Sölve

For the ship, see HSwMS Sölve.

Sölve (Old Norse: Sǫlvi) was a sea-king who conquered Vendel-period Sweden by burning the Swedish king Eysteinn to death inside his hall.[1]

The Heimskringla states that Sölve was the son of Högne of Njardö, and that his home was located in Jutland. However, in the Historia Norwegiæ, an older source, he was instead described as a Geat.

Sölve pillaged in the Baltic Sea. One night, Sölve and his men made shore in the hundred of Lofond/Lovund (perhaps Lovön or the Lagunda Hundred), where they surrounded a house and set it on fire, killing everybody inside. In the house there was a feast that the Swedish king Eysteinn was attending. After this, Sölve and his men arrived in Sigtuna (now Signhildsberg) and declared that the Swedes had to accept him as king. The Swedes refused and fought Sölve for eleven days, resulting in a loss for the Swedes. Sölve then ruled Sweden until the Swedes eventually rebelled and killed him.[2]

Historia Norwegiae only relates that the Geats burnt Östen and his people to death inside his house.

Sölve also appears in Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka, of which there is a version from the year 1300. This saga relates that Sölve was the son of Högne, the Rich of Nærøya fyrir Naumundalsminni in Norway, and the brother of Hild the Slender. Sölve's brother-in-law, Hjorleiv, was the king of Hordaland and Rogaland. Hjorleiv killed Hreidar, the king of Zealand.[3] Then Hjorleiv put Sölve as the jarl of Zealand. Later in the saga, Sölve is no longer the jarl of Zealand, but the king of Sweden. Hjorleiv had a son named Half (after whom the saga is named), and after the Norwegian king Asmund had killed Half, a couple of his champions go to Sweden and king Sölve (til svíþjóðar; fóru þeir ... á fund Sölva konungs) (see also Gard Agdi).

Sölve is also mentioned in a few other sources, but none of them relate of his Danish and Swedish dominions.

He was succeeded by Ingvar Harra, son of Eysteinn of the Yngling (the Swedish royal dynasty).

References

  1. ^ Geijer, E.G. (1825). Svea rikes häfder (in Estonian). Palmblad. p. 508. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  2. ^ Wistrand, A.H. (1847). Sigtuna det forna och det näivarande (in Swedish). Wahlström. p. 26. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  3. ^ Stagg, F.N. (1953). The Heart of Norway: A History of the Central Provinces. Allen & Unwin. p. 7. Retrieved 6 July 2018.

Primary sources

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