Eric Bloodaxe The Viking: 'I Shall Die Laughing'

Eric Bloodaxe (or Brother-Slayer) might well claim to be the last of the Vikings, his career a real-life episode of Game of Thrones, his life a true Norse saga, the realities teased out by the author from sparse chronicle sources and enigmatic, often contradictory sagas. The whole picture nevertheless encapsulates the very tenor and essence of the Viking Age. Saga sources tell us that by the age of twelve Eric was already a fearsome warrior, leading murderous raids against the Balts and Sco...