Östen or Eystein (d. ca 600) was the son of Adils (Eadgils) and Yrsa of Saxony. He was the father of Ingvar.
Snorri Sturluson relates that Östen ruled Sweden at the time when Hrólf Kraki died in Lejre. It was a troubled time when many seakings ravaged the Swedish shores. One of those kings was named Sölve and he was from Jutland (but according to Historia Norwegiae he was Geatish). At this time Sölve was pillaging in the Baltic Sea and so he arrived in Lofond (probably the island of Lovön or the Lagunda Hundred), where Östen was at a feast. It was night-time and Sölve and his men surrounded the house and set it on fire burning everyone inside to death. Then Sölve arrived at Sigtuna (Old Sigtuna) and ordered the Swedes to accept him as king. The Swedes refused and gathered an army that fought against Sölve and his men, but they lost after eleven days. The Swedes had to accept him as king for a while until they rebelled and killed him.
- For a long time none could tell
- How Eystein died -- but now I know
- That at Lofond the hero fell;
- The branch of Odin was laid low,
- Was burnt by Solve's Jutland men.
- The raging tree-devourer fire
- Rushed on the monarch in its ire;
- First fell the castle timbers, then
- The roof-beams -- Eystein's funeral pyre.[1]
Primary sources
Secondary sources
Nerman, B. Det svenska rikets uppkomst. Stockholm, 1925.
