting the fact that he is no longer used by the sons of Loðbróka in rituals associated with good kings and fertility (as opposed to bad kings and famine, see Wormald, 1982, 145), such as their mother might have presided over or participated in, and such as are likely to have occurred regularly in many parts of Scandinavia before the Viking Age. The reason for their neglect of the trémaðr is that the sons of Loðbróka have now developed a preference perhaps under their fathers influence, if Reginheri was indeed their father for the relatively new, military type of kingship that has developed with the Viking expansion. The accounts of Ragnarr loðbrók and his sons in Scandinavian tradition, late and legendary though they are, thus have a value for the historian in reflecting a transition in the Viking Age from one kind of kingship to another.
Given the York context of this paper, I cannot resist rehearsing briefly, in conclusion, an idea that I have published elsewhere, both in Icelandic and in English, but in relatively inaccessible places (McTurk, 1994; 1999b, 126-31). This relates to what is presented in medieval Scandinavian literary sources as a form of torture, called the blood-eagle (blóðörn), on which Roberta Frank has published extensively, most notably in 1984. Frank argues convincingly that the whole idea of blood-eagling, which in the literary sources involves, in its most dramatic form, cutting a victims back and pulling out his lungs in such a way as to make them resemble an eagles wings, has derived from a misunderstanding of a sentence in Sigvatr Þórðarsons poem Knútsdrápa (c.1038): Ok Ellu bak,/ at, lét, hinns sat,/ Ívarr, ara,/ Jórvík, skorit. The meaning here, as Frank understands it, is: And Ívarr, the one who dwelt at York, had Ellas back cut with an eagle. Taking the word ara with an eagle as an instrumental dative form (of ari, m.), Frank argues that the eagle in question is a bird of prey, such as is typically referred to in Old Norse and Old English battle-poetry as feeding off the bodies of the slain. It seems to me that if the word ara, as used here, is to be understood in this way, it is questionable to take the form ara as an instrumental dative; it would surely be preferable to take it as a dative of the indirect object (for an eagle), if the word were to be so understood. Taking it as an instrumental dative would imply that Ívarr had control over the eagle in question, in the manner of a falconer, which would surely be at variance with the ways in which eagles are portrayed as birds of battle in Old Norse-Icelandic poetry: for all the conventional character that the poetry imparts to them, these eagles must surely have been regarded as untameable, by human beings at least, and as acting beyond the wishes and instructions of men. They are closely related to Óðinn, the god of the slain, and are semi-supernatural beings that can hardly be called upon to cut ones enemies backs whenever one feels like it. If the word is to be understood as referring to the eagle as a
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bird of battle, its form needs, I repeat, to be taken as reflecting a dative of the indirect object in such a way as to give the meaning: And Ívarr [
] had Ellas back cut for an eagle, which is, I admit, a possible interpretation of the passage.
Here it may be noted, however, that another, cognate word for eagle in Old Norse, örn, could be used in poetry to mean sword. This is shown by its inclusion in a þula, or poetic list, entitled Sverða heiti and preserved in manuscripts of Snorris Edda (see McTurk, 1994, 541; 1999b, 129-30). Of the two words for eagle, ari and örn, the former seems to have been the rarer and more poetic one; the two words are however, etymologically related, as already indicated, and, in signifying the concept eagle, at least, have basically the same meaning. In view of this, and of the fact that örn, according to the þula, could mean sword in poetry, it seems reasonable to suppose that ari could as well, provided, of course, that this meaning fitted the context. With this in mind, I suggest the following translation of the Knútsdrápa passage, taking the form ara, like Frank, as an instrumental dative: And Ívarr, the one who dwelt at York, had Ellas back cut with a sword. In other words: Ívarr put Ella to flight. Once eagles of different kinds, whether blood-eagles or battle-eagles, are forgotten, and the idea of a sword sanctioned, I believe, by the þula to which I have referred is put in its place, interpretation of the Knútsdrápa passage, from which the complicated idea of the blood-eagle seems to have arisen, becomes relatively simple and straightforward.
