On the death of Ragnar, the throne of Sweden fell to one of his sons, _Biorn I._, surnamed _Jarnasido_. Of him we know little more than that, in his reign, the first attempts were made to christianise the Swedes. Biorn was not averse from toleration; and he allowed St. Anscar to teach, baptize, and preach unmolested. But the good thus effected was transient: Anscar returned to Germany, to procure from pope and emperor some amplification of his authority; and, during his absence, the mission entirely failed. When Anscar paid a second visit to this kingdom, he found a king named _Olaf_ in possession of the throne. Who was he? Olaf Trætelia had been dead near two centuries, and Olaf Skotkonung did not reign until above a century afterwards. Either, therefore, we have a sad confusion in chronology, or there must have reigned a king whom modern criticism does not acknowledge. The probability is, that Olaf was a king of Gothia, who, in the numerous insurrections of the period, had seized on the royal authority in Sweden, no less than in the more southern provinces. _Eric I._, the son of Biorn, is next classed among the Swedish kings; and, after him, _Eric II._, surnamed _Raefilson_, who was, probably, either a Gothic king, or an usurper. _Emund_ and _Biorn II._—the one ruler of the Gothlands, the other of Sweden—next ascended the throne, and were followed by _Eric III._, the son of Emund; but the reigns of all were short, and they have left no records for posterity. Indeed, the number of kings during the ninth century is so considerable, that we are compelled to infer the existence of separate kingdoms amongst the Goths, while we are unable to distinguish the two dynasties of kings. _Biorn III._ (923) enjoyed a long reign; _Eric IV._, surnamed the Victorious (993), one still longer; and _Eric V._, surnamed _Arsaell_ (1001), closes the list of pagan kings:—not that he was a pagan; on the contrary, as we shall perceive in the chapter devoted to the introduction of Christianity into the north, he died for the new faith. But he had been reared a pagan; at his death the greater part of the kingdom was pagan; and it was reserved for his son, Olaf Skotkonung, to render Christianity the established religion of Sweden and Gothland.[156]