Bragi Skald was the great grandfather of Arinbjörn the friend of Egil Skallagrímsson. In the Saga of Egil Skallagrímsson, ch. 59, he is said to have saved his life by composing in one night a poem in honour of King Björn. Some fragments of his poems have been preserved—the earliest datable Norse poems which have come down to us.
King Harold the Fairhaired. See the Tháttr of Nornagest, ch. 10, and note.
Eric the Victorious. The battle won by Eric the Victorious over Styrbjörn at Fyrisvellir seems to have taken place between 980 and 985. Several Runic inscriptions contain references to it. The statement that Harold the Fairhaired died in Eric's time can hardly be correct; for Harold is believed to have died in 933.
Fyrisvellir, on the banks of the Fyriså, close to the site of the modern town of Upsala.
Olaf the Swede. The traditional date of his conversion is 1008.
Olaf the Saint, ex-King of Norway, whence he had been expelled in 1028, was killed at the Battle of Stiklestad in 1030 in an attempt to recover the throne.
He tried to put an end to, etc. An interesting account of the heathen ceremonies of the Swedes, dating from shortly after the middle of the eleventh century, is given by Adam of Bremen in his History of the Church of Hamburg, Book iv., ch. 26 f.
The sacred tree. The sacrificial tree in question is presumably that mentioned in schol. 134 to Adam of Bremen as standing beside the great temple of Upsala.
Eymund, c. 1050-c. 1060.
Steinkel, 1060-1066.