Battle of the Brávellir: Encyclopedia - Battle of the Brávellir

Battle of the Brávellir

The Battle of the Brávellir or the Battle of Bråvalla was a legendary battle that took place on the Brávellir between Sigurd Ring, king of Sweden and the Geats of West Götaland, and Harald Wartooth, king of Denmark and the Geats of East Götaland.

Battle of the Brávellir - Sources

This battle is said to have taken place in the mid 8th century and it is retold in several sources, such as the Norse sagas Hervarar saga, Bósa saga ok Herrauds and Sögubrot af Nokkrum, but it is most extensively described in the Danish Gesta Danorum. According to the Swedish journalist and best selling historian Herman Lindquist, the Rök Stone relates of this battle.

Battle of the Brávellir - Cause

Harald had inherited Sweden from his maternal grandfather Ivar Vidfamne, but ruled Denmark and East Götaland, whereas his subordinate king Sigurd Ring was the ruler of Sweden and West Götaland. According to legend Harald Wartooth realised that he was growing old (150) and may die of old age and so never go to Valhalla. He consequently asked Sigurd if he would let him leave this life gloriously in a great battle.

Battle of the Brávellir - Preparation

According to Saxo Grammaticus, both hosts prepared for seven years, and mustered armies of 200 000 men. Harald was joined by the legendary heroes Ubbe of Friesland, Uvle Brede, Are the One-eyed, Dag the Fat, Hroi Whitebeard and Hothbrodd the indomitable as well was 300 shieldmaidens led by Hed, Visna and Hedborg. Sigurd recruited the legendary heroes Starkad, Egil the Bald, Grette the Evil (a Norwegian), Blig Bignose, Einar the Fatbellied and Erling Snake. They were joined by scores of Norwegians, Saxons, Angles, Frisians, Irish, Rus', Finns, etc. Whole forests were chopped down in order to build 3000 longships to transport the Swedes. Harald's Danes had built so many ships that they could walk across The Sound.

The numbers are obviously exaggerated, certainly tenfold or more. For comparison with the 3000 Swedish ships, the leidang fleets of the Scandinavian kingdoms numbered around 300 ships each during the Viking Age.

Battle of the Brávellir - Location

The location of the Brávellir was formerly disputed. According to a local tradition it took place at lake Åsnen in Småland, but according to Hervarar saga it is described as Brávelli í eystra Gautlandi (i.e. Bråvalla in East Götaland) and in Sögubrot af Nokkrum the battle is said to have taken place south of Kolmården which separated Sweden (i.e. Svealand) from East Götaland and where Bråviken is located: ... Kolmerkr, er skilr Svíþjóð ok Eystra-Gautland ... sem heitir Brávík.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Battle of the Brávellir", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki