Björn Eisenseite

Björn Eisenseite was a Norse Viking chieftain and legendary king of Sweden who appears in Nordic sagas. According to Scandinavian tales from the 12th and 13th centuries, he was the son of the notorious Viking king Ragnar Lodbrok.

He lived in the 9th century and is reliably dated to the period between 855 and 858.

Björn Eisenseite is said to have been the first ruler of the Swedish Munsö dynasty. In the early 18th century, a burial mound on the island of Munsö was referred to by antiquarians as Björn Järnsidas hög or Björn Eisenseite's burial mound.

Medieval sources mention Björn Eisenseite's sons and grandsons, including Erik Björnsson and Björn in Haugi.

Icelandic sagas claim that Björn was the ancestor of the House of Munsö, the line of kings that ruled Sweden until around 1060.

Björn in Frankish Sources
"Berno" was a powerful Viking chieftain and sea commander. He appears in contemporary sources such as the Annales Bertiniani and the Chronicon Fontanellense.

He is first mentioned in the summer of 855. The oldest text that describes his origins is the Norman history by William of Jumièges (around 1070). According to William, it was common among the Danes to urge younger sons of kings to leave the kingdom in order to strengthen the king's authority; after Ragnar Lodbrok became king, he ordered Björn to leave his kingdom. Björn left Denmark with a considerable fleet and began raiding in Western France.

Contemporary annals show that he worked with another Viking named Sigtrygg and sailed up the Seine in 855, from where their combined forces raided the interior. Their united forces were defeated by Charles the Bald of West Francia in Champagne in the same year, but not decisively.

Sigtrygg withdrew the following year, but Björn received reinforcements from another Viking army and was not driven out of the Seine region. He set up winter quarters at a place known as Givold's Grave, which served as a base for an attack on Paris, which was plundered around the turn of the year 856-857.

Björn built a fortress on the island of Oissel above Rouen, which he held for years as a stronghold. He certainly swore fealty to Charles the Bald in 858 at Verberie, but it is unclear whether he kept his promise. King Charles eventually decided to confront the rebellious Seine Vikings with all his available forces and besieged Oissel in July. However, the siege failed as the pirates defended the fortress with all their might. Additionally, Charles's brother Louis the German from East Francia invaded his lands, and many vassals deserted him. Thus, the siege was abandoned in September.

After Björn's meeting with Charles at Verberie, his name no longer appears in contemporary sources. However, the Viking warriors in the Seine continued their raids in the following years, even plundering Paris again in 861. In desperation, Charles the Bald attempted to enlist another Viking chieftain, Veland, whose men operated in the Somme region, to attack the Seine Vikings at Oissel. However, this plan backfired as the two Viking armies made an agreement and united their forces. The Normans camped at the lower Seine in 861-862 but separated again. Veland agreed to become Christian and entered royal service, while the Seine Vikings sailed away. Some of them took part in the fighting between the ruler of Brittany and some Frankish counts.

Björn’s Mediterranean Expedition
Several Frankish, Norman, Arabic, Scandinavian, and Irish sources report a major Viking raid into the Mediterranean between 859-861, led by Hastein, Björn Eisenseite, and possibly one or more of his brothers.

After sailing along the Iberian coast and passing through the Strait of Gibraltar, they raided southern France, where the fleet overwintered before landing in Italy and capturing the city of Pisa.

After this victory and more successes in the Mediterranean (including Sicily and North Africa), the Vikings lost 40 ships in a storm. They returned to the Strait of Gibraltar and lost two ships in a surprise attack by Andalusian troops off the coast of Medina-Sidonia through fire catapults, leaving only 20 ships intact.

The remnants of the fleet returned to French waters in 862. According to the later chronicle of William of Jumièges, Björn Eisenseite was the leader of the expedition. The Fragmentary Annals of Ireland from the early 11th century state that two sons of Ragnall mac Albdan, a chieftain who had been driven out of Lochlann by his brothers and remained on the Orkney Islands, led the campaign.

William of Jumièges refers to Björn as "Bier Costae ferreae" (Iron Side), son of King Lodbrok. In William’s account of the Mediterranean expedition, Björn’s foster father Hastein is the central figure. The two Vikings led many (mostly successful) raids in France. Later, Hastein had the idea of making Björn the new Roman emperor and led a major Viking raid into the Mediterranean.

They advanced inland to the city of Luni, which they thought was Rome, but could not overcome its walls. To gain entry, a cunning plan was devised: Hastein sent messengers to the bishop to claim he was dying and had converted to Christianity on his deathbed and wished to receive Christian sacraments and/or be buried in holy ground in the church. He was brought with a small honor guard into the chapel and surprised the astonished clergy by leaping from his deathbed. The Vikings then made their way to the city gates, which were immediately opened to allow the rest of the army in. When they realized Luni was not Rome, Björn and Hastein considered exploring the city but changed their minds when they heard the Romans were well-prepared for defense.

After returning to Western Europe, the two men went separate ways. Björn was shipwrecked on the English coast and barely survived. He then went to Friesland, where, according to William, he died.

There are some historical doubts about this account.

Hastein appears later in contemporary sources than Björn, and to be his foster father, he would have had to be about 80 years old when he died. This is certainly possible, considering their contemporaries, Viking Rollo and King Harald Fairhair of Norway, had comparable life expectancies. It is also known that Luni was plundered by Saracens.

The Saga of Ragnar Lothbrok and the Tale of Ragnar’s Sons
The story of Björn and his brothers, the sons of the Scandinavian king Ragnar Lodbrok, was told in various versions throughout the Middle Ages. The Saga of the Sons of Ragnar (Ragnarssona þáttr) is an Icelandic fornaldar-saga from the 14th century that blends traditional Norse oral history with legendary themes. It states that Björn was the son of Ragnar and Aslaug, and his brothers were Hvitserk, Ivar the Boneless, and Sigurd Snake-eye. The saga also mentions Björn’s half-brothers Eric and Agnar.

The saga portrays Ragnar as the ruler of large parts of Sweden and possibly even Denmark. During his lifetime, Björn and his brothers left Sweden and conquered Zealand, Reidgotaland (Jutland), Gotland, Öland, and all smaller islands. They then settled in Lejre on Zealand in Denmark, with Ivar the Boneless as their leader.

Ragnar’s sons Eric and Agnar then sailed into Lake Mälaren and sent a message to the Swedish king Eysteinn, a vassal of Ragnar, demanding that he submit to Ragnar’s sons. Eric also stated that he wanted to marry Eysteinn’s daughter Borghild. Eysteinn said he wanted to consult the Swedish chieftains first. The chieftains rejected the offer and ordered an attack on the rebellious sons. A battle ensued, in which Eric and Agnar were overwhelmed by the Swedish forces, leading to Agnar's death and Eric’s capture.

Eysteinn offered Eric as much of Uppsala land as he wanted and Borghild as wergild for Agnar. Eric declared that after such a defeat, he wanted nothing more than to choose the day of his own death. He requested to be speared on spears that would elevate him above the dead, and his wish was fulfilled. In Zealand, Björn, Aslaug, and Hvitserk, who had been playing tafl, became enraged and sailed with a large army to Sweden. Aslaug rode with the cavalry across the land. In a great battle, they killed Eysteinn.

According to the saga, their father Ragnar was captured and killed during a daring invasion attempt by King Ælla in England. Björn and his brothers sought revenge and attacked Ælla, but they were repelled. When Ivar realized that the English king could not be immediately defeated, he sought reconciliation. He demanded as much land as could be covered by an oxhide and swore never to wage war against Ælla again. Ivar then cut the oxhide into such thin strips that he was able to encircle a large fortress (in an older saga, it was York, but in a later saga, it was London), which he then captured. Ivar became popular in England and urged his brothers to attack again. During the battle, Ivar sided with his brothers, and many of the English chieftains and their people did the same out of loyalty to Ivar. Ælla was captured, and in revenge, they performed the blood eagle on him.

Later, Björn and his brothers raided in England, Normandy, France, and Lombardy until they reached the city of Luna in Italy. When they returned to Scandinavia, they divided the kingdom, with Björn Eisenseite taking Uppsala and Sweden.

Other Sources
The partly legendary Danish chronicle by Saxo Grammaticus, Gesta Danorum (around 1200), is the first text to mention Björn Eisenseite as the king of Sweden. According to Saxo, Ragnar Lodbrok had a quarrel with the recently crowned ruler of Sweden, Sörle. As a result, he, along with his sons Björn, Fridleif, and Radbard, invaded Swedish territories.

Before a battle could take place, the adversaries agreed to resolve the matter through single combat. Ragnar and his three sons faced the famous warrior Starkad and his seven sons. "Björn, who caused a great slaughter of the enemy without injuring himself, earned an eternal name [i.e., Iron-heart] due to the strength of his flanks, which were like iron." Ragnar and his sons killed their eight opponents, then their troops attacked Sörle and his army and destroyed them. Ragnar awarded Björn the Swedish kingship for his exceptional bravery and his merits.

Later, another son of Ragnar, Ubbe, allied with his maternal grandfather Esbjörn and conspired against Ragnar. Esbjörn sent messengers to Björn in Sweden to gain support for a rebellion, but Björn refused to listen. Instead, he had the messengers hanged, and their companions were slaughtered by the Swedes.

Soon after, Esbjörn was killed in a naval battle, and Ubbe was captured after heroic resistance. At an appropriate time, Ragnar appointed Björn as regent of Norway, while Sweden was given to another son, Eric Weatherhat. After Ragnar's death, Björn and his brothers attacked Ælla in England with 400 ships and killed him. They then returned to their Swedish kingdom but intervened in Denmark when the Danes rose against the rule of Ragnar's sons. With a fleet of 1,700 ships, he and his brothers defeated the rebels at Slesvig. This is the last time Björn Eisenseite is mentioned in the Gesta Danorum.

In the Hervarar-Saga from the 13th century, it is said that Eysteinn Beli was killed by Björn and his brothers, as told in the Ragnar Lodbrok Saga, and they conquered all of Sweden. When Ragnar died, Björn Eisenseite inherited Sweden. He had two sons, Refil and Erik Björnsson, who became the next king of Sweden.

Anglo-Saxon and Irish sources suggest that the Danish invasion of England after 865 was led by three brothers named Ingvar (i.e., Ivar), Ubbe, and Halfdan, who were the sons of a Ragnall (Ragnar or a similar name). Björn is not mentioned in this context, but later Norman tradition suggests that he might have been a brother.

According to William of Jumièges, he died in Friesland, which was also connected with the invaders of England. Ubbe is sometimes referred to as "the Frisian Earl," and the invaders are occasionally called Scaldingi (men from the Scheldt). Björn's kingship is sometimes problematic historically as it is not supported by earlier sources and contains insurmountable chronological inconsistencies.

In Fiction
A main character in the television series Vikings, portrayed as a young boy by Nathan O'Toole and as an adult by Alexander Ludwig, is loosely based on the historical figure and is depicted as the son of Lagertha, not Aslaug. According to the legends, Björn is not the eldest son, whereas in the series, he is the oldest of Ragnar’s sons.

In Michael Grant's novel Monster, a character named Armo mentions that he is descended from "Björn Eisenseite, a tough Viking."