Sölve was a sea-king who conquered Sweden by burning the Swedish king

Östen Eysteinn (Swedish: Östen; died ca 600) was the son of Eadgils and Yrsa of Saxony. He was the father of Ingvar. The Eysteinn tumulus ''(Östens hög)'' in Västerås near Östanbro has been linked to King Eysteinn by some popular historians. The ...

to death inside his

hall In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the gr ...

. The ''

Heimskringla ''Heimskringla'' () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorre Sturlason (1178/79–1241) 1230. The name ''Heimskringla'' was first used in the 17th century, derive ...

'' relates that he was the son of

Högne ''For other people named Högne, see Haguna.'' Högne was a king of Östergötland who appears in sources of Norse mythology. ''Heimskringla'' Snorri Sturluson wrote that he was the king of Östergötland and that he had a son named Hildur a ...

Nærøy Nærøy () is a former municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2020 when it joined Nærøysund Municipality. It was part of the Namdalen region. Norway's smallest town, Kolvereid, ...

, and that he had his home in

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

(however, according to the older source ''

Historia Norwegiae Historia may refer to: * Historia, the local version of the History channel in Spain and Portugal * Historia (TV channel), a Canadian French language specialty channel * Historia (newspaper), a French monthly newspaper devoted to History topics * ...

'', he was Geatish). He pillaged in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and fr ...

and at night they made shore in the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to des ...

of Lofond/Lovund (perhaps

Lovön Lovön is an island in the Swedish Lake Mälaren in Ekerö Municipality of Stockholm County. It was a municipality of its own until 1952, when it was joined with Ekerö Municipality. Lovön's greatest attraction is Drottningholm Palace and its m ...

or the

Lagunda Hundred A hundred is a geographic division formerly used in northern Germanic countries and related colonies, which historically was used to divide a larger region into smaller administrative divisions. The equivalent term in Swedish is (in Uppland als ...

) where they surrounded a house and set it on fire killing everybody inside. In the house there was a feast where the Swedish king

was invited. Then Sölve and his men arrived in Sigtuna (

Old Sigtuna Signhildsberg (historically Fornsigtuna, where ''forn'' means ''ancient'', Old Sigtuna, ''Sithun'', ''Signesberg'') is a manor that formerly was a royal estate (Uppsala öd), located in the parish of Håtuna approximately west of the modern tow ...

) and declared that the Swedes had to accept him as king. The Swedes refused and fought Sölve for eleven days until they lost. Sölve then ruled Sweden until the Swedes rebelled and killed him. ''Historia Norwegiae'' only relates that the Geats burnt Östen and his people to death inside his house. Sölvi also appears in '' Half's saga'', of which there is a version from the year 1300. This saga relates that Sölvi was the son of Högne the rich of

''fyrir Naumundalsminni'' 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 t ...

and that he was the brother of Hild the Slender. Sölvi's brother-in-law, Hjorleiv, was the king of

Hordaland Hordaland () was a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland was the third largest county, after Akershus and Oslo, by population. The county government was the Hordaland County Municipal ...

and

Rogaland Rogaland () is a county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Vestfold og Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. In 2020, it had a population of 479,892. The admin ...

and Hjorleiv killed Hreidar, the king of

Zealand Zealand ( da, Sjælland ) at 7,031 km2 is the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 January 2020. It is th ...

. Then Hjorleiv put Sölvi as the jarl of Zealand. Later in the saga, Sölvi is no longer the jarl of Zealand, but the king of Sweden. Hjorleiv had a son named Half (after whom the saga is named), and after the Norwegian king Asmund had killed Half, a couple of his champions go to Sweden and king Sölvi (''til svíþjóðar ; fóru þeir ... á fund Sölva konungs'') (see also Gard Agdi). Sölvi is also mentioned in a few other sources, but none of them relate of his Danish and Swedish dominions. He was succeeded by

Ingvar Yngvar Harra (or Ingvar; Proto-Norse ''*Ingu-Hariz''; non, Yngvarr ; d. early 7th century) was the son of Östen and reclaimed the Swedish throne for the House of Yngling after the Swedes had rebelled against Sölvi. He is reported to have f ...

of the Swedish royal dynasty, the

House of Yngling The Ynglings were a dynasty of kings, first in Sweden and later in Norway, primarily attested through the poem '' Ynglingatal''. The dynasty also appears as Scylfings (Old Norse ''Skilfingar'') in ''Beowulf''. When ''Beowulf'' and ''Ynglingatal'' ...

References

Primary sources

* ''

Ynglingatal ''Ynglingatal'' or ''Ynglinga tal'' (Old Norse: 'Enumeration of the Ynglingar') is a Skaldic poem cited by Snorri Sturluson in the ''Ynglinga saga'', the first saga of Snorri's ''Heimskringla''. Þjóðólfr of Hvinir (Thjodolf), who was a poet ...

'' * ''

Ynglinga saga ''Ynglinga saga'' ( ) is a Kings' saga, originally written in Old Norse by the Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson about 1225. It is the first section of his ''Heimskringla''. It was first translated into English and published in 184 ...

'' (part of the ''

'') {{DEFAULTSORT:Solve Viking warriors Semi-legendary kings of Sweden 7th-century rulers in Europe