The 'semi-legendary kings of Sweden' are the long line of
Swedish kings who preceded
Eric the Victorious, according to sources such as the Norse
Sagas,
Beowulf,
Rimbert,
Adam of Bremen and
Saxo Grammaticus, but who are of disputed historicity, due to the fact that many of them appear in more or less unreliable sources. They are called ''sagokungar'' in Swedish, a name that intentionally has the double meanings "fairy tale kings" and "
Saga kings". Many belong to the
House of Ynglings/Scylfings, others belong to the House of
Ragnar Lodbrok and the house of Skjöldung (
Scylding).
==
House of Ynglings/
Scylfings==
These kings belonged to an ancient dynasty mentioned in both the
Norse sagas and in ''
Beowulf''. The preceding monarchs are mythical in character and have been given a separate section in
mythical kings of Sweden. The kings mentioned in this article are more credible as some of them appear in several independent sources.
★ (continued from
Mythical kings of Sweden)
★ Egil (
Ongentheow) (late 5th c. - early 6th c.)
★ Ottar (
Ohthere) (early 6th c.)
★ Ale (
Onela) (early 6th c.)
★ Adils (
Eadgils) (ca 530-ca 575)
★
Östen (late 6th c.)
★
Sölve (late 6th c.)
★
Ingvar (late 6th c.)
★
Anund (early 7th c.)
★
Ingjald (mid 7th c.)
House of Ivar Vidfamne
These are kings who succeeded the Yngling dynasty and who were part of the legends of Harald Hildetand and Ragnar Lodbrok. Björn Ironside should be included here, but he is considered to be the founder of the next dynasty. According to the Danish historian
Saxo Grammaticus,
Sigurd Ring belonged to the Ynglings and he was the son of
Ingjald. The sagas, on the other hand, give his father as
Randver, the son of
Ráðbarðr, King of
GarðarÃki.
★
Ivar Vidfamne (ca 655-ca 695)
★
Harald Hildetand (ca 705-750)
★
Sigurd Ring (ca 750 (sole ruler)-ca 770)
★
Ragnar Lodbrok (ca 770-ca 785)
★
Östen Beli (late 8th c.)
==
House of Munsö==
There are some differences between the sources, but they are unlikely to be due to the existence of competing Swedish kings, since Sweden was an elective monarchy. The most logical explanation is the tradition of co-rulership where two brothers were elected kings at the same time. The sources only seem to mention the details when there was civil war (
Björn at Hauge and
Anund Uppsale) or problems of succession (
Eric the Victorious,
Olof (II) Björnsson and
Styrbjörn Starke). The names within parentheses are kings that are not mentioned in the recital of Swedish kings in
Hervarar saga.
★
Björn Ironside (late 8th c. - early 9th c.)
★
Erik Björnsson, perhaps ruling with his brother
Refil (early 9th c.)
★
Erik Refilsson (early 9th c.)
★
Björn at Hauge or Björn på Håga (ca 829-ca 831) and
Anund Uppsale.
★ (
Olof, mid 9th c., ruled
854)
★
Erik Anundsson (
Erik Emundsson or
Erik Weatherhat?, d.
882)
★ (
Ring)
★ (
Erik Ringsson)
★ (
Emund Eriksson, mid 10th c.)
★
Björn (III) Eriksson (second half of the 10th c.)
★
Eric the Victorious (970?-995) and
Olof (II) Björnsson (second half of the 10th c.)
The line of Swedish kings is continued in
List of Swedish monarchs
==
See also==
★
Hrothgar
★
Scyld