Bibliography
Barnes, Michael P. (1994) The runic inscriptions of Maeshowe, Orkney (Runrön: runologiska bidrag utgivna av Institutionen för nordiska språk vid Uppsala universitet, 8). Uppsala: Institutionen för nordiska språk, Uppsala universitet.
Downham, Clare (2004) Eric Bloodaxe axed? The mystery of the last Scandinavian king of York. Mediaeval Scandinavia 14, 51-77.
Frank, Roberta (1984) Viking atrocity and skaldic verse: the rite of the blood-eagle. English historical review 99, 332-43.
McTurk, R.W. (1976) Ragnarr loðbrók in the Irish annals? In Bo Almqvist and David Greene (eds) Proceedings of the Seventh Viking Congress, Dublin 15-21 August 1973. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, 93-123.
McTurk, Rory (1991a)Studies in Ragnars saga loðbrókar and its major Scandinavian analogues (Medium Ævum monographs, new series, 15). Oxford: The Society for the Study of Mediæval Languages and Literature.
McTurk, Rory (1991b) Loðbróka og Gunnlöð: frá frjósemisdýrkun til víkingaveldis. Skírnir. Tímarit Hins íslenska bókmenntafélags 165, 343-59.
McTurk , Rory (1994) Blóðörn eða blóðormur. In Gísli Sigurðsson, Guðrún Kvaran and Sigurgeir Steingrímsson (eds) Sagnaþing helgað Jónasi Kristjánssyni sjötugum 10. apríl 1994, 2 vols. Reykjavík: Hið íslenska bókmenntafélag, vol. 2, 539-41.
McTurk, Rory (1999a)Ívarr the Boneless and the amphibious cow. In Patricia Lysaght, Séamas Ó Cathìn and Dìthí Ó hÓgìn (eds) Islanders and water-dwellers: Proceedings of The Celtic-Nordic-Baltic Folklore Symposium held at University College Dublin 16-19 June 1996. Blackrock (Co. Dublin): DBA Publications for the Department of Irish Folklore, University College Dublin, pp. 189-204.
McTurk, Rory (1999b) William Morris, Gustav Storm and Alfred, Lord Tennyson, in Inga-Stina Ewbank, Olav Lausund and Bjørn Tysdahl (eds) Anglo-
Scandinavian cross-currents. Norwich: Norvik Press, pp. 114-35.
Orton, Peter (2005) Pagan myth and religion, in Rory McTurk (ed.) A companion to Old Norse-Icelandic literature and culture (Blackwell companions to literature and culture, 31). Malden, MA, and Oxford, England: Blackwell Publishing, 302-19.
[Völsunga saga ok] Ragnars saga loðbrókar, ed. Magnus Olsen (1906-08) (Samfund til udgivelse af gammel nordisk litteratur, 36). København: S.L. Møllers Bogtrykkeri.
Reichborn-Kjennerud, I. (1923)Lægerådene i den eldre Edda. Maal og minne, 1 - 57.
Sahlgren, Jöran (1918) Förbjudna namn. Namn och bygd 6, 1-40.
Seedorff, K.S. (1949) Osteognenesis imperfecta. A study of clinical features and heredity based on 55 Danish families comprising 180 affected members (/P>
Smyth, Alfred P. (1975) Scandinavian York and Dublin, vol. 1. Dublin: Templekieran Press.
Svava Jakobsdóttir (1988) Gunnlöð og hinn dýri mjöður. Skírnir: tímarit Hins íslenska bókmenntafélags 162, 215-45 (now translated by Katrina Attwood as Gunnlöð and the precious mead in Paul Acker and Carolyne Larrington (eds) The poetic Edda: essays on Old Norse mythology. New York and London: Routledge, 2002, pp. 27-57.
