It is when Eric gains the kingship in Northumbria that he finally steps more firmly into the historical limelight, even though the sources provide only scanty detail and present notorious problems of their own. The historical sources – e.g., versions A-F of the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle,
Historia regum and Roger of Wendover's
Historia Anglorum – tend to be reticent and the chronology is confused. However, the best chronological guideline appears to be that offered by the Worcester Chronicle, i.e., the D-text of the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The Northumbria on which he set foot was one which had been bitterly fought over between the West-Saxon kings and the Hiberno-Norse line of descendants from
Ímair, kings of Dublin. The Northumbrians' own position in the middle of the struggle may have been complex and the outcome was variable, leading an unsympathetic historian like Henry of Huntingdon to judge harshly "their usual faithlessness" (
solita infidelitas).
Historical background Æthelstan In 927, having ejected
Gofraid ua Ímair from York,
King Æthelstan brought Northumbria under English control. His victory in the
Battle of Brunanburh in 937, in which he and his half-brother Edmund defeated Gofraid's son
King Olaf (III) Guthfrithson of Dublin, seems to have had the effect of consolidating his power. This impression is borne out by royal charters issued towards the end of his reign, between 937 and 939, which style Æthelstan ruler over all Britain (e.g., or ).
Edmund and the two Olafs However, Æthelstan died in 939 and his successor
Edmund, only 18 years of age, was unable to retain control of Northumbria. In 939 or 940, almost as soon as Edmund had come to power, a new ruler of the
Uí Ímair dynasty had made York his seat. From Irish annals it is known that Edmund's old rival
Olaf Guthfrithson left Dublin in 939 (
Annals of the Four Masters), that in 940 his cousin, known in Ireland as
Amlaíb Cuarán and in England as Olaf Sihtricsson, joined him in York (
Annals of the Four Masters,
Annals of Clonmacnoise) and that Olaf Guthfrithson died in 941 (
Annals of Clonmacnoise,
Chronicon Scotorum), while the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (MS E) dates his death – incorrectly it seems – to 942. Amlaíb Cuarán succeeded him and did so with popular support, as the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (MS D) reports that in 941, "the Northumbrians belied their pledges, and chose Olaf [i.e., Amlaíb Cuarán] from Ireland as their king." Amlaíb shared the throne with his nephew
Ragnald (Rögnvaldr), son of Gofraid. There are indications that
Wulfstan, Archbishop of York and a leading statesman in Northumbrian politics, played a key role in Amlaíb's support, although he would later change his mind (see below). In 942 Edmund struck back with a recapture of Mercia and the
Five Boroughs of
Danelaw, which so impressed contemporaries that a poem was written in honour of the achievement and included in the
Chronicle. In response, Amlaíb launched a successful raid on
Tamworth (Mercia), probably sometime later that year. However, in 943, when Amlaíb had marched on to
Leicester, one of the Boroughs, he and Wulfstan were besieged by Edmund and managed to escape only by a hair's breadth. Peace negotiations followed later that year to the effect that Edmund accepted Amlaíb as an ally and as two northern sources add, ceded to him Northumbria as far south as Watling Street. Later, Edmund stood sponsor to him at baptism and to Ragnall at confirmation. In 944, however, Northumbria passed into West-Saxon hands again as Edmund drove out both Viking rulers. The chronicler
Æthelweard is clearer on the point of agency, writing that it was Wulfstan and the ealdorman () of the Mercians who deposed these 'deserters' – perhaps born again pagans – and forced them to submit to Edmund. The same year, Edmund raided Cumbria and entrusted it to
Malcolm I of Scotland in exchange for support "both on sea and on land". The Irish annals report that in 945, Amlaíb was back in Dublin and an anonymous ruler at York, possibly Ragnald (Rögnvaldr), died. Edmund was described as in one of his charters, but did not live long enough to enjoy his renewed hold on the northern zone. He was killed in 946.
