TheBattle on the Ice of Lake Vänern was a 6th-century battle recorded in theNorse sagas and referred to in theOld English epicBeowulf. It has been dated to c. AD 530.
Beowulf is an epic poem that refers to the conflict, but not to a battle onLake Vänern. In Beowulf, the Swedish kingOhthere (Ottar Vendelkråka, who is often called the first historicalking of Sweden)[1] had died and his brotherOnela (Áli) had usurped the Swedish throne. Ottar's sonsEanmund andEadgils (Adils) had to flee toGeatland and seek refuge with theGeatish kingHeardred. This induced Onela to attack theGeats and kill both Eanmund and Heardred. In order to avenge his king and kinsman,Beowulf decided to help Eadgils gain the throne of Sweden. During the battle Eadgils slew Onela and became the king of Sweden.
There are a few references in Norse sources that give an account of the battle on the ice of Lake Vänern. Some of the sagas differ from one another in detail. The equivalent of Onela,Áli hinn upplenzki, has been placed in the NorwegianUplands, rather than SwedishUppland.
InSnorri Sturluson'sProse Edda, in theSkáldskaparmál, the battle is mentioned in two verses. In the first account, Snorri cites a fragmentary poem calledKálfsvísa:
|
In the second account, Snorri relates: "They decided to fight on the ice of the water which is calledVänern...In this fight king Áli died and a great many of his people. Then king Adils took from him his helmetHildisvín [battle-boar] and his horse Hrafn."
In theYnglinga saga, Snorri relates that King Adils (Eadgils) fought hard battles with the Norwegian king who was calledÁli hin upplenzki. They fought on the ice of Lake Vänern, where Áli fell and Adils won. Snorri relates that much is told about this event in the saga of the Sköldungs, and that Adils tookHrafn (Raven), Áli's horse.
TheSkjöldunga saga is lost but at the end of the 16th century,Arngrímur Jónsson saved a piece of information from this saga in Latin. He wrote: "There was animosity between king Adils of Sweden and the Norwegian king Áli of Uppland. They decided to fight on the ice of Lake Vänern. Adils won and took his helmet, chainmail and horse."
Adils would become a famous king of whom much is told in the legends ofHrólf Kraki and in the DanishGesta Danorum. According to Snorri, he is buried inOld Uppsala.
The accounts of the Battle on the Ice contain accurate information about this time and the SwedishVendel Age. This period was characterized by the appearance of mounted warriors who fought on horseback and by the use of boar-crested helmets.
In the Battle on the Ice, the combatants are described as fighting on horseback, although the laterNorsemen andAnglo-Saxons who told of this battle in their legends would fight on foot. Likewise, Onela's helmet is called thebattle-boar although the boar-crested helmets were long out of use by the time records of the event were written down. Many instances of boar-crested helmets have been found in extant examples, notably in the burial mounds of Vendel, Valsgärde and Uppsala.