According to Hervarar saga, Refil was a son of the Swedish king Björn Ironside and the brother of its next king Erik Björnsson. He appears in Hervarar saga and in Nafnaþulur. According to these sources, Refil was a great warlord and a sea-king who would have lived in the early 9th century. It was Refil's son Erik Refilsson who inherited the Swedish throne upon Erik Björnsson's death, which suggests that Refil may not have been alive at the time.