Eric's first reign (947/8–948) When
Eadred succeeded to the throne in 946, Northumbrian as well as Scottish loyalties had proved unstable, though nothing is known for certain of the ambitions of rival rulers at this stage. Eadred "reduced all the land of Northumbria to his control; and the Scots granted him oaths that they would do all that he wanted." Moreover, in 947 he convened Archbishop Wulfstan and the Northumbrian witan at
Tanshelf (now in
Pontefract, West Yorkshire), on the boundary of the Humber (near an old Roman road), where they pledged their obedience to him. What perceived threat was being countered remains unclear, but English rule does not seem to have been very warmly received. In any event, the
Chronicle (MS D) notes that the Northumbrians soon violated their pledges and oaths (947) and records a definite outcome of their disloyalty in 948, by which time "they had taken Eirik [
Yryc] for their king". That year, King Eadred harshly punished the northern defectors by launching a destructive raid on Northumbria, which notably included burning the
Ripon minster founded by
St Wilfrid. Although Eadred's forces had to sustain heavy losses in the Battle of
Castleford (
Ceaster forda) – near Tanshelf – as they returned southwards, Eadred managed to check his rival by promising the latter's supporters even greater havoc if they did not desert Eric. The Northumbrians preferred to appease the English king, renounced Eric and paid compensation. The
Chronicle of the Kings of Alba records that shortly thereafter, in 948 or 949,
Malcolm (I) of Scotland and Cumbria, at
Constantine's instigation, raided Northumbria as far south as the
River Tees and returned with many cattle and captives. Marios Costambeys suggests that it "may have been directed against, or mounted in favour of, Eirik, though the protagonist could just as easily have been Óláf Sihtricson."
Eric's second reign (952–954) Eric's removal cleared the way for Amlaíb [Anlaf Cwiran], who having suffered defeat at
Slane (Co. Meath, Ireland) in 947, returned to Northumbria and took the kingship, supposedly in 949, if the E-text is to be trusted. Eadred does not appear to have undertaken any significant action and may even have turned a blind eye on his brother's godson, or so at least the silence of the sources appears to suggest. The E-text reports, however, that in 952, "the Northumbrians drove out King Olaf and accepted Eric, son of Harold." The Annals of Ulster for the same year report a victory of the "foreigners", i.e., the Northmen or the Norse-Gaels, over "the men of Scotland and the Welsh [
Bretnu, i.e., Britons of Strathclyde] and the Saxons." Exactly what this succinct account may tell us of his second rise to power, if anything, is frustratingly unclear. He may have led the Viking forces in a second bid for the throne, or only returned from the sideline to exploit the ravages of defeat. Clare Downham notes the existence of an otherwise unrecorded
Eltangerht, whose coins were minted at York and date from about the same time, but nothing is known of him from other records.
Archbishop Wulfstan and the charters The nature of Eric's relationship with
Archbishop Wulfstan, the leading Northumbrian churchman who played such a decisive role in Amlaíb's career in the early 940s, remains tantalisingly unclear. One might assume that Wulfstan, given his political eminence, headed the Northumbrian party which elected Eric. It has likewise been suggested that Eadred's punitive attack on the ancient minster of Ripon, which carried little military weight, was targeted at Wulfstan in particular. In what sense his deposition in 948 may have affected the relationship in later years is more open to speculation. The witness lists of
Anglo-Saxon charters, which reveal when or not Wulfstan attended Eadred's court, in his own right or as a diplomat intermediating between two kings, have been used to provide a chronological framework for Wulfstan's swerving loyalties. Between 938 and 941, that is roughly between the Battle of Brunanburh (937) and the recovery of the Five Boroughs (942), the archbishop did not attest any royal charters, but he began to do so during or after the negotiations of 942. What the charters reveal for Eric's first reign is less clear-cut, but intermittent absence may explain gaps in the record for Wulfstan's attestations in the turbulent years 947–948. Unfortunately, the critical period between 950 and 954 has produced comparatively few charters (owing perhaps to Eadred's deteriorating health), but what little there is may be instructive. Wulfstan is still seen at court in 950, but of the five charters which were issued in 951, not one was attested by him, which once again may imply his backing of Amlaíb. Eric's reign (952–954) is more obscure. We do know, however, that in 952, the same year that Eric began his second term at York, Wulfstan was arrested and stood on trial in
