Eric Bloodaxe - King of Northumbria

King of Northumbria

It is when Eirik gains the kingship in Northumbria that he finally appears more firmly into the historical limelight, even though the sources provide only scanty detail and present notorious problems of their own. The historical sources – e.g. versions A-F of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Historia regum and Roger of Wendover's Historia Anglorum – tend to be reticent and the chronology is confused. However, the best chronological guideline appears to be that offered by the Worcester Chronicle, i.e. the D-text of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.

The Northumbria on which Eirik set foot was one which had been bitterly fought over between the West-Saxon kings and the Hiberno-Norse line of descendants from Ímair, kings of Dublin. The Northumbrians' own position in the middle of the struggle may have been complex and the outcome was variable, leading an unsympathetic historian like Henry of Huntingdon to judge harshly on their “their usual faithlessness” (solita infidelitas).