Styrbjörn Starke Olofsson (abt. 920 - abt. 985)

Born about 0920 in Scandinavia (Sweden)

Ancestors

Descendants

Died about 0985 at about age 65 in Fyrisvallarna, Gamla Uppsala, Sverige [uncertain]

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Relationships between historical figures could have been simplified or even fabricated in the text to give the impression that succession remained within the same family….Precise chronology is also difficult to assess from the Sagas….The conclusion must be that the tight family network described in the Sagas is unlikely to be correct and that the relationships shown below should be treated with considerable caution.

Biografi

Styrbjörn Starke, förmodad död omkr 985, var enligt fornnordisk tradition och sagalitteratur son till Olof Björnsson (Erik Segersälls bror) och gift med en dotter till danske kungen Harald Blåtand. Styrbjörn nämns i samtida isländsk skaldediktning (se Þórvaldr Hjaltason).

Enligt SBL var hans föräldrar sveakungen Olof och Ingeborg, dotter till Thrond, jarl av Sula (Flateyjarbók).

Han skall troligen varit en "sjökonung", dvs en ung ädling utan land som under en period samlade rikedom och rykte utrikes för att så småningom återvända till hemlandet i syfte att usurpera tronen (vilket misslyckades).

Enligt traditionen skulle Styrbjörn varit hövding över Jomsvikingarna (Jomsborg på ön Wolin) så det skulle kunna stämma in på teorin att han var en "sjökonung".

Styrbjörn besegrade enligt sagorna Harald Blåtand och äktade hans dotter Tyra. Biträdd av Harald Blåtand tågade han mot Uppsala och mötte där sin farbror med sveahären. Efter tre dagars kamp som slutade i nederlag på Fyrisvall stupade han.

Det SBL nämner om hustru och avkomma;

Om hans hustru uppges i Fagrskinna att hon efter hans fall, mot sin vilja, bortgifts med en vendisk furste. Andra sagor uppger att hon efter att ha övergivit denne gifte sig med norske kungen Olav Tryggvason och enligt Odd Snorresson dog hon som dennes änka nio dagar efter slaget vid Svolder. Uppgiften att hon och S haft en son Torgils som blivit stamfar till det danska valdemariska kungahuset är en lärd konstruktion av den danske historikern Langebek som saknar allt stöd i vikinga- och medeltida källor.

Alltså bör "sonen" Torgils Sprakalägg vara en sentida konstruktion utan underlag i sagorna.

Biography

Styrbjörn was, according to late Norse sagas, the son of the Swedish king Olof, and the nephew of Olof's co-ruler and successor Eric the Victorious, who defeated and killed Styrbjörn at the Battle of Fyrisvellir. As with many figures in the sagas, doubts have been cast on his existence, but he is mentioned in a roughly contemporary skaldic poem about the battle.

He is likely to have been a "sea king", that is, a young nobleman without land who for a period accumulated wealth and reputation abroad to eventually return to his home country in order to usurp the throne (which in his case failed, tradition tells he was defeated by Erik Segersäll at the battle of Fyrisvallarna after he attacked his king's seat in Uppsala).

That he was a "sea king" would fit nicely with the traditional legend that Styrbjörn became the chief of the Jomsvikings (Jomsborg on the island of Wolin).

Name(s)

First name: Björn, Styrbjörn Byname: Starke (meaning strong) Last name: Olofsson

Parents and siblings

Flateyjarbók;

Son of Olof Björnsson and hif wife Ingeborg, daughter of Thrond, Jarl of Sula ^[1]

Heimskringla;

Bjorn was father of Eric the Victorious and of Olaf, the father of Styrbjorn. ^[2]

Spouse(s) and children

He was supposedly married to Tyre/Tyra, daughter of Harald Blåtand Gormsson. (She later believed to have married Olav Tryggvason.)

That he should have had a son named Torgils, who became the ancestor of the Danish electoral royal house, seems to be a learned construction by the Danish historian Langebek who lacks all support in Viking and medieval sources.^[1]

Death and burial

Tradition tells he was defeated by Erik Segersäll at the battle of Fyrisvallarna and most likely died in said battle.

Research Note

It is believed that there once was a full saga about Styrbjörn, but most of what is extant are found in the short Styrbjarnar þáttr Svíakappa. Parts of his story are also retold in Eyrbyggja saga, Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum (book 10), Knýtlinga saga and Hervarar saga. He is also mentioned in the Heimskringla (several times), and in Yngvars saga víðförla, where Ingvar the Far-Travelled is compared to his kinsman Styrbjörn. Oddr Snorrason also mentions him in Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar (c. 1190), writing that Styrbjörn was defeated with magic. In modern days, he is also the hero of a novel called Styrbiorn the Strong by the English author Eric Rücker Eddison (1926), and he figures in The Long Ships, by Frans G Bengtsson.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Styrbjörn Starke, https://sok.riksarkivet.se/sbl/artikel/34579, Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (art av Roger Axelsson), hämtad 2020-06-06..
2. ↑ Snorri Sturluson: Sagas of the Norse Kings. Translated by Samuel Laing, revised by Peter Foote MA. Everyman's Library Dutton New York SBN 460 00847 1 Page 71

See also;

• https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slaget_vid_Fyrisvallarna