Iudanbyrig (unknown) on account of several unspecified allegations which had been repeatedly brought before Eadred. Of the few charters surviving for 953, Wulfstan attests one and by 955, after Eric's death, he was restored to office, but now with
Dorchester rather than York as his episcopal seat. Clare Downham suggests that during this period, Wulfstan may have been pressured by King Eadred into relinquishing his support of Eric. Obverse: ERIC RE[X] (King Eric). Reverse: [R]ADVLF MON[] (moneyer Radulf). Eric's Northumbrian rule is also corroborated by numismatic evidence. As of 3 February 2009, 31 coins minted at York had been found which bear the inscription of his name. These can be divided into two distinct types of issue: N549, in which the moneyer's name (reverse) is written horizontally and broken up in two, and N550, in which his name is inscribed around the edges and Eric's name (obverse) accompanied by a sword symbol (image above on the right). The two principal moneyers, Ingalger and Radulf, who had also minted coins for Amlaíb, occur on both types. The two types may correspond to his two reigns, but it is not out of the question that both were issued during a single reign.
Life of St Cathróe Eric's sudden appearance in the
Chronicle, first noted by the D-text, is a puzzling one, lacking any information as to how or why he emerged on the scene. As hinted above, the
Life of the Scottish saint
Cathróe of Metz, written by a cleric (Reimann) who claimed to have been a former pupil of the saint, may possibly shed some light on his background. St Cathróe, a Scottish saint with a
Brythonic name, visited a certain King Eric (
Erichus) in York as he proceeded southwards from his native
Strathclyde and Cumbria to
Loida civitas, sometimes identified as
Leeds, on the boundary with Cumbria, ultimately intending to go to West France. This Eric was both settled and married, and may have been on good terms with his neighbours in the north-west, although the evidence is indirect and somewhat ambiguous: the saint claimed kinship not only with Eric's wife but also with
Dyfnwal (III) (d. 975), king of Strathclyde and Cumbria (
Donevaldus, rex Cumbrorum), which may point to an alliance of some kind between the two rulers. Based on internal evidence for the saint's itinerary, Cathróe's stay is to be dated between 940 x 943, when
Constantine (II) left the kingdom of Scotland to
Malcolm (I), and 946, when Edmund was slain. The greatest obstacle to an identification of the Erics lies in the problem that the account would be difficult to square with the version of events presented by the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the assertion in royal charters that in 946, Edmund was still king of all Britain. It may be noted that the text's chronology has likewise presented some difficulties concerning the political status of Dyfnwal in the story (see
main article there).
King of the Hebrides (Caithréim Chellacháin Chaisil) A further glimpse may be offered by the mid-12th-century Irish saga entitled
Caithréim Chellacháin Chaisil, a text which was primarily designed to glorify the deeds of
Cellachán mac Buadacháin (d. 954), king of Munster, and hence his descendants, the
Clann Faílbe. In one of its poems, an "Eric, King of the Islands" (
Éiric Righ na n-Innse), meaning ruler of the Hebrides, is described as having allied himself to Sitriuc mac Tuirgeis, king of Dublin. Although the
Caithréim is hardly a work celebrated for its accuracy as a source of history, the distant memory of an Eric who ruled the
Hebrides may not be fictitious. It may be a matter of coincidence that the next Vikings known to have ruled the Hebrides were also 'sons of Harold',
Gofraid mac Arailt,
ri Innsi Gall (d. 989), who was succeeded by his son Ragnall,
rí na n-innsi (d. 1005), and probably Gofraid's brother
Maccus mac Arailt, who is accorded the title "king of very many islands" (). ==Death==