Bjorn the old man

Family tree with Emund Eriksson instead of Björn Eriksson

Björn the Old , also Björn Eriksson , was king of Sweden around 900 to 950 according to the Hervarar saga and father of Olof II. Björnsson and Erik Segersäll . Björn's historical existence is controversial. Therefore he is counted among the so-called legend kings .

background

Björn or Emund Eriksson presumably ruled over the people of Sweden from 882 to 932, according to the sagas. He was after the Hervarar saga and the saga of Harald Fairhair ( Haralds saga hárfagra ) the son of Erik. According to these reports, Erik lived in Uppsala and his son Bjorn ruled the empire for a long time. He had two sons named Erik the Victorious and Olof.

Adam von Bremen names Emund Eriksson as king instead of Björn . However, there is nothing to prevent both of them being rulers at the same time, as there was probably a system of co-rule ( dual rule ) at that time . The name Björn means bear in Swedish.

The Landnámabók of Ari Þorgilsson gives Björn next to his father Erik as King of Sweden at the time of the Icelandic conquest between 870 and 930, with his grandfather Eymund.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Lars Ulwencreutz: Ulwencreutz's the royal families in Europe. Lulu Com, 2013, ISBN 978-1-304-58135-8 , p. 96. ( books.google.de )
2. ↑ Björn the old man . In: Bernhard Meijer (Ed.): Nordisk familjebok konversationslexikon och realencyklopedi . 2nd Edition. tape 3 : Bergsvalan – Branstad . Nordisk familjeboks förlag, Stockholm 1905, Sp. 575-576 (Swedish, runeberg.org ).
3. ↑ Nora Kershaw: Stories and ballads of the far past. - 140 ( Memento from May 13, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) on home.ix.netcom.com
4. ↑ male name Björn, origin, related names and meaning. In: onomastik.com. Retrieved November 18, 2015 . 

predecessor	Office	successor
See: Swedish Kings of Legends	King of Sweden	Erik VIII.