Vries, Jan de (1928). Die westnordische Tradition der Sage von Ragnar Lodbrok. Zeitschrift für deutsche Philologie 53, 257-302
Wormald, C. Patrick (1982). Viking studies; whence and whither? In R.T. Farrell (ed) The Vikings. London: Phillimore, pp. 128-53.
1.
Björn Järnsida räknas som stamfader för Munsöätten, son till Ragnar Lodbrok och Aslög. Enligt Hervararsagan ärvde han Svitjod efter sin far. Björn skall ha fått sitt tillnamn Järnsida för att han aldrig blev sårad i något slag, varför ryktet sade att hans moder genom trolldom gjort honom hård mot järn och spjut.
Björn Ironside (Old Norse: Björn Járnsíða, Swedish: Björn Järnsida) was a legendary Swedish king who would have lived sometime in the 9th century.
Ragnarssona þáttr
Ragnarssona þáttr tells that Björn was the son of the Swedish king Ragnar Lodbrok and Aslaug, the daughter of Sigurd and Brynhild, and that he had the brothers Hvitserk, Ivar the Boneless and Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye, and the half-brothers Eric and Agnar.
Björn and his brothers left Sweden to conquer Zealand, Reidgotaland (here Jutland), Gotland, Öland and all the minor islands. They then settled at Lejre with Ivar the Boneless as their leader.
Ragnar was jealous with his sons' successes, and set Eysteinn Beli as the jarl of Sweden, telling him to protect Sweden from his sons. He then went east across the Baltic Sea to pillage and to show his own skills.
Ragnar's sons Eric and Agnar then sailed into Lake Mälaren and sent a message to king Eysteinn that they wanted him to submit to Ragnar's sons, and Eric said that he wanted Eysteinn's daughter Borghild as wife. Eysteinn said that he first wanted to consult the Swedish chieftains. The chieftains said no to the offer, and ordered an attack on the rebellious sons. A battle ensued and Eric and Agnar were overwhelmed by the Swedish forces, whereupon Agnar died and Eric was taken prisoner.
Eysteinn offered Eric as much of Uppsala öd as he wanted, and Borghild, in wergild for Agnar. Eric proclaimed that after such a defeat he wanted nothing but to choose the day of his own death. Eric asked to be impaled on spears that raised him above the dead and his wish was granted.
In Zealand, Aslaug and her sons Björn and Hvitserk, who had been playing tafl, became upset and sailed to Sweden with a large army. Aslaug, calling herself Randalin rode with cavalry across the land. In a great battle they killed Eysteinn.
Ragnar was not happy that his sons had taken revenge without his help, and decided to conquer England with only two knarrs. King Ella of Northumbria defeated Ragnar and threw him into a snake pit where he died.
Björn and his brothers attacked Aella but were beaten back. Asking for peace and wergild, Ivar the Boneless tricked Aella into giving him an area large enough to build the town of York. Ivar made himself popular in England and asked his brothers to attack again. During the battle Ivar sided with his brothers and so did many of the English chieftains with their people, in loyalty to Ivar. Ella was taken captive and in revenge they carved blood eagle on him.
Later Björn and his brothers pillaged in England, Wales, France and Italy, until they came to the town Luna in Italy. When they came back to Scandinavia, they divided the kingdom so that Björn Ironside took Uppsala and Sweden.
Ragnar Lodbrok's saga
To be completed
Hervarar saga
The Hervarar saga tells that Eysteinn Beli was killed by Björn and his brothers as told in Ragnar Lodbrok's saga, and they conquered all of Sweden. When Ragnar died Björn Ironside inherited Sweden. He had two sons, Refil and Erik Björnsson, who became the next king of Sweden.
