Björn Ironside was a semi-legendary king of Sweden who lived sometime in the 9th century.
Björn Ironside is said to have been the first ruler of the Munsö dynasty.
In the early 18th century, a barrow, on the island of Munsö was claimed by antiquarians
to be Björn Järnsidas hög or Björn Ironside's grave.
Hög, from the Old Norse word haugr, means barrow or mound.
History A powerful Viking chieftain and naval commander,
Björn and his brother Hastein conducted many raids in France in a continuation of the tradition
initiated by their father Ragnar Lodbrok.
In 860, Björn led a large Viking raid into the Mediterranean.
After raiding down the Spanish coast and fighting their way through Gibraltar, Björn and Hastein
pillaged the south of France, where his fleet over-wintered, before landing in Italy where
they captured the coastal city of Pisa.
They proceeded inland to the town of Luna, which they believed to be Rome at the time,
but Björn found himself unable to breach the town walls.
To gain entry, he sent messengers to the bishop to say that he had died, had a deathbed conversion,
and wished to be buried on consecrated ground within their church.
He was brought into the chapel with a small honor guard, then amazed the dismayed Italian
clerics by leaping from his coffin and hacking his way to the town gates, which he promptly
opened, letting his army in.
Flush with this victory and others around the Mediterranean he returned to the Straits
of Gibraltar only to find the Saracen navy from Al-Andalus waiting for him.
In the desperate battle that followed, Björn lost 40 ships, largely to a form of Greek
fire launched from Saracen catapults.
The remainder of his fleet managed to return to Scandinavia, however, where he lived out
his life as a rich man.
Latin sources The Annales Bertiniani and the Chronicon Fontanellense
tell of a Viking leader named "Berno" who pillaged on the Seine in the 850s.
Around 1070, William of Jumièges referred to him as Bier Costae ferreae who was Lotbroci
regis filio.
Tale of Ragnar's Sons The Tale of Ragnar's Sons tells that he was
the son of the Scandinavian king Ragnar Lodbrok and Aslaug, and that he had the brothers Hvitserk,
Ivar the Boneless and Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye, and the half-brothers Eric and Agnar.
Björn and his brothers left Sweden to conquer Zealand, Reidgotaland, Gotland, Öland and
all the minor islands.
They then settled at Lejre with Ivar the Boneless as their leader.
Ragnar was jealous with his sons' successes, and set Eysteinn Beli as the jarl of Sweden,
telling him to protect Sweden from his sons.
He then went east across the Baltic Sea to pillage and to show his own skills.
Ragnar's sons Eric and Agnar then sailed into Lake Mälaren and sent a message to king Eysteinn
that they wanted him to submit to Ragnar's sons, and Eric said that he wanted Eysteinn's
daughter Borghild as wife.
Eysteinn said that he first wanted to consult the Swedish chieftains.
The chieftains said no to the offer, and ordered an attack on the rebellious sons.
A battle ensued and Eric and Agnar were overwhelmed by the Swedish forces, whereupon Agnar died
and Eric was taken prisoner.
Eysteinn offered Eric as much of Uppsala öd as he wanted, and Borghild, in wergild for
Agnar.
Eric proclaimed that after such a defeat he wanted nothing but to choose the day of his
own death.
Eric asked to be impaled on spears that raised him above the dead and his wish was granted.
In Zealand, Aslaug and her sons Björn and Hvitserk, who had been playing tafl, became
upset and sailed to Sweden with a large army.
Aslaug, calling herself Randalin, rode with cavalry across the land.
In a great battle they killed Eysteinn.
Ragnar was not happy that his sons had taken revenge without his help, and decided to conquer
England with only two knarrs.
King Ella of Northumbria defeated Ragnar and threw him into a snake pit where he died.
Björn and his brothers attacked Ella but were beaten back.
Asking for peace and wergild, Ivar the Boneless tricked Ella into giving him an area large
enough to build the town of York.
Ivar made himself popular in England and asked his brothers to attack again.
During the battle Ivar sided with his brothers and so did many of the English chieftains
with their people, in loyalty to Ivar.
Ella was taken captive and in revenge they carved the blood eagle on him.
Later Björn and his brothers pillaged in England, Wales, France, and Italy, until they
came to the town Luna in Italy.
When they came back to Scandinavia, they divided the kingdom so that Björn Ironside took Uppsala
and Sweden.
Hervarar saga The Hervarar saga tells that Eysteinn Beli
was killed by Björn and his brothers as told in Ragnar Lodbrok's saga, and they conquered
all of Sweden.
When Ragnar died Björn Ironside inherited Sweden.
He had two sons, Refil and Erik Björnsson, who became the next king of Sweden.
In fiction Björn Ironside is a principal character in
the 2013-2014 television series Vikings.
Played as a young boy by Nathan O'Toole and as a young man by Alexander Ludwig.
See also Early Swedish History
House of Munsö Notes
Bibliography Lagerquist, Lars O..
Sveriges Regenter, från forntid till nutid.
Norstedts, Stockholm.
ISBN 91-1-963882-5