Emund the Old

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Emund the Old, Emund den gamle, Old Swedish: Æmunðær slemæ (king of Sweden 1050-1060)^[1] was an illegitimate son of Olof Skötkonung. Emund succeeded his brother Anund Jakob ca 1050 which rendered him the cognomen, the Old. He was also called the "Slemme" as he actively opposed the priests from the Archbishopric of Bremen in favour of the English missionary Osmundus.

The Westrogothic law says that he was a disagreeable man when wanting to pursue a goal, and that he marked the border between Sweden and Denmark.

He was the last king of the House of Munsö. Adam of Bremen relates that his son Anund Emundsson died when he pillaged in Terra Feminarum because the natives poisoned the water. He was to be succeeded by Stenkil and his house.

The Hervarar saga says that Emund was king only a short time:

The cognomen "Gamle" is known from Adam of Bremen, although he mistakes it as a proper name and mentions in one episode a "King Gamle" when it is in fact Emund. The name means "old" and could signify that he was old when he became king or that he was the older brother to his predecessor Anund Jakob.

[edit] Notes and references

1. ^ Odelberg, Maj (1995), “Emund gamle”, Vikingatidens ABC, Swedish Museum of National Antiquities, ISBN 9171929843, <http://histvarld.historiska.se/histvarld/sok/artikel.asp?id=10262> 
2. ^ Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks, Guðni Jónsson's og Bjarni Vilhjálmsson's edition at «Norrøne Tekster og Kvad».
3. ^ The Saga of Hervör and Heithrek, in Stories and Ballads of the Far Past, translated from the Norse (Icelandic and Faroese), by N. Kershaw.Cambridge at the University Press, 1921.