Historical sources
His existence as a historic figure is supported by three non-Scandinavian sources. The Annales Bertiniani and the Chronicon Fontanellense tell of a Viking leader named Berno who pillaged on the Seine in the 850s, and c. 1070, William of Jumièges referred to him as Bier Costae ferreae (Ironside) who was Lotbroci regis filio (son of king Lodbrok).
Bjørn I Jernside blev Konge i Sverige. Han gjorde forfærde-
lige Tog til det sydligere Europa, især til Frankrig. Navnet
'Jernside' erholdt han fordi han aldrig brugte Harnisk og Brynje,
og alligevel ei blev saaret, hvorfor han ogsaa sagdes at have Sider
som Jern.
Björn Ragnarsson (literally 'son of Ragnarr) said Járnsíða (from norreno' alongside iron ') was a legendary Swedish king lived in the ninth century. [1] is listed as the founder of the House of Munsö. In early nineteenth century, archaeologists who supported the mound on the island of Munsö, who took the name from a king Björn, was precisely the tomb of Flank Iron [1].
The Annales Bertiniani and Chronicon Fontanellense tell a Head Viking named Berno, who led the looting along the Seine in '850, and in 1070 William of Jumièges you remember how Bier Costae ferreae (Bier Flank Iron) and shows how Lotbroci regis Filio (son of King Loðbrók) [2].
The Ragnarsson þáttr (short saga of the children of Ragnarr) said that Björn was the son of Swedish King Ragnarr Loðbrók and Áslaug, daughter of Siegfried and Brunilde, was the brother of Hvítserkr, Ívarr Ragnarsson and Sigurðr ormr í auga, and half-brother of and Eiríkr Agnarr.
Björn and brothers departed from Sweden to win Zealand, Hreiðgotaland (understood here as Jutland), Gotland, Öland and smaller islands. Then, settled in Lejre to Ívarr orders.
Ragnarr was envious of those victories, and settled Eysteinn Beli as his vassal on the throne of Sweden, because the difendesse by his sons, then crossed the Baltic Sea to the east to show pillaging and thus its value.
Eiríkr and Agnarr then landed in Lake Mälaren and Eysteinn sent to a request for submission to the children of Ragnarr, asking also for Eiríkr married the daughter of Eysteinn, Borghild. Eysteinn replied that he would first consulted the Swedish capoclan. They refused the proposal and decided instead to attack the rebels. There followed a battle that saw Eiríkr and Agnarr overwhelmed by Swedish forces: the second died and the first prisoner fell.
Eysteinn offered to Eiríkr in repair Agnarr, all that was asked of real property in Uppsala, in addition to hand Borghild. Eiríkr said proudly that after such a defeat not only asked to choose the day of his death. He then asked to be pierced by spears, from the bottom to get lifted above the killed. The wish was granted.
Meanwhile at Zealand, Áslaug and children and Björn Hvítserkr, reached and disturbed by the news while they were playing tafl, leaving at a time of Sweden with a large army to follow. Áslaug, under the name of Randalin, led the cavalry across the country. In the great battle that followed Eysteinn was killed.
Ragnarr was not happy that the children had made themselves justice and, under the command of only two knarr, decided to take 'England. Beaten by Aello II of Northumbria, was thrown into a pit of poisonous snakes, where he died.
Björn and brothers Aello then attacked, but were heavily defeated. Following the defeat, Ívarr Senz'Ossa asked Aello peace and reparation for his father, managing to gain ground with the cunning enough to found the city of York. Finally, it called the brothers lead a new attack. In the battle so he could stand up to their side, along with many British capoclan with accompanying their people faithful to the Vikings. Aello was captured and subjected to torture revenge DELL'INTAGLIO of 'blood eagle.
Later, Björn and brothers led the looting in England, Wales, France and Italy, to Luni. Upon his return to Scandinavia, divided the kingdom so that Flank Iron touched Uppsala and Sweden.
