King _Eric Edmundson_ was a contemporary of Rimbert. He was engaged in building up a Swedish dominion in Finland and on the southern shores of the Baltic. With King Harald Fairhair of Norway he was disputing the supremacy over the province of Vermland. He was succeeded by his son _Biœrn_ who is said to have reigned for fifty years. _Olof_ and _Eric_, Biœrn’s two sons, succeeded him, the former dying suddenly at a banquet. His young son, _Styrbiœrn Starke_ (the Strong), one of the most famous of Swedish heroes, demanded his share of the kingdom when only twelve years old. When King Eric told him he was yet too young, Styrbiœrn two springs in succession installed himself on the mound of his father, by so doing making claim upon his inheritance, according to old usage. But when he came to the Thing to demand his share in the government he was chased away with stone-throwing. King Eric gave him sixty ships with men and weapons to try his luck in Viking expeditions. Styrbiœrn won great fame during several years of continual warfare in the Baltic, capturing the mighty Jomsborg, a celebrated Viking nest in the island of Wollin, later turning his weapons upon Denmark, where he made the Danish king Harald Gormson Bluetooth a prisoner. He now felt strong enough to attack his uncle, King Eric. Harald Bluetooth was to help him, but failed to do so. Styrbiœrn sailed with a fleet to Sweden; after having landed he burned his ships to make a return impossible. King Eric met him at the Fyrisvols and fought a battle which was said to have lasted for three days. Styrbiœrn fell, and with him the larger part of his army. His uncle, the king, was after this called _Eric Segersæll_ (the Victorious). After the battle the king ascended a high mound, promising a great compensation to the one who could compose a song in praise of the victory. The Icelander Thorvald Hialte, who never previously or afterward appeared as a scald, came forth and recited two strophes which are preserved to our day, receiving a costly armlet of gold as reward. This battle--next to the one at Bravols, the most famous in the heathen North--was fought in 988.
King Eric invaded Denmark and took possession of the country, making the son of Harald Bluetooth an exile, to which facts Saxo, the Danish historian, testifies. In Denmark Eric was baptized, the first Swedish king about whom this is said. But upon his return to Sweden he also returned to the old gods. Eric Segersæll was king of Sweden and Denmark until his death, which occurred in 994. His first consort, Sigrid Storrada (the Proud), from whom he later separated, played quite an important part in the history of her time. After the death of Eric, she married the exiled Svend Tjufvuskægg (their son being Canute the Great), who through this matrimony came to the throne of Denmark.