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Alaric and Eric

Alaric and Eric fighting with their horse bridles.

 Also see Alaric for the Gothic kings.

Alaric and Eric (Old Norse  Alrekr and  Eir€kr ), were

two legendary kings of Sweden.

In the Ynglinga saga

According to the Ynglinga saga, Alaric and Eric were

sons and heirs of the previous king Agni by his wife

Skj€lf. They shared the kingship. They were mighty

both in war and sport, but were especially skillful

horsmen and vied with one another about their

horsemanship and their horses.

One day they rode off from their retinue and did notreturn. They were found dead with their heads battered

but no weapons with them save the bridle bits of their horses. Accordingly it was believed that they had quarreled

and come to blows and had slain each other with their bridle bits. They were succeeded by Alaric's sons Yngvi and

Alf.

However, in other sources, only Alaric died, and in the piece of Ynglingatal quoted by Snorri Sturluson it is only

Alaric who dies explicitly. Eric's death seems to be a misunderstanding on Snorri's part due to an influence from the

succeeding kings (see also the other sources below):

Fell Alrekr,

•ar er Eir‚kibrƒ„ur v€pn

at bana ur„u,

ok hnakkmars

me„ h…fu„fetlum

Dags fr‚endr

of drepask kv€„u;

fr€-at ma„r €„r

eykja grei„i

Freys afspring

‚ folk hafa.[1][2]

Alrek fell, by Eric slain,

Eric's life-blood dyed the plain,Brother fell by brother's hand;

And they tell it in the land,

That they worked the wicked deed

With the sharp bits that guide the steed.

Shall it be said of Frey's brave sons,

The kingly race, the noble ones,

That they have fought in deadly battle

With the head-gear of their cattle?[3][4]

Ynglingatal then gives Yngvi and Alf as Alrek's and Eir‚k's successors.

The Historia Norwegi€ presents a Latin summary of Ynglingatal, older than Snorri's quotation:

Qui [Dagr] genuit Alrik; hunc frater suus Erikr freno percussit

ad mortem. Alricr autem genuit Hogna [...][5]

This man [Dag] engendered Alrek, who was beaten to death with a bridle

by his brother, Eirik. Alrek was father to Agne, [...][6]

 Hogna is an error for Agne.[5] Unlike Ynglingatal,  Historia Norwegi€ gives Dagr as Alrekr's predecessor. Instead

Alrekr precedes Agne and Agne is succeeded by Yngvi (incorrectly called  Ingialdr ). The even earlier source

 •slendingab‚k cites the line of descent in Ynglingatal and it gives the same line of succession as  Historia Norwegi€:

 xi Dagr. xii Alrekr. xiii Agni. xiiii Yngvi.[7]

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In Gautreks saga and Hr•lfs saga Gautrekssonar

Gautreks saga also makes Alrek and Eir‚k sons of Agni by Skj€lf and co-kings and it was to them that the warrior

Starkad fled after his slaying of King Vikar. Starkad served them first as a companions on their viking expeditions

and then, after Alrek and Eir‚k had settled down, went on further Viking expeditions alone.

But King Alrek had a short life, for Eir‚k struck Alrek dead with a bridle when they were out to train their horses and

then ruled as sole ruler over Sweden. This version says that Eir‚k reigned for a long time as told in  Hr‚lfs sagaGautrekssonar (Saga of Hr‚lf son of Gautrek ).

This second saga introduces Thornbj…rg, the daughter of King Eir‚k and Queen Ingigerd, who was a skillful

shieldmaiden and ruled over part of the kingdom. Thornbj…rg even called herself King Thorberg. But eventually she

fell in love with Hrƒlf son of Gautrek and agreed to marry him, at which point she gave up her weapons to her father

King Eir‚k and took up embroidery.

In Gesta Danorum

Saxo Grammaticus in Book 5 of his Gesta Danorum introduces Ericus Desertus, that is Erik the Eloquent, son of a

champion named Regnerus (Ragnar), both Norwegians in the service of King Gƒtarus (G…tar) of Norway, a monarchotherwise unknown. This Erik is likely to be the Eir‚k the Eloquent or Eir‚kr the Wise in Speech mentioned by Snorri

Sturluson in the Sk„ldskaparm„l as being of Ylfing lineage. But he otherwise has left no clear record in surviving

Norse literature.

Saxo makes up for it by telling at greath length of Erik's amusing deeds. He relates how Erik outwitted all foes with

clever tricks and became the counselor of Frƒ„i son of Fridleif, king of Denmark. Erik's expeditions on Frƒ„i's behalf 

always went well because of Erik's cunning and way with words. Erik finally married Frƒ„i's sister Gunvara and

Erik's elder half-brother Rollerus (Roller) was made king of Norway.

Saxo then brings in a king of the Swedes named Alricus (Alrik) who corresponds to Alrek of the Norse tradition.

Alrik was at war with Gestiblindus king of the Gautar (Geats) and Gestiblindus now sought Frƒ„i's aid. (In the Norse

 Hervarar saga Gestumblindi is the name assumed by the disguised Odin and it is possible that this Gestiblindus is

also Odin in disguise.)

Erik and Skalk the Scanian pursued the war and slew Alrik's son Gunthiovus (Old Norse Gunn…j‚fr ) leader of the

men of Vermland and Solongs. Then occurred a parley and secret interview between Alrik and Erik in which Alrik

attempted to win Erik over to his cause. When this failed, Alrik asked that the war be settled by a single combat

between himself and Gestiblindus. Erik refused the offer because of Gestiblind's unfitness and advanced years but

made a counter-offer to fight such a duel with Alrik himself if Alrik were willing. The fight occurred straightaway.

