fell, and the king was killed.
_Eystein_, the son of Audils, ruled after him and was succeeded by his
son _Yngvar_. Eystein was never able to defend his people against the
Danes, while Yngvar was a successful warrior, both at home and abroad.
But one summer when he was fighting in Esthonia he was killed by the
Esthonians. He was buried in a mound close to the seashore.
_Anund_ was Yngvar’s son and successor. He went to Esthonia to avenge
his father, ravaging the country and returning with great booty. In
his time there were fruitful seasons in Svithiod. On this account, and
because he made many roads, cleared the woods and cultivated the new
land, he became one of the most popular of early Swedish kings. He was
called _Brœt-Anund_, viz., Anund Roadmaker.
_Ingiald_, the son of Anund, became king in Upsala after his father. He
was the most remarkable of all the Ynglings (Skilfings), for, through
violence and cunning, he united all the communities of Sweden into
one realm. When his father died, the king at Upsala was certainly the
supremely powerful ruler in Svithiod, but not the only one, for there
were many district-kings who were to a great extent independent. There
were not only kings in East Gothland, Sœdermanland, and Nerike, but
in Upland there were, besides the Upsala king, also kings in each of
the three “lands” into which this province was formerly divided; viz.,
Tiundaland, Attundaland, and Fiedrundaland. Ingiald ordered a great
feast to celebrate the fact that he had come to the throne after his
father, and invited seven other kings, all of whom were present, except
Granmar, king of Sœdermanland. When the Brage-bowl, on which promises
were made, was carried in, King Ingiald made a solemn vow to enlarge
his dominions by one-half, toward all the four corners of the world,
or die. In the evening Ingiald set fire to the hall, and all the six
royal guests perished with their followers. Ingiald took possession
of all the dominions belonging to the unfortunate kings. In the next
year he surrounded the hall in which King Granmar found himself at the
time, killing him and taking his land in possession. “It was a common
saying,” Snorre tells us, “that King Ingiald had killed twelve kings
and deceived them all under pretence of peace; therefore he was called
Ingiald Illrade (the evil-adviser).” His daughter, Asa, was of the same
disposition as her father. She was married to Gudrod, king of Scania,
but had to flee from the land after having caused the death of her
husband and his brother. When it was learned that King Ivar, nephew of
Gudrod, had entered Svithiod with an army, Asa counselled her father to
set fire to the hall of the king after his men were drunk and asleep.
Thus perished Ingiald Illrade with his daughter, very much in the same
fashion in which he had killed so many of the petty kings.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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