Battle of Svolder - Time and Location

Time and Location

All sources which date the battle agree that it took place in 1000. The oldest source to date it is the meticulous Íslendingabók, written around 1128, which specifies that it took place in the summer. Oddr Snorrason says further that the battle is "memorialized for the fallen men on the Third or Fourth Ides of September", (10 or 11 September). Mesta states that the battle occurred on 9 September, and other sources agree with either date. Since some medieval writers reckoned the end of the year in September, it is possible that the year referred to is in fact the one we know as 999.

The location of the battle cannot be identified with any certainty. According to Adam of Bremen, it took place in Oresund. Ágrip and Historia Norwegie also place it off Zealand. Theodoricus says it took place "beside the island which is called Svöldr; and it lies near Slavia". Fagrskinna speaks of "an island off the coast of Vinðland... his island is called Svölðr." Oddr Snorrason and Heimskringla agree on the island's name but do not specify its location. A stanza by Skúli Þórsteinsson speaks of "the mouth of Svolder", suggesting that Svolder was originally the name of a river which Norse unfamiliarity with Wendish geography turned into an island. The Danish Annales Ryenses are unique in placing the battle in the Schlei. Modern historians are divided, some locating the confrontation near the German island of Rügen while others prefer Oresund.