Alrik was slain and Erik seemed to be fatally wounded so that a report actually came to King Frƒ„i that Erik was

dead. Indeed Erik was long in recovering. However Frƒ„i was disabused when Erik himself returned announcing that

Frƒ„i was now also king of Sweden, V†rmland, Helsingland, and Soleyar. Frƒ„i then gave all those lands to Erik torule directly and also gave Erik the two Laplands, Finland, and Estonia as dependencies paying annual tribute.

Saxo explains that this Erik was the first Swedish king to be called Erik but that after him it became a very common

name among the Swedish kings. He also writes that Erik met and helped the champion Arngrim, an account that

agrees with Hervarar saga, where Arngrim's sons meet Erik's successor Yngvi (see e.g. Angantyr and Hjalmar).

That the duel occurred at the end of a "secret interview" suggests that Alrik and Erik were alone when they fought

 just as were their counterparts in the Norse accounts. That Erik was believed to have died suggests knowledge of the

Ynglinga saga version in which both fighters met their death. There is no mention of horse bridles. But Erik is not

elsewhere a great duelist or champion but instead a trickster who wins through stratagems and deceiving words so

that is it likely that Saxo or his source passed over a stratagem in which a horse bridle played a part.

Saxo also mentions Starkad's stay in Sweden in Book 6 in a summary of Starkad's life up to that point in his history.

But Saxo does not indicate what king or kings then ruled Sweden, saying only:

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... he went into the land of the Swedes, where he lived at leisure for seven years' space with the sons of 

Fr‡.

Fr‡ is of course the god Frey, the ancestor of the Swedish dynasty.

At the beginning of Book 6, Saxo notes that Erik died of a disease and was succeeded by his son Haldanus

(Halfdan). Halfdan was later slain by rivals for the throne but the warrior Starkad established Halfdans' heir Siward

as the new king. Siward's daughter Signe was married to King Harald of Denmark who was co-king his brotherFrƒ„i. Later Harald's son Halfdan, now king of Denmark, slew Siward in war. But Siward's grandson Erik, the son of 

Halfdan's uncle Frƒ„i by Signe, the direct heir to the throne, now rose up against Halfdan. After a long war this

second Erik was captured by Haldfan and left in the woods in chains to be devoured by beasts. With him, it seems,

the Swedish line of Erik the Eloquent, as set forth by Saxo, came to an end.

Commentary

It is not clear whether or not the accounts in the Gesta Danorum and the accounts in the Ynglinga saga' tales of a

Danish king named Halfdan who became king of Sweden are at all related. See Halfdan.

Traditions of twin brothers connected with horses appear are a commonplace in Indo-European cultures as arefoundation legends about two twin brothers, one of whom kills the other. It is possible that Alrek and Eirik are

reflexes of such traditions.

Saxo's identification of the legendary Eir‚k the Eloquent with the legendary Swedish king Eir‚k probably originated

as a flourish by a pro-Danish or pro-Norwegian story teller.

Notes

[1] Ynglinga saga at Norrƒne Tekster og Kvad  (http:/   /  www. heimskringla. no/  original/  heimskringla/  ynglingasaga. php)

[2] A second online presentation of Ynglingatal (http:/   /  www. home. no/  norron-mytologi/  sgndok/  kvad/  yngli.  htm)

[3] Laing's translation at the Internet Sacred Text Archive (http:/   /  www. sacred-texts. com/  neu/  heim/  02ynglga. htm)

[4] Laing's translation at Northvegr (http:/  

 /  

www. 

northvegr. 

org/  

lore/  

heim/  

001_05. 

php)[5] Storm, Gustav (editor) (1880). Monumenta historica Norwegi€: Latinske kildeskrifter til Norges historie i middelalderen, Monumenta

Historica Norwegiae (Kristiania: Br‡gger), p. 99

[6] Ekrem, Inger (editor), Lars Boje Mortensen (editor) and Peter Fisher (translator) (2003). Historia Norwegie. Museum Tusculanum Press.

ISBN 8772898135, p. 77.

[7] Gu„ni Jƒnsson's edition of ˆslendingabƒk (http:/   /  www. heimskringla. no/  original/  islendingesagaene/  islendingabok. php)

Secondary sources

Nerman, B. Det svenska rikets uppkomst . Stockholm, 1925.

Alaric and Eric

House of Yngling

Preceded byAgne

Mythological king of Sweden  Succeeded byYngvi and Alf 

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Article Sources and Contributors 4

Article Sources and ContributorsAlaric and Eric  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=573795815 Contributors: Ardric47, Berig, Dbachmann, Dorem‚tzwr, Drieakko, Dthomsen8, FinnWiki, Gravitone2,Haukurth, Hmains, Holt, Ian Pitchford, Jallan, JustAGal, Karada, KuatofKDY, Leolaursen, Martin.Budden, Michael Hardy, Mirv, Niceguyedc, Nilzern, Plrk, Rafegoldberg, Reedy, Riagu, SM,Sam Hocevar, Sardanaphalus, SergeWoodzing, Wiglaf, Wiki alf, Woohookitty, 8 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and ContributorsImage:Alrik och Erik d€da hvarandra med sina h•stbetsel by Hugo Hamilton.jpg  Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Alrik_och_Erik_d…da_hvarandra_med_sina_h†stbetsel_by_Hugo_Hamilton.jpg  License: Public Domain Contributors: Hugo Hamilton(1802 € 1871)

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