Erik's Chronicle (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.
The chronicle survives in six manuscripts from the 15th, and a further fourteen from the 16th and 17th centuries.
Example
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Notes
- Also translated as Eric's Chronicle, The Chronicle of Erik or Erik Chronicle
- Lines 3269-79, quoted and translated by Fulvio Ferrari, 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.
Further reading
- 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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