Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (MSS D, E) 946. Cf: William of Malmesbury, Gesta regum II ch. 146: "The Northumbrians and Scots were easily brought to swear an oath of fealty to him [Eadred]". Egill Skallagrímsson, Lausavísur, ed. Margaret Clunies Ross. At Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages. saga Tryggvasonar en mesta ( Longer saga of Óláf Tryggvason), ed. Ólafur Halldórsson, Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta. Copenhagen, 1958; ed. Hèr hefr upp Sögu Ólafs konúngs Tryggvasonar. available from Saganet [ permanent dead link]; tr. John Sephton, The Saga of Olaf Tryggwason. London, 1895 (based on edition in Fornmanna sögur).

Williams, Ann. "Eadred ( d. 955)." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. September 2004. Accessed: 2 February 2009. Downham, Clare (2004). "Eric Bloodaxe – axed? The Mystery of the Last Viking King of York". Mediaeval Scandinavia. 14: 51–77. Edith Marold, " Eiríksmál". In Medieval Scandinavia. An Encyclopedia, ed. Phillip Pulsiano and Kirsten Wolf. New York: Garland, 1993. pp. 161–62. Historians have reconstructed a narrative of Eric's life and career from the scant available historical data. There is a distinction between contemporary or near contemporary sources for Eric's period as ruler of Northumbria and the entirely saga-based sources that detail the life of Eric of Norway, a chieftain who ruled the Norwegian Westland in the 930s. [1] Norse sources have identified the two as the same since the late 12th century, and while the subject is controversial, most historians have identified the two figures as the same since W. G. Collingwood's article in 1901. [2] This identification was rejected early in the 21st century by the historian Clare Downham, who has argued that later Norse writers synthesized the two Erics, possibly using English sources. [3] This argument, though respected by other historians in the area, has not produced consensus. [4] Egils saga ch. 37. The expedition is dated to the time when Eric ruled Hordaland and Fjord Province.

A further glimpse may be offered by the mid-12th-century Irish saga entitled Caithréim Chellacháin Chaisil, a text which was primarily designed to glorify the deeds of Cellachán mac Buadacháin (d. 954), king of Munster, and hence his descendants, the Clann Faílbe. In one of its poems, an "Eric, King of the Islands" ( Éiric Righ na n-Innse), meaning ruler of the Hebrides, [89] is described as having allied himself to Sitriuc mac Tuirgeis, king of Dublin. [90] Although the Caithréim is hardly a work celebrated for its accuracy as a source of history, the distant memory of an Eric who ruled the Hebrides may not be fictitious. It may be a matter of coincidence that the next Vikings known to have ruled the Hebrides were also 'sons of Harold', Gofraid mac Arailt, ri Innsi Gall (d. 989), who was succeeded by his son Ragnall, rí na n-innsi (d. 1005), [91] and probably Gofraid's brother Maccus mac Arailt, who is accorded the title "king of very many islands" ( plurimarum rex insularum). [92] Death [ edit ] Map with relevant locations. In the 19th century, a case had also been made for Harald Bluetooth King of Denmark (d. 985) as being Eric's true father. J.M. Lappenberg and Charles Plummer, for instance, identified Eric with Harald's son Hiring. [17] The only authority for this son's existence is Adam of Bremen, who in his Gesta ( c. 1070) claims to cite the otherwise unknown Gesta Anglorum for a remarkable anecdote about Hiring's foreign adventures: "Harald sent his son Hiring to England with an army. When the latter had subjugated the island, he was in the end betrayed and killed by the Northumbrians." [18] Even if Eric's rise and fall had been the inspiration for the story, the names are not identical and Harald Bluetooth's floruit does not sit well with Eric's.

Cf: blekkir brœðra 'brother-killer' in Egill Skallagrímsson, Lausavísur, stanza 22 ( Egils saga ch. 57). Collingwood, W.G. "The battle of Stainmoor in legend and history." Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian Archaeological Society series 2 no. 2 (1902): 231–41. Eyvindr Finnsson skáldaspillir, Lausavísur, ed. Russel Poole. At Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages. However, scholars today are usually less prepared to colour the sober records with details from the sagas, preferring to take the view that Eric was assassinated in exile. [104] In sum then, it looks as if Eric, expelled and heading in a north-westerly direction (possibly in search of support), was about to cross over into Cumbria, when in a bid for power, his official Osulf had him killed through the agency of Maccus. Exactly what made this a betrayal ( proditio) in the eyes of the 10th century chronicler or those of Roger of Wendover, is unclear. It is unknown whether Osulf was also behind Eric's expulsion, despite being the main beneficiary, and whether he was expected to grant Eric safe passage and perhaps an escort to guide him safely through that part of Northumbria over which he (Osulf) had jurisdiction. It is equally obscure whether Maccus ambushed his victims, or was part of the escort, betraying them ( fraudulenter) as soon as he saw the opportunity. The sources differ on the length of Eric's reign in Norway and on whether it was preceded by one of joint rule at all, although a number of them appear to agree on a total of five years ( Nóregs konungatal stanza 10, Ágrip ch. 5). Eric's period of joint rule with his father, if given at all, varies between two years ( Ágrip ch. 5) and three years ( Fagrskinna ch. 5, Heimskringla (Haraldar saga) ch. 42.). The Historia Norwegiæ notes only one year of rule and Theodoricus monachus (ch. 2) uniquely distinguishes between two years of single rule and one of joint rule with his brother.The Life of St Cathróe of Metz, written c. 1000 at the latest and therefore of near contemporary value, has information about Eric and his wife. It relates that "after keeping him for some time", the King of the Cumbrians conducted Cathróe to Loidam Civitatem, the boundary between the Normanni ("Scandinavians") and the Cumbri ("Britons"): Roger of Howden, Chronica Rogeri de Houedene, ed. William Stubbs. Chronica magistri de Houedene. 4 vols.: vol. 1. Rolls series 51. London, 1868. Sverrir Jakobsson has recently argued that the evidence on Harald Fairhair is circumspect, and he should more properly be treated as a mythological rather than a historical figure, cf. „„Erindringen om en mægtig Personlighed": Den norsk-islandske historiske tradisjon om Harald Hårfagre i et kildekritisk perspektiv", Historisk tidsskrift, 81 (2002), 213–30.