Refil Björnsson (c. 850?) was a
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
prince, grandson of
, who allegedly flourished in the early
Viking Age
The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Ger ...
and had a certain dynastic importance. His historical existence is uncertain.
Virtually our only source for his person is the ''
Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks
''Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks'' (The Saga of Hervör and Heidrek) is a legendary saga from the 13th century combining matter from several older sagas in Germanic heroic legend. It tells of wars between the Goths and the Huns during the 4th century ...
'' (13th century) that concludes with a brief chronicle of Swedish kings up to 1118. This text says that the renowned Viking ruler
, after his demise, was succeeded by his various sons who ruled over
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
,
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
, the eastern lands (Austrríki) and
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
Björn Ironside
according to Norse legends, was a Norse Viking chief and Swedish king. According to the 12th- and 13th-century Scandinavian histories, he was the son of notorious Viking king Ragnar Lodbrok and lived in the 9th century, between 855 and 858. Björ ...
was assigned the Swedish realm. This information is historically problematic since Björn is otherwise known to have performed Viking raids in
West Francia
In medieval history, West Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the West Franks () refers to the western part of the Frankish Empire established by Charlemagne. It represents the earliest stage of the Kingdom of France, lasting from about ...
in the 850s and allegedly died in
Frisia
Frisia is a cross-border cultural region in Northwestern Europe. Stretching along the Wadden Sea, it encompasses the north of the Netherlands and parts of northwestern Germany. The region is traditionally inhabited by the Frisians, a West Ger ...
in the early 860s. According to the ''Hervarar saga'' Björn had two sons called
Erik and Refil. Erik inherited the Swedish kingship, though he only ruled for a short time. The younger son Refil was a "warrior king and sea king" (herkonungr ok sækonungr), in other words a princely raider on the lines of his father and grandfather. When the main ruler Erik died, Refil was apparently dead already, since the next ruler was Refil's son
Erik Refilsson Erik Refilsson was a legendary king of Sweden of the House of Munsö, who lived in the late 9th century. One of the few surviving Scandinavian sources that deal with Swedish kings from this time is '' Hervarar saga''. The saga is from the 12th or 1 ...
who is praised as a great warrior and all-mighty king.
The late and compilatory nature of the ''Hervarar saga'' makes is difficult to assess the possible historicity of Refil or his son. According to the ''
Skaldatal'' a certain Alf Jarl the Small composed one or several praise poems for Erik Refilsson, though nothing of this has been preserved. The name Ræfill is found in a list (Þula) of legendary and mythical figures, that is included in ''
Snorri's Edda
The ''Prose Edda'', also known as the ''Younger Edda'', ''Snorri's Edda'' ( is, Snorra Edda) or, historically, simply as ''Edda'', is an Old Norse textbook written in Iceland during the early 13th century. The work is often assumed to have been t ...
'', in a section with poetic names for sea kings. Many of these sea kings have names ending with ''-ill'' which speaks for them being poetic inventions.
''Nafnathulur'', Strophe 4
/ref>
References
Literature
* Ellehøj, Svend (1965) ''Studier over den ældste norrøne historieskrivning''. Hafniæ: Munksgaard.
* Storm, Gustav (1877) "Ragnar Lodbrok og Lodbrokssønnerne; Studie i dansk Oldhistorie of nordisk Sagnhistorie", ''Historisk Tidskrift'' 2:
* Tolkien, Christopher, & Turville-Petre, G. (eds) (1956) ''Hervarar Saga ok Heidreks''. London: Viking Society for Northern Researc
{{DEFAULTSORT:House of Munso
House of Munsö,