Saga of hervor
According to the Hervarar saga (saga of hervor), Eysteinn Beli was killed by Björn and brothers, as reported by the saga of Ragnarr Loðbrók. Ragnarr dead, Björn Flank Iron inherited the country. Björn had two children, and Refill Eiríkr Björnsson, the latter succeeded him as King of Sweden.
Bjørn was one of the major Viking raiders from the mid 850s until 862. During 856-7 he was on the Seine and his name is associated with the vikings who established or took over a base on the island of Oissel where they were at last beleagured by Charles the Bald. They managed to raise the siege after 12 weeks. Later he and Hastein made a four year cruise with 62 ships to Spain, North Africa and Italy and possibly further east. Two of their ships laden with gold, silver and prisoners were captured by the Moors off the coast of Spain. They were next at Guadalquivar but did not prosper and some say they went upriver as far as Seville. Then through the Straits of Gibralter to Algeciras to plunder and next to the North African shore in the Cabo Tres Forcas region where they rounded up prisoners for ransom and took a few with them who eventually wound up in Ireland. Then it was back to Spain's Murcia coast, the Balearics, southern France and sacked Narbonne and then
wintered on the island of Camargue in the Rhone delta. They raided Arles, Nimes and Valence but took a beating from the Franks and went to the Ligurian Riviera and then raided Pisa and east to Alexandria, raided Luna mistakenly thinking it was
Rome, and by 861were back at Gibralter where the Moorish fleet defeated them. The survivors reached Navarre and captured Pamplona and ransomed its prince and in 862 one 20 of the 62 ships sailed safely back into the mouth of the Loire.
Konge i Upsala år 794
Bjørn Jernside (herjet i Italia og var sønn av Ragnar Lodbrok)
Björn Ironside (Old Norse and Icelandic : Björn Járnsíða, Swedish: Björn Järnsida) was a semi-legendary king of Sweden who would have lived sometime in the 9th century. Björn Ironside is said to have been the first ruler of a new dynasty. In the early 18th century, a barrow , on the island of Munsö was claimed by antiquarians to be Björn Järnsidas hög or Björn Ironside's grave. Hög, from the Old Norse word haugr, means barrow or mound.
History
A powerful Viking chieftain and naval commander, Bjorn and his brother Hastein conducted many (mostly successful) raids in France in a continuation of the tradition initiated by their (possibly adoptive) father Ragnar Lodbrok. In 860, Bjorn led a large Viking raid into the Mediterranean. After raiding down the Spanish coast and fighting their way through Gibraltar, Bjorn and Hastein pillaged the south of France, where his fleet over-wintered, before landing in Italy where they captured the coastal city of Piza. Proceeding inland to the town of Luna, which they believed to be Rome at the time, Bjorn found himself unable to breach the town walls. To gain entry, he sent messengers to the Bishop that he had died, had a deathbed conversion, and wished to be buried on consecrated ground within their church. He was brought into the chapel with a small honor guard, then amazed the dismayed Italian clerics by leaping from his coffin and hacking his way to the town gates, which he promptly opened letting his army in. Flush with this victory and others around the Med (including in Sicily and North Africa) he returned to the Straits of Gibraltar only to find the Saracen navy waiting. In the desperate battle which followed Bjorn lost 40 ships, largely to Greek fire launched from Saracen catapults. The remainder of his fleet managed to return to Scandinavia however, where he lived out his life as a rich man.
Annales Bertiniani
The Annales Bertiniani and the Chronicon Fontanellense tell of a Viking leader named Berno who pillaged on the Seine in the 850s, and c. 1070, William of Jumièges referred to him as Bier Costae ferreae (Ironside) who was Lotbroci regis filio (son of king Lodbrok).
Ragnarssona þáttr
Ragnarssona þáttr tells that Björn was the son of the Swedish king Ragnar Lodbrok and Aslaug, the daughter of Sigurd and Brynhild, and that he had the brothers Hvitserk, Ivar the Boneless and Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye, and the half-brothers Eric and Agnar.
Björn and his brothers left Sweden to conquer Zealand, Reidgotaland (here Jutland), Gotland, Öland and all the minor islands. They then settled at Lejre with Ivar the Boneless as their leader.
Ragnar was jealous with his sons' successes, and set Eysteinn Beli as the jarl of Sweden, telling him to protect Sweden from his sons. He then went east across the Baltic Sea to pillage and to show his own skills.
Ragnar's sons Eric and Agnar then sailed into Lake Mälaren and sent a message to king Eysteinn that they wanted him to submit to Ragnar's sons, and Eric said that he wanted Eysteinn's daughter Borghild as wife. Eysteinn said that he first wanted to consult the Swedish chieftains. The chieftains said no to the offer, and ordered an attack on the rebellious sons. A battle ensued and Eric and Agnar were overwhelmed by the Swedish forces, whereupon Agnar died and Eric was taken prisoner.
Eysteinn offered Eric as much of Uppsala öd as he wanted, and Borghild, in wergild for Agnar. Eric proclaimed that after such a defeat he wanted nothing but to choose the day of his own death. Eric asked to be impaled on spears that raised him above the dead and his wish was granted.
In Zealand, Aslaug and her sons Björn and Hvitserk, who had been playing tafl, became upset and sailed to Sweden with a large army. Aslaug, calling herself Randalin rode with cavalry across the land. In a great battle they killed Eysteinn.
Ragnar was not happy that his sons had taken revenge without his help, and decided to conquer England with only two knarrs. King Ella of Northumbria defeated Ragnar and threw him into a snake pit where he died.
Björn and his brothers attacked Aella but were beaten back. Asking for peace and wergild, Ivar the Boneless tricked Aella into giving him an area large enough to build the town of York. Ivar made himself popular in England and asked his brothers to attack again. During the battle Ivar sided with his brothers and so did many of the English chieftains with their people, in loyalty to Ivar. Ella was taken captive and in revenge they carved blood eagle on him.
Later Björn and his brothers pillaged in England, Wales, France and Italy, until they came to the town Luna in Italy. When they came back to Scandinavia, they divided the kingdom so that Björn Ironside took Uppsala and Sweden.
Hervarar saga
The Hervarar saga tells that Eysteinn Beli was killed by Björn and his brothers as told in Ragnar Lodbrok's saga, and they conquered all of Sweden. When Ragnar died Björn Ironside inherited Sweden. He had two sons, Refil and Erik Björnsson, who became the next king of Sweden.
His ancestry is found in other parts of this tree. Bjorn (Ironside)'s father was Ragnar 'Lodbrock' Sigurdsson and his mother was Aslaug Sigurdsdatter. His paternal grandparents were Sigurd 'Ring' Randversson and Alfhild Gandolfsdatter; his maternal grandparents were Sigurd (Fafnisbana) Sigmundsson and Bynhild Budlasdatter.
Bjørn was one of the major Viking raiders from the mid 850s until 862. During 856-7 he was on the Seine and his name is associated with the vikings who established or took over a base on the island of Oissel where they were at last beleagured
by Charles the Bald. They managed to raise the siege after 12 weeks. Later he and Hastein made a four year cruise with 62 ships to Spain, North Africa and Italy and possibly further east. Two of their ships laden with gold, silver and prisoners
were captured by the Moors off the coast of Spain. They were next at Guadalquivar but did not prosper and some say they went upriver as far as Seville. Then through the Straits of Gibralter to Algeciras to plunder and next to the North African
shore in the Cabo Tres Forcas region where they rounded up prisoners for ransom and took a few with them who eventually wound up in Ireland. Then it was back to Spain's Murcia coast, the Balearics, southern France and sacked Narbonne and then
wintered on the island of Camargue in the Rhone delta. They raided Arles, Nimes and Valence but took a beating from the Franks and went to the Ligurian Riviera and then raided Pisa and east to Alexandria, raided Luna mistakenly thinking it was
Rome, and by 861were back at Gibralter where the Moorish fleet defeated them. The survivors reached Navarre and captured Pamplona and ransomed its prince and in 862 one 20 of the 62 ships sailed safely back into the mouth of the Loire.
The barrow of Björn Ironside (Björn Järnsidas hög) on the island of Munsö, in lake Mälaren, Sweden. The barrow is crowned by a stone containing the fragmented Uppland Rune Inscription 13.Björn Ironside (Old Norse and Icelandic: Björn Járnsíða, Swedish: Björn Järnsida) was a semi-legendary king of Sweden who would have lived sometime in the 9th century.[1] Björn Ironside is said to have been the first ruler of a new dynasty. In the early 18th century, a barrow , on the island of Munsö was claimed by antiquarians to be Björn Järnsidas hög or Björn Ironside's grave. Hög, from the Old Norse word haugr, means barrow or mound. [1]
Björn Járnsíða eller Björn Järnsida, svensk konge (ca 785-800) var en legendarisk viking fra det 8. århundre. Han var en av sønnene til Ragnar Lodbrok. Han plyndret i Italia og deltok i erobringen av Paris sammen med faren Ragnar Lodbrok.
Han fikk navnet Ironside fordi han aldri ble såret i kamp. Dette uangripeligheten ble tilskrevet hans mor Aslaug bruk av seid (en form for sjamanisme praktiseres av førkristen norrøn og andre germanske kulturer) for å gjøre ham ugjennomtrengelig for jern og stål.
Ifølge «Hervarar saga' han arvet Sverige fra sin far mens hans bror Sigurd Orm-Eye arvet resten av Skandinavia.
Dynastiet han grunnla kalles Huset Munsö av moderne historikere, fordi en lokal tradisjon hevder at han er gravlagt i Björnshögen på Husby på øya Munsö. Mange av hans dynasti skulle hete Björn.
Begge hans to sønner Refil og Erik Björnsson skulle etterfølge ham på tronen. Kilde: Howards.net
Björn 'Järnsida' blev kung över Svea och Göte rike. (Källa: En nordisk kronologi, Alf Henriksson)
Vikingarna återvände nästan varje år till Andalusien. Den största expeditionen gjordes åren 859-862, då danska vikingar som hållit till vid Seinefloden i Frankrike bröt upp och anförda av Ragnar Lodbroks söner sökte sig söderut. De var över på den marockanska sidan, som vikingarna kallade Blåland, för att ta slavar som de sålde på vägen. De for genom Gibraltar sund, som de kallade Norvasund, gjorde strandhugg i Murcia på spanska sidan, men jagades bort av den nybyggda andalusiska flottan. Enligt traditionen var det den här vikingastyrkan som efter att härjat i trakten av Mallorca plundrade städer längs dagens Riviera för att sedan inta bl.a. Pisa och, enligt legenderna, även själva Rom. Vikingarna slog alltså på slavhandel. Enligt spanska historiker, Juan Lalaguna, levererade nordborna slavar som de tagit högre upp längs kusterna i Europa, kanske från Frankrike. (Källa: Historien om Spanien, Herman Lindqvist)
Invasionen i England år 866 av de s.k. Lodbrokssönerna ledde till att stora områden i sydöstra England lades under dansk överhöghet, men ett försök att införliva även Wessex stoppades av Alfred 'den store', och danskarna tillerkändes den s.k. Danelagen. (Källa: Bra Böcker)
Grundaren av Munsöätten på Svea rikes tron. Sannolikt höglagd i Björnshögen vid Husby på Munsö.
Översatt: Ragnar Lodbrok
(175)
på Munsö. Stamfar för Munsöätten i Sverige. Levde på 785-800 talet. Björn och hövding Hastings landsteg i Nordafrika och på Mallorca, och härjade även på Italiens nordkust och intog Pisa.
