Epilogue:

The Descendents

of Angantyr

 

15. The Ancestry of the Danish and Swedish Kings

Angantyr was king over Reidgotaland for many years. He was powerful and a great warrior, and from him are descended lines of kings. His son was Heidrek Wolfhide, who succeeded him and ruled long in Reidgotaland. He had a daughter called Hild. She was the mother of Halfdan Snjalli, father of Ivar the Wide-Grip.

Ivar the Wide-Grip came with his army to Sweden, as is told in the Sagas of the Kings. And King Ingjald the Bad of Sweden, Ingjald Illradi, took fright at the invaders and burnt himself with all his household inside his palace at Raening. Ivar the Wide-Grip then took control of the whole of Sweden. He also won Denmark, Kurland, Germany and Estonia and all the eastern lands as far as Russia. He also ruled western Germany and won part of England called Northumbria. Ivar then conquered all Denmark, and afterwards set Valdar over it as king and gave him his daughter Alfhild in marriage. Their sons were Harald Wartooth and Randver, who fell in England. When Valdar died in Denmark, Randver took Denmark and made himself king. And Harald Wartooth assumed the title of king in Gautland, and afterwards took control of all the aforenamed countries that Ivar the Wide-Grip had owned. King Randver got Asa, daughter of King Harald Redbeard, from Norway in the north. Their son was Sigurd Ring. King Randver died suddenly and Sigurd Ring took the kingship in Denmark. He fought with King Harald Wartooth at Bravellir Plains in eastern Gautland, and there fell King Harald and great host of warriors with him. This battle, along with the one Angantyr and his brother fought on Dun Heath, have come to be regarded as the most famous battles all in the old sagas, and the ones most renowned for loss of life. King Sigurd ruled Denmark till his death, and was succeeded by his son: Ragnar Lodbrok, Hairy-Trousers.

The son of Harald Wartooth was called Eystein the Bad. He took Sweden after his father and ruled it till the sons of Ragnar killed him, as is told in his saga. The sons of King Ragnar conquered Sweden, and after Ragnar's death, his son Bjorn Ironside took Sweden, and Sigurd got Denmark, Whiteshirt the Baltic states, and Ivar Boneless took England. The sons of Bjorn Ironside were Eirik and Refil. Refil was a warlord and a sea-king, and Eirik ruled Sweden after his father and lived but a little time. Then Refil's son Eirik took the throne. He was a great warrior and a mighty king. The sons of Eirik Bjorn's-son were called Uppsala Onund and King Bjorn. Then once again Sweden came to be divided between brothers. And Onund and Bjorn took the kingdom after the death of Eirik Refilsson. King Bjorn founded the town of Haug - he was called Bjorn of Haug. The poet Bragi was at his court. Onund was succeeded at Uppsala by his son Eirik - he was a powerful king. In his days, Harald Finehair rose to power in Norway, the first of his family to be sole ruler. Bjorn was the son of King Eirik at Uppsala. He took the throne after his father and ruled for many years. Bjorn's sons were Eirik the Victorious and Olaf. They took the country and the kingship after the death of Bjorn. Olaf was the father of Styrbjorn the Strong. In their day, King Harald Finehair died. Styrbjorn fought with King Eirik, his father's brother, at the Plains of Fyris, and there fell Styrbjorn. After that, Eirik ruled Sweden till his death. He married Sigrid the Proud. They had a son called Olaf who the Swedes made king after Eirik. He was still a child and the Swedes carried him along with them [on a blanket], so they called him King Blanket - and later Swedish Olaf. He was king a long time, and very powerful. He was the first of the Swedish kings to become a Christian, and in his day the Swedes were baptised. Onund was the son of King Olaf the Swede and took the kingship after him and died of illness. It was in his time that Saint Olaf fell at Stiklastadir. The second son of Swedish Olaf was Eymund, who took the kingship after his brother. In his day the Swedes relapsed from Christianity. Eymund was king for a short time.

16. Of King Ingi Steinkelsson

There was a powerful high-born man in Sweden called Steinkel. His mother was Astrid, the daughter of Njal Finnson the Squinter from Halogaland, and his father was Rognvald the Old. First Steinkel was a jarl in Sweden but after Eymund's death the Swedes made him king. So the kingship passed out of the ancient dynasty of the early Swedish kings. Steinkel was a great leader. He married the daughter of King Eymund. He died of sickness in Sweden around the same time that King Harald fell in England.

Steinkel's son was Ingi, who the Swedes made king next after Hakon. Ingi ruled long and was popular. He was a good Chistian. He banned sacrifices and ordered all the people to become Christian, but the Swedes had great faith in the heathen gods and held to the old ways. King Ingi took to wife a woman called Maer. Her brother was called Svein. King Ingi thought of no man as highly as Svein and he was the most powerful man in Sweden. To the Swedes it seemed that King Ingi had broken the law of the land, since he objected to those things which Steinkel had allowed. At one meeting which the Swedes had with King Ingi they gave him two choices: to hold to the old law, or to let go the kingship. Then King Ingi spoke and declared that he would not let them abandon the true religion. Then the Swedes roared and pelted him with stones and drove him from the law-thing.

Svein, the king's brother-in-law, was afterwards at the thing. He offered to perform a sacrifice for the Swedes if they gave him the kingship. To that they all agreed: Svein was accepted as king over all the Swedish nation. Then there was a horse led up to the thing and sliced up and shared out for eating, and the sacrifice-tree was reddened with the blood. All the Swedes cast off Christianity and took to sacrificing, and they drove King Ingi away and he went to West Gautland. Blot-Svein, Sacrifice Svein, as he was known, was king of the Swedes for three winters.

King Ingi travelled with his bodyguard and a small detachment of troops. He rode around through Smaland and into East Gautland and so to Sweden. He rode both day and night and took Svein by surprise early one morning. They took the house and set light to it, burning the troops inside. There was a land-owner called Thjof who was burnt in there; he had been a follower of Svein. Blot-Svein went out and was immediately killed. Thus Ingi took the kingship over the Swedes and re-established Christianity in Sweden and ruled the kingdom till his death, and he died of sickness.

Hallstein was the son of King Steinkel, brother of King Ingi, and was king alongside his brother. The sons of Hallstein were Philippus and Ingi, who took the kingship of Sweden after King Ingi the Old. Philippus married Ingigerd, daughter of King Harald Sigurdarson. He was king for a short time.