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 the Elder[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 Inge the Elder.
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 Inge the Elder |
[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
