Eiríkr Hákonarson
[3] On one occasion when Eric was eleven or twelve years old he and his foster father had harboured their ship right next to earl Hákon.
[4] The sagas say that after killing Skopti, Eric sailed south to Denmark where he was received by king Harald Bluetooth.
After a winter's stay in Denmark, Harald granted Eric earldom over Romerike and Vingulmark - areas in the south of Norway long under Danish influence.
Hákon Sigurðarson was a strong believer in the Old Norse gods, and when King Harald Bluetooth attempted to force Christianity upon him, Haakon broke his allegiance to Denmark.
Harrying the lands of King Vladimir I of Kiev, Eric looted and burned down the town of Staraya Ladoga (Old Norse: Aldeigja).
There are no written continental sources to confirm or refute this but in the 1980s, Soviet archaeologists unearthed evidence which showed a burning of Ladoga in the late 10th century.
The Norwegian king had with him seventy-one vessels, but part of them belonged to an associate, Jarl Sigvaldi, a chief of the Jomsvikings, who was an agent of his enemies, and who deserted him.
Olaf's own ships went past the anchorage of Eric and his allies in a long column without order, as no attack was expected.
Norse writers, who are the main authorities, gave all the credit to the Norwegians, and according to them all the intelligence of Olaf's enemies, and most of their valour, were to be found in Eric.
Eric captured Olaf's ship, the Long Serpent, and steered it from the battle, an event dwelled upon by his court poet Halldórr ókristni.
After the battle of Svolder, together with his brother Sveinn Hákonarson, Eric became grand earl of Norway under Sweyn Forkbeard from 1000 to 1012.
Eric and Sveinn consolidated their rule by marrying their sister Bergljót to Einarr Þambarskelfir, gaining a valuable advisor and ally.
According to Grettis saga, Eric forbade duelling by law and exiled berserks shortly before his expedition to England.
Judging from Þórðr Kolbeinsson's Eiríksdrápa their fleets met off the English coast (in 1015) but the chronology of the various sources is difficult to reconcile and some scholars prefer placing their meeting in 1014 in Denmark.
He divided the kingdom into four parts; Wessex he kept for himself, he gave Northumbria to Eric, East Anglia to Thorkell the Tall, and Mercia to Eadric Streona.
His earlship is primarily notable in that it is never recorded that he ever fought with the Scots or the Britons of Strathclyde, who were usually constantly threatening Northumbria.
[18] Oddr Snorrason's Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar has a more elaborate version of the story[19] where Eric replaces an image of Thor on the prow of his ship with a Christian cross.
Instituting freedom of religion was also a shrewd political move after Óláfr Tryggvason's violent missionary activity.
According to Historia Norwegiae and Ágrip, Eiríkr actively worked to uproot Christianity in Norway[22] but this is not corroborated by other sources.
The most important are the 11th-century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the Encomium Emmae but Eric is also mentioned by the 12th-century historians Florence of Worcester, William of Malmesbury and Henry of Huntingdon.
A significant amount of poetry by Eric's skalds is preserved in the Kings' Sagas and represents contemporary evidence.
Other skalds known to have composed on Eric are Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld, Gunnlaugr ormstunga, Hrafn Önundarson, Skúli Þorsteinsson and Þórðr Sjáreksson.
