Björn at Haugi ("Björn at the Barrow" from the Old Norse word ''haugr'' meaning mound), Björn på Håga, Björn II or Bern was, according to '' Hervarar saga'', a Swedish king and the son of

Erik Björnsson Erik Björnsson was supposedly one of the sons of Björn Ironside and a legendary king of Sweden of the House of Munsö The House of Munsö (), also called the House of Björn Ironside (Swedish: ), the House of Uppsala (Swedish: ) or simply the O ...

, and Björn ruled together in

diarchy Diarchy (from ancient Greek, Greek , ''di-'', "double", and , ''-arkhía'', "ruled"),Occasionally misspelled ''dyarchy'', as in the ''Encyclopaedia Britannica'' article on the colonial British institution duarchy, or duumvirate (from Latin ', ...

with his brother

Anund Uppsale Anund Uppsale or Anoundus, 'Anund of Uppsala', (Old Norse: ''Önundr Uppsali''), a son of Erik Björnsson of the House of Munsö, ruled Sweden together with his brother Björn at Haugi, according to Hervarar saga. He is called ''Uppsale'' beca ...

. Björn at Haugi is sometimes identified with the historically attested Björn, a local Swedish ruler mentioned in the 9th-century '' Vita Ansgarii'' by

Rimbert Saint Rimbert (or Rembert) (''c.'' 830 - 11 June 888 in Bremen) was archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen, in the northern part of the Kingdom of East Frankia from 865 until his death in 888. He most famously wrote the hagiography about the life Ansgar, t ...

The account of the ''Hervarar saga''

The Hervarar saga is an

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

ic work from the 13th century. At the end of a saga, a short chronicle of the Swedish kings from

Ivar the Wide-Fathoming Ivar Vidfamne (or ''Ívarr inn víðfaðmi''; English exonym ''Ivar Widefathom''; Danish ''Ivar Vidfadme'' – in Norwegian and Danish the form ''Ivar Vidfavne'' is sometimes used as an alternative form) was a semi-legendary king of Sweden, who ...

to Philip (d. 1118) has been appended, where Björn at Haugi is mentioned: This account dates king Björn to the first half of the 9th century, as his nephew

Eric Anundsson Eric Anundsson or Eymundsson was a semi-legendary Swedish king who supposedly ruled during the 9th century. The Norse sagas describe him as successful in extending his realm over the Baltic Sea, but unsuccessful in his attempts of westward expansi ...

was the contemporary of Harald Fairhair. Jónsson, Finnur (1890).
Om skjaldepoesien og de ældste skjalde
, in Kock, Axel (Ed.). ''Arkiv för nordisk filologi, sjätte bandet. Ny följd: andra bandet.'' C.W.K. Gleerups förlag, Lund. p. 144. ''

Landnámabók (, "Book of Settlements"), often shortened to , is a medieval Icelandic written work which describes in considerable detail the settlement () of Iceland by the Norse in the 9th and 10th centuries CE. is divided into five parts and ove ...

'' mentions a Swede named Þórðr knappr who was one of the first settlers in

and whose father was called Björn at Haugi. Moreover, Björn and his court skald Bragi the Old are mentioned also in ''

Skáldatal ''Skáldatal'' (''Catalogue of Poets'') is a short prose work in Old Norse. It is preserved in two manuscripts: DG 11, or ''Codex Uppsaliensis'', which is one of the four main manuscripts of the ''Prose Edda'' (first quarter of the 14th century), an ...

'', where a second court skald also is mentioned,

Erpr lútandi Erpr lútandi was according to ''Skáldatal'' the court skald of the Swedish kings Eysteinn Beli and Björn at Haugi. There are no extant poems by Erpr. ''Skáldatal'' tells that Erpr committed the crime of killing in a sanctuary. He avoided the d ...

. Jónsson, Finnur (1890).
Om skjaldepoesien og de ældste skjalde
, in Kock, Axel (Ed.). ''Arkiv för nordisk filologi, sjätte bandet. Ny följd: andra bandet.'' C.W.K. Gleerups förlag, Lund. p. 143. The Icelandic scholar Jón Jóhannesson has argued that Björn at Haugi may in fact have been a petty ruler in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

around the late 9th century, and is consequently ''not'', as often hypothesized in older history writings, the same person as the Swedish king ''Bern'' (Björn) in the

Vita Ansgari The ''Vita Ansgarii'', also known as the ''Vita Anskarii'', is the hagiography of saint Ansgar, written by Rimbert, his successor as archbishop in the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen. The ''Vita'' is an important source not only in detailing Ansga ...

i who ruled around 829-830. The more original version of the

seems to have contained two passages which associate Björn with persons from

Sogn Sogn is a traditional district in Western Norway ''(Vestlandet)''. It is located in the county of Vestland, surrounding the Sognefjord, the largest/longest fjord in Norway. The district of Sogn consists of the municipalities of Aurland, Balestr ...

and Halogaland. Though evidence is not conclusive, Jóhannesson suggests that later tradition moved Björn from Norway (possibly Trondelag) to Svithiod due to certain legendary associations, or even since he had Swedish ancestry. The Icelanders may also have known about the Swedish Björn via the chronicle of

Adam of Bremen Adam of Bremen ( la, Adamus Bremensis; german: Adam von Bremen) (before 1050 – 12 October 1081/1085) was a German medieval chronicler. He lived and worked in the second half of the eleventh century. Adam is most famous for his chronicle ''Gesta ...

(c. 1075), and assimilated him with the king in ''Skáldatal'' and ''Landnámabók''.Jóhannesson, Jón (1966-69) "Bjorn at Haugi", ''Saga-Book of the Viking Society'' 17, p. 293-30

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Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bjorn At Haugi Semi-legendary kings of Sweden 9th-century rulers in Europe House of Munsö 9th-century Swedish people Germanic pagans

The account of the ''Hervarar saga''

See also

Notes and references