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6o II. CONVERSION OF SWEDEN (A.D. 8301130).
the succession to his own infant son, and induced the
nobles and people to do him immediate homage an inci
dent from which, according to the common story, he is
said to have received the surname of Skotkonung or Lap-
T TT . Q
King.
8
Eric s wife, Sigrid Stor-rada (the high-minded), who we
may suppose held the child in her arms, was herself a
powerful instrument in working out the tragic history of
the three kingdoms at this time, being closely connected,
in one way or another, with all the chief actors in it. Her
haughty temper caused her husband to separate from her,
and he married another wife. He then invaded Denmark,
and drove the king, Sven Forkbeard, into exile. While
in Denmark the Swedish king for a time became a
Christian, though he afterwards relapsed into paganism
(Adam, ch. 79). It may have been while he was ruling
for a time in Denmark, or, as Saxo (lib. x., p. 338, ed.
Holder, Strassburg, 1886) puts it, rather later, that Poppo,
a bishop of Slesvig, came as legate of the German Emperor
and Archbishop Adaldag, to persuade the Scandinavian
peoples to live at peace with their neighbours, and per
formed some remarkable miracles in the presence of the
multitude holding a hot iron in his hand, and allowing a
waxed shirt to be burnt upon his body (Adam : ch. 77 ; cp.
Saxo: I.e.). Other Danish bishops, such as Odinkar
junior, ordained by Adaldag s successor, Libentius, or
Liavinzo (988 A.D. 1013 A.D.), also worked occasionally
in Sweden (Adam: I.e.). Eric the Victorious is said to
have died ten years after the Battle of Fyrisvall, according
to his compact with Odin, in the year 993 A.D. (cp. Harald
Greyskin s Saga, ch. u, in Heimskringla, ed. Laing, ch.
2, p. 63).
His widow, Sigrid, who was very rich, had many
8
This is the common story; but others suggest a different
origin to the name. Hans Hildebrand : S. H. 2
, pt. 2, p. 80,
derives it from a land tax or skatt (English
"
scot ")
laid by him
on the royal estates and domains, and connects it with his
coinage.
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