Halsten Stenkilsson,

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

exonym An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, ...

: Alstan (

Old Icelandic Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...

: ''Hallstein''''Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks'', Guðni Jónsson's og Bjarni Vilhjálmsson's edition at «Norrøne Tekster og Kvad».
) was a

king of Sweden The monarchy of Sweden is the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parliamentary system: see the Instrument o ...

, son of King

Stenkil Stenkil (Old Norse: ''Steinkell'') was a King of Sweden who ruled c. 1060 until 1066. He succeeded Emund the Old and became the first king from the House of Stenkil. He is praised as a devout Christian, but with an accommodating stance towards th ...

and a Swedish princess. He became king some time after his father

's death (1066), and he may have ruled together with his brother

Inge the Elder Inge the Elder (Swedish: ''Inge Stenkilsson''; Old Norse: ''Ingi Steinkelsson''; died c. 1105–1110) was a king of Sweden. In English literature he has also been called ''Ingold''. While scant sources do not allow us to paint a full picture of hi ...

. The date of his death is not known.

Brief kingship

Little is known of his time as king. In a ''scholia'' in the work of

Adam of Bremen Adam of Bremen ( la, Adamus Bremensis; german: Adam von Bremen) (before 1050 – 12 October 1081/1085) was a German medieval chronicler. He lived and worked in the second half of the eleventh century. Adam is most famous for his chronicle ''Gesta ...

, he is reported to have been elected king after the violent death of two pretenders,The article ''Halsten'' in ''Nordisk familjebok'' (1909).
/ref> but took over a highly volatile situation. While he was clearly a Christian like his father and brother, his influence may have been limited, since Adam relates that Christianity was so disturbed that the bishops appointed by the

Archdiocese of Bremen The Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen (german: Fürsterzbistum Bremen) — not to be confused with the modern Archdiocese of Hamburg, founded in 1994 — was an ecclesiastical principality (787–1566/1648) of the Holy Roman Empire and the Catholic ...

did not even dare to travel to Sweden. He was deposed after a short while, in the late 1060s or early 1070s, and replaced by a princeling from Gardariki,

Anund Anund sv, Bröt-Anund meaning ''trail-blazer Anund'' or ''Anund the Land Clearer''; alternate names ''Brøt-Anundr'' (Old Norse#Old East Norse, Old East Norse) or ''Braut-Önundr'' (Old Norse#Old West Norse, Old West Norse) was a semi-legen ...

Possible later reign

That he later on ruled together with his brother Inge has some support from a

papal letter Ecclesiastical letters are publications or announcements of the organs of Roman Catholic ecclesiastical authority, e.g. the synods, but more particularly of pope and bishops, addressed to the faithful in the form of letters. Letters of the pop ...

from 1081, by

Pope Gregory VII Pope Gregory VII ( la, Gregorius VII; 1015 – 25 May 1085), born Hildebrand of Sovana ( it, Ildebrando di Soana), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 April 1073 to his death in 1085. He is venerated as a saint ...

, which refers to two kings with the initials ''A'' and ''I'', and where they are called kings of

Västergötland Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden. Väs ...

(''rege wisigothorum''). However, the king "A" could also be

Håkan the Red Håkan the Red (Swedish: ''Håkan Röde'') was a king of Sweden, reigning for about half a decade in the second half of the 11th century.''Håkan Röde'' in ''Nationalencyklopedin'': There is little information on him, and it is mostly contradict ...

.
Inge
' in ''

Nationalencyklopedin ''Nationalencyklopedin'' (; "The National Encyclopedia" in English), abbreviated NE, is a comprehensive contemporary Swedish-language encyclopedia, initiated by a favourable loan from the Government of Sweden of 17 million Swedish kronor in 19 ...

'' His co-rulership with his brother Inge is also mentioned in the '' Hervarar saga''. In the regnal list of the '' Westrogothic law'', he is said to have been courteous and cheerful, and whenever a case was submitted to him, he judged fairly, and this was why Sweden mourned his death. He was the father of the co-rulers

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

and

Inge the Younger Inge the Younger was King of Sweden in c. 1110–c. 1125 and probably the youngest son of king Halsten.The article ''Inge d.y.'' in ''Nationalencyklopedin'' (1992).The article Inge, section 2. I. den yngre' in '' Nordisk familjebok'' (1910). Accord ...

. The '' Hervarar saga'', which is one of the few sources about the kings of this time, has the following to tell:

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halsten Stenkilsson 11th-century Swedish monarchs Kings of the Geats House of Stenkil 1050s births Year of birth uncertain Year of death unknown Sons of kings