Erik's Chronicle

Erik's Chronicle^[a] (Swedish: Erikskrönikan) is the oldest surviving Swedish chronicle. It was written by an unknown author (or, less probably, several authors) between about 1320 and 1335.

It is the oldest in a group of medieval rhymed chronicles recounting political events in Sweden. It is one of Sweden's earliest and most important narrative sources. Its authorship and precise political significance and biases are debated, but it is clear that the chronicle's protagonist and hero is Duke Erik Magnusson, brother of King Birger of Sweden.

The chronicle is written in knittelvers, a form of doggerel, and in its oldest version is 4543 lines long. It begins in 1229, with the reign of King Erik Eriksson (d. 1250) but focuses on the period 1250–1319, ending when the three-year-old Magnus Eriksson was elected to the throne of Sweden and inherited the throne of Norway.

The chronicle was composed after 1320, based on its description of the most recent event, the execution of the young Magnus Birgersson. Since it does not mention Magnus Eriksson's rule over Skåne, it is often assumed to have been written before 1332. At the latest, it was completed by 1335, prior to Magnus Eriksson's coming of age and ascension as king.^[1]

The chronicle survives in six manuscripts from the 15th, and a further fourteen from the 16th and 17th centuries.

Example

Dödhin han er ekke söther

thz rönte herra jwan

en höwelik riddare ok wäl dan

han war ther skutin i häll

thz edde hertoganom ekke wäl

En riddare heyt gudzsär

han fik ther ok slikt sama wärk

han hörde konung birge till

mannen dör tho han ey will

Ther miste han sith liiff

fult gaff han fore thera kiiff

Death is not mild:

Sir Ivan experienced it,

a courteous, excellent knight:

an arrow transfixed him and he died.

The duke was not happy for that.

A knight's name was Gudsärk,

the same thing happened to him,

he was one of King Birger's men.

Men die even if they don't want:

he lost his life,

he paid for their conflict.^[b]

Notes

^ Also translated as Eric's Chronicle, The Chronicle of Erik or Erik Chronicle
^ Lines 3269-79, quoted and translated by Fulvio Ferrari^[2], here with minor amendments to punctuation.

References

^ Ferrari 2008, p. 55.
^ Ferrari 2008, p. 68.

Sources

Ferrari, Fulvio (2008). "Literature as a Performative Act: Erikskrönikan and the Making of a Nation". In Bampi, Massimiliano; Ferrari, Fulvio (eds.). Lärdomber oc skämptan: Medieval Swedish Literature Reconsidered. Samlingar utgivna av Svenska fornskriftsällskapet, serie 3: Smärre texter och undersökningar. Vol. 5. Uppsala: Svenska fornskriftsällskapet. pp. 55–80.

Gustav Cederschiöld (1911), Något om rimmen i Erikskrönikan / G. Cederschiöld., Skrifter utgivna av Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland (in Swedish), Helsinki: Society of Swedish Literature in Finland, ISSN 0039-6842, Wikidata Q113396175
Hugo Pipping (1911), Ännu något om rimmen i Erikskrönikan / Hugo Pipping., Skrifter utgivna av Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland (in Swedish), Helsinki: Society of Swedish Literature in Finland, ISSN 0039-6842, Wikidata Q113396169
Rolf Pipping (1919), Erikskrönikans ordskatt enligt texten i Cod. Holm. D 2, Samlad och ordnad / Rolf Pipping., Skrifter utgivna av Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland (in Swedish), Helsinki: Society of Swedish Literature in Finland, ISSN 0039-6842, Wikidata Q113519131
Rolf Pipping (1926), Kommentar till Erikskrönikan / av Rolf Pipping., Skrifter utgivna av Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland (in Swedish), Helsinki: Society of Swedish Literature in Finland, ISSN 0039-6842, Wikidata Q113518979
Original text in Old Swedish
Carlquist, Erik; Hogg, Peter C. (2012). The Chronicle of Duke Erik: A Verse Epic from Medieval Sweden. Nordic Academic Press. ISBN 978-91-85509-57-7. Translation into modern English
Carl L. Thunberg (2012): Att tolka Svitjod, Göteborgs universitet, pp 47-53.

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[1] Also translated as Eric's Chronicle, The Chronicle of Erik or Erik Chronicle

[4] Lines 3269-79, quoted and translated by Fulvio Ferrari^[2], here with minor amendments to punctuation.

[FOOTNOTEFerrari200855-2] Ferrari 2008, p. 55.

[FOOTNOTEFerrari200868-3] Ferrari 2008, p. 68.

[a]

[1]

[b]

[2]

Erik's Chronicle

Example

Notes

References

Sources

Further reading

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