My Sword for Tyr: A Norse Megacampaign

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Hello once again. I have come back to AAR to attempt my second Megacampaign on this forum. After having spent some time getting the content and screenshots for this I believe I am ready to make my second attempt.

Second attempt? What happened to your Welsh campaign?
Quite a few problems happened with that. An update broke the save so I tried to get it converted to EU4 to continue it. Someone was very helpful in helping me fix stuff so that it could actually be converted, but when I went to play it and continue the story it just kept crashing. I couldn't figure out the issue so I had to sadly scrap it and try it again.

What are you doing this time?
I thought about what I wanted to do for a good, long while. A Roman campaign sounded fun, but if my plans for it got as far as Vic 2 and HOI4 I would need a small team to help me mod it. An Andalusian game sounded fun, but I haven't tried it yet. And I got pretty far in a Russian game before realizing that there was already a Russian Megacampaign going on. So I eventually decided to play Erik the Heathen in the 1066 start.

Erik the who?
In real life we only have one source on Erik the Heathen and that is from Adam of Bremen, a German Medieval Chronicler. According to Adam, Erik was the son of King Stenkil and he had a brother confusingly also named Erik, who was a Christian. When Stenkil died, the two brothers fought each other for the Swedish throne in 1066-1067 in a war that was very bloody and led to both of them being killed along with many of the nobles of the kingdom.

So what's your goal with this?
To return Scandinavia to the Norse gods and at least form Scandinavia. Past that, I want to play a colonial game and form a great Norse Scandinavian Empire.
To start off with this campaign, I wanted to follow the story of the two Eriks as closely as possible. Erik the Heathen's start is known to be one of the harder starts so I had to do some behind the scene stuff to follow it as the Heathen starts as a vassal of Sweden. Besides that, I will absolutely refrain from trying to do anymore behind the scene stuff in the future.

With all of that out of the way, let's begin the story.

Prologue
The Saga of Erik and Erik
1066-1068
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The Saga of Erik and Erik, one of the most famous, if not THE most famous saga to have survived to the modern era. It was found on a Runestone outside of Sigtuna where it was then recorded onto paper and passed out from generation to generation. The saga itself takes place in 1066 and tells the story of two brothers.

The first brother was Erik the III or as he's more famously known by: