[105] Snorre, Saga of Saint Olaf, cc. 30-31.
[106] Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 1015.
[107] Snorre, Olaf Trygvesson's Saga, c. 102.
[108] The Hällestad Stone, raised in memory of Toki, Canute's gran-uncle, who fell in the battle of Fyris River:
Askell raised this monument in memory of Toki, Gorm's son his beloved lord.
He did not flee
At Upsala.
Henchmen have raised
To their brother's memory
On the firm-built hill
This rock with runes.
To Gorm's son Toki
They walked nearest.
Wimmer, De danske Runemindesmærker, I., ii. 86, ff.
[109] Thus Steenstrup (Normannerne, iii., 287-289) and Oman (England before the Norman Conquest, 577) on the authority of Florence of Worcester (Chronicon, i., 171) who speaks of these men as Danish warriors. But the contemporary writer of the Chronicle speaks of Eadric's forces as the "fyrd," a term which is always used for the native levy, "here" being the term used for alien troops.
On the theory of serious disagreements with Edmund, whose accession to the throne seemed imminent, Eadric's treason becomes perfectly intelligible. For a selfish, ambitious man like the earl, there was scarcely any other course to take.
[110] Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 1016.