Eysteinn (Swedish: Östen; died ca 600) was a semi-legendary king of Sweden, the son of
Eadgils. He was the father of
Ingvar. The Eysteinn tumulus ''(Östens hög)'' in
Västerås
Västerås () is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Mälaren, Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 158,653, over 100,000 mo ...
near Östanbro has been linked to King Eysteinn by some popular historians.
Eysteinn ruled Sweden at the time when
Hrólf Kraki died in
Lejre.
Snorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of th ...
It was a troubled time when many
sea kings ravaged Swedish shores. One of those kings was named
Sölve and he was from
Jutland
Jutland (; , ''Jyske Halvø'' or ''Cimbriske Halvø''; , ''Kimbrische Halbinsel'' or ''Jütische Halbinsel'') is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and part of northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). It ...
(but according to ''
Historia Norwegiae'' he was
Geatish, see below). At this time Sölve was pillaging in the
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...
. He arrived in Lofond (probably the island of
Lovön or the
Lagunda Hundred), where Eysteinn was at a feast. Sölve and his men surrounded the house and set it on fire burning everyone inside to death. Then Sölve arrived at Sigtuna (
Old Sigtuna) and ordered the Swedes to accept him as king. The Swedes refused and gathered an army that fought against Sölve and his men, but they lost after eleven days. The Swedes had to accept him as king until they rebelled and killed him.
Ynglingatal
Stanza from
Þjóðólfr of Hvinir
Þjóðólfr ór Hvini (; anglicized as Thjódólf of Hvinir or Thiodolf; fl. late 9th–early 10th c. AD), was a Norwegian skald, said to have been one of the court-poets of the Norwegian king Harald Fairhair. His name suggests that he was fro ...
's ''
Ynglingatal'':
The ''
Historia Norwegiæ'' presents a Latin summary of ''Ynglingatal'', older than Snorri's quotation (continuing after
Eadgils, called ''Adils or Athisl''):
''
Thorsteins saga VÃkingssonar'' makes Eysteinn the father of
Anund and grandfather of
Ingjald and consequently skips Ingvar's generation. It adds a second son to Eysteinn named Olaf, who was the king of
Fjordane in
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
.
See also
*
Historia Norwegiae
*
Thorsteins saga VÃkingssonar
*
Ynglinga saga
''Ynglinga saga'' ( ) is a Kings' sagas, Kings' saga, originally written in Old Norse by the Icelanders, Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson about 1225. It is the first section of his ''Heimskringla''. It was first translated into Engl ...
(part of the
Heimskringla)
*
Ynglingatal
Notes
Sources
*
{{Norse mythology
600 deaths
6th-century monarchs in Europe
European people whose existence is disputed
Semi-legendary kings of Sweden
Year of birth unknown