King Eiríkr the Victorious
ᛉ c. 945 - c. 995 ᛦ
Eiríkr ruled Sweden from 970CE or so until his death in 992-995CE. In Sweden's darkest hour, he turned to the Allfather for aid and was rewarded with victory in battle.
Eiríkr ruled Sweden with his brother Olafr as joint kings around 970CE. When Olafr was poisoned at a feast, Eiríkr inherited the sole kingship as Olafr’s son Styrbjǫrn was too young to inherit his father’s lands and titles. About this time, Eiríkr set off on his first Danish campaign.
The kingdom of Denmark was weak under the rule of Haraldr "Bluetooth". Haraldr’s kingdom had been invaded by Otto I of Germany, and Haraldr had been given an ultimatum: he would take Christianity, or Otto would take Denmark. And so, Haraldr bent his neck to Germany slavery, and set about driving his people into apostasy to keep Otto satiated. Despite this, Otto still took half of Haraldr’s kingdom. In that power-vacuum Eiríkr set about campaigning in Denmark, but his efforts produced little results.
While he was away, his nephew Styrbjǫrn was growing increasingly violent and hostile to those around him. Eiríkr gave his nephew ships and men as an inheritance and exiled him from Sweden after he grew too quarrelsome. Styrbjǫrn took up a career as a pirate to much success for several years, leading the Jómsvikingar for a time. He eventually sought out Haraldr, Eiríkr's old enemy, breaking treaties and enlisting Haraldr's forces under threat of violence, roping them into his pirate horde. Then, Eiríkr's two foes set their sights on Sweden.
Eiríkr fought two battles against Styrbjǫrn, coming to a draw. The night before the third battle, Eiríkr journeyed to a hof of the Allfather, and offered prayer and sacrifice to him. Eiríkr gave himself up to Lord Óðin's service, asking for ten more years to live and in which to do the Allfather’s will. That night, a man in a large traveler’s hat came into camp, gave to Eiríkr a rod, and told him to cast it over the enemy while saying “Óðinn á yðr alla": “Óðinn over you all”.
And so, as the battle commenced, he did: and the rod became a spear and sailed through the air over the foe. And as Styrbjǫrn's forces advanced through the mountain valley, they were struck by blindness, and the mountains began to rumble and crash down upon them. Styrbjǫrn's forces were utterly destroyed, and the Christian Danes fled in terror. And so Eiríkr ruled in Sweden for another ten years, patronizing viking raids on Denmark and Germany, before dying peacefully in his bed as an old man. He was interred in a mound at Gamla Uppsala, alongside other great kings of his nation.
Hail King Eiríkr the Victorious!