Egill Skallagrímsson was a viking, farmer and poet who is best known for his role in the tale called Egill’s saga, which was written some time between 1220 and 1240 CE. The saga tells the tale of Egill and his adventures around Scandinavia and the surrounding countries, but because most of the information about him comes from a story, combined with the fact that most vikings didn’t have any kind of written language at this point its authenticity is questionable.
Egill did seem to exist however as he is mentioned various times in historical texts, and he is also believed to have fought on the side of King Athelstan against the Danes. He was born in Iceland and after making various trips to Scandinavia he became a bitter rival of the Norwegian king Harold Fairhair.
When King Harold died a man named Eirik Bloodaxe claimed the title and killed his own brothers to make sure there was no competition. Due to a previous falling out, Eirik declared Egill an outlaw and sent a group of warriors to capture him, but Egill managed to kill the guards and on his way out the country also managed to kill the son of the new king Eirik Bloodaxe.
Before Egill was ready to head back to Iceland he found out that King Eirik had been quickly overthrown by another Viking ruler and had to flee the country with his wife. Eirik and his wife landed in Northumbria and they declared them selves king and queen, in direct rivalry with King Athelstan of the Saxons.
Egill was eventually forced to flee Norway and had to land in Northumbria after his ship was badly damaged during a storm. After hearing of who owned the land he was now in, he thought it best to go and apologise to Eirik instead of trying to run.
The story goes that he spoke a poem to King Eirik who was not impressed and ordered him to be executed, but he was convinced to let him live until morning as vikings had a rule that made it illegal for a viking to kill another during the night.
In the morning Egill had composed a new very lengthy poem that impressed Eirik so much, he let him live, even though he had previously killed his son.
As for the treasure most of it was gathered over his life time during his raiding years, but he is known to have fought for king Athelstan as a mercenary from which he received a large payout of silver for.
After staying in England for a few years he went back to Iceland to live on his family land were he became one of the most powerful rulers in the country. Apparently before he died he buried all of his left over silver somewhere near modern day Mosfellsbær, and to protect its location he killed the servant that helped him bury it.
As for the authenticity of this story there is no evidence at all that its true, but there is some evidence that Egill did exist and had lands in Iceland. He was also known for making a number of successful raids and traded with Courland before he was forced to leave Scandinavia. The chances of the story of buried silver could very well be true, as the only option someone with wealth would have to hide their goods would be to bury it.
There’s also the possibility that he either didn’t trust or didn’t want to share his wealth with his five children. Whatever the reason he may have had for burying the treasure there’s a good chance its true, but then again there’s also a good chance its nothing more than a story written about someone who seemed like an interesting character, until someone finds it, if ever, we wont know.
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