Björn at Haugi

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This account dates king Björn to the first half of the 9th century, as his nephew Eric Anundsson was the contemporary of Harald Fairhair [http://runeberg.org/anf/1890/0148.html Jónsson, Finnur. (1890). "Om skjaldepoesien og de ældste skjalde", in Kock, Axel (Ed.). "Arkiv för nordisk filologi, sjätte bandet. Ny följd: andra bandet." C.W.K. Gleerups förlag, Lund. p. 144.] ] . "Landnámabók" mentions a Swede named Þórðr knappr who was one of the first settlers in Iceland and whose father was called Björn at Haugi [ [http://www.northvegr.org/lore/landnamabok/020.php The relevant page of "Landnámabók" in English translation at Northvegr.] ] . Moreover, Björn and his court skald Bragi the Old are mentioned also in "Skáldatal", where a second court skald also is mentioned, Erpr lútandi [ [http://www.skaldic.arts.usyd.edu.au/db.php?table=texts&id=10723&view=verses "Skáldatal".] ] [http://runeberg.org/anf/1890/0147.html Jónsson, Finnur. (1890). "Om skjaldepoesien og de ældste skjalde", in Kock, Axel (Ed.). "Arkiv för nordisk filologi, sjätte bandet. Ny följd: andra bandet." C.W.K. Gleerups förlag, Lund. p. 143.] ] .

A confirmation on the historicity of king Björn at Haugi is found in Rimbert's (d. 888) "Vita Ansgarii", where he talks of a king Björn ("rex Bern") and says on Ansgar's voyage in 827: "Tandem ad "portum regni" ipsorum, qui Byrca dicitur, pervenerunt, ubi benigne a rege, qui Bern vocabatur, suscepti sunt". This king Björn is generally considered to be the same as Björn at Haugi [ [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Sweden The article "Sweden" in the Britannica of 1911.] ] and this as early as Langebek who lived in the mid-18th century. Some scholars have called this Bern "king of Birca", but this has no foundation in Rimbert's writings, as Rimbert writes that Ansgar went ashore in Birca, which was in king Björn's kingdom [http://runeberg.org/anf/1890/0148.html Jónsson, Finnur. (1890). "Om skjaldepoesien og de ældste skjalde", in Kock, Axel (Ed.). "Arkiv för nordisk filologi, sjätte bandet. Ny följd: andra bandet." C.W.K. Gleerups förlag, Lund. pp. 144-145.] ] . During Ansgar's visits there was also a Swedish king Anund who had been exiled but returned with Danish help [ [http://runeberg.org/nfba/0658.html The article "Anund" in "Nordisk familjebok" (1904).] ] [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/anskar.html Medieval Sourcebook: Rimbert: Life of Anskar, the Apostle of the North, 801-865, in translation by Charles. H. Robinson.] ] , and this Anoundus is the same as Björn's brother Önund, who is mentioned in "Hervarar saga".

Notes and references

s-ttl|title=Semi-legendary king of Sweden
regent1=Anund Uppsale
years=
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