The following Saga corroborates the story of Hakon being sent over to England for his education, and indirectly shows the intercourse which existed between England and Norway.
“King Æthelstan had Hakon baptized and taught the true creed, good habits, and all kinds of courtesy. He loved him more than any one else, kinsman or not, and every one who knew him liked him. He was afterwards called Æthelstan’s foster-son. He was larger and stronger and handsomer than other men, and the greatest man of idróttir, wise and eloquent, and a good Christian” (Olaf Tryggvason’s Saga vol. i.; Fms.).
We see how insecure at the time of Æthelstan was the position of a king or a sub-king, and how much they depended on the help of the powerful and independent warriors by whom they were surrounded, and without whom they could not have ruled.
“When Eirik (blood-axe), a Norwegian, saw that he could not resist the host of (his brother) Hákon, he sailed westwards across the sea with those who wished to follow him; he went first to the Orkneys, and took many men with him thence. Then he sailed to England and made warfare in Scotland wherever he landed; he also made warfare in the North of England. Adalstein, king of the English, sent word to Eirik offering him a realm in England, as his father King Harald had been a great friend of his, and he wished to show that to his son. They made an agreement, so that King Eirik got Nordimbraland (Northumberland), in order to keep it for King Adalstein, and defend it against the Danir and other vikings. Eirik was to be baptized, and his wife and his children, and all the men that had followed him there. Eirik agreed, was baptized, and adopted the true belief. Nordimbraland is one-fifth of England. He sat in Jórvik (York), where the sons of Ragnar Lodbrók are said to have sat before. Nordimbraland is for the most part inhabited by Northmen, since the sons of Ragnar won it; the Danir and the Northmen often attacked the land after they had lost it. Many of the names of the land are in the Norræna (Northern tongue): Grimsbær (Grimsby), and Hauksfljót (Hauks-fleet), and many others” (Heimskringla, Hakon the Good, c. 3).
“King Eirik blood-axe kept many Northmen, who had come westward with him, and his friends continued to come from Norway. As he had little land, he went on warfare during the summer, ravaged in Scotland and the Hebrides, Ireland, and Bretland, and thus won property. Æthelstan died on a sickbed (A.D. 940); he had been king fourteen winters, eight weeks and three days. Thereupon his brother Edmund became King of England; he did not like the Northmen, and was not fond of Eirik, and it was said that he wished to place another king over Northumberland. When Eirik heard this he went on a western viking expedition, taking with him Arnkel and Erlend, the sons of Torf-Einar, from the Orkneys. Then he sailed to the Hebrides, and there many vikings and host-kings joined him. He went first to Ireland, then he crossed to Bretland, and plundered there. After this he sailed south to England,[[407]] and ravaged there, as in other places; but all the people fled wherever he went. As he was a very valiant man and had a large host, he trusted so much to this that he went far up into the land, and plundered and searched for men. The king whom Edmund had set to defend the land there was named Olaf; he gathered an overwhelming host, and went against Eirik. There ensued a great battle.... Eirik and five kings with him fell; ... and there was a great slaughter of Northmen; those who escaped went to Northumberland, and told Gunnhild and her sons the tidings” (Hakon the Good, c. 4).
“When (Eirik’s wife) Gunnhild and her sons became aware that Eirik had fallen, and had first plundered in the realm of the Engla-king, they knew they could not expect peace there, and at once made ready to leave Northumberland with all the ships which Eirik had owned; and also took with them all those who wished to follow them. They also carried away what property had been gathered from taxes in England, as well as what had been won in warfare. They sailed with their men north to the Orkneys, and stayed there awhile. Thorfinn Hausakljuf (head-cleaver) was then jarl. The sons of Eirik subdued the Orkneys and Shetlands, and took taxes from them; they remained there during the winter, but went on western viking expeditions in the summer in Scotland and Ireland” (Hakon the Good, c. 5).[[408]]
The following account gives us an insight of the manners of the time during Æthelstan:—
“Eirik saw no other choice than to leave the land (Norway), and departed with Gunnhild his wife and their children. Arinbjörn hersir was a foster-brother of King Eirik, and the foster-father of his children, and dearest to him of all lendirmen.... They went first westward across the sea to the Orkneys. Then he married his daughter Ragnhild to Arnfin jarl, and went with his host south, past Scotland, and made war there, and thence south to England, ravaging there. King Æthelstan heard this, and gathered men and went against Eirik. When they met, words of reconciliation were carried between them, and it was agreed upon that King Æthelstan gave Eirik Northumberland (Northymbraland) to rule over; and he was to be his land-defender against the Scotch and the Irish. Æthelstan had made Scotland tributary after the fall of King Olaf, but the people were constantly faithless to him” (Egil’s Saga, c. 62).
Battle of Brunanburgh.—This battle is interesting and important in its details. It illustrates in many instances the customs of the people at the time of Athelstan, and shows that many customs were identical in England and the North, and that these Northmen were continually coming to England to help their friends or kinsmen.
Of Egil, the hero of this important battle, we read: