Eric of Good Harvests
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Eric of Good Harvests or Eirik Arsale (Swedish: Erik Årsäll, Old Norse: Eiríkr hinn ársæli) was a semi-historical king of Sweden during the last decades of the 11th century and the son of the pagan Swedish king Blot-Sweyn[1]. Like his father before him, Eric administered the blóts at the temple at Uppsala[1]. However, Eric does not appear in any Swedish or Danish primary sources[2].
The 13th century historian Snorri Sturlusson wrote in the Heimskringla that Blót-Sweyn and Eric had renounced Christianity and still ruled a largely pagan Sweden:
| At that time there were many people all around in the Swedish dominions who were heathens, and many were bad Christians; for there were some of the kings who renounced Christianity, and continued heathen sacrifices, as Blotsvein, and afterwards Eirik Arsale, had done.[3] |
Eric was the contemporary of Inge I of Sweden[1], and this suggests that Eric was the last high priest (goði) of the Temple at Uppsala, and that he was killed or deposed by Ingold I.
Eric is mentioned by a plausible source as the father of Sverker the Elder[1][2], which suggests that his true name was either Kol[1][2][4] or Cornube[5]. Eric Årsäll would then be a description of him as a "king during whose reign there were good harvests"[6].
| Preceded by: Blot-Sweyn |
King of Sweden | Succeeded by: Ingold I |
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c d e Erik, an article in Nordisk familjebok
- ^ a b c Svenska kyrkans historia (1838)
- ^ Saga of Sigurd the Crusader and His Brothers Eystein and Olaf (c. 1225).
- ^ The name of Sverker the Elder's father according to Skáldatal (c. 1300).
- ^ The name of Sverker the Elder's father according to the Westrogothic law (c. 1250).
- ^ Steinsland, Gro, Den hellige kongen, Oslo 2000. side 54 ISBN 82-530-2227-1
