Battle of Lena

Eric's forces won a crushing victory; however, in July 1210, Sverker returned with a second army and was killed in the Battle of Gestilren.

Munch has questioned this, considering it unlikely that Eric's ally, Jarl Håkon Galen, would have had any troops to spare during the ongoing Norwegian civil wars.

The Icelandic Flateyarbók states that "Junker Eric slew Ebbe Sunesen", possibly implying a personal meeting on the battlefield.

[7] A Danish folksong emphasizes the deplorable internal Swedish conditions, as relatives fought each other: "It was ill to stand in the fighting / As the son let his father down".

[8] A song alleges that no more than 55 men escaped the bloodbath and made it back to Denmark: The Swedes won, according to legend, aided by Odin.

[10] The Norwegian Saga of Inge Bårdsson relates that a horseman arrived to the farmstead of a smith at Nesje on 26 January, and stayed overnight.

The next morning the stranger baffled the smith through a display of supernatural powers, then said: "I have been to the north, and stayed in Norway for a long time, but I will now move over to Sweden."

Battle of Lena memorial
Battle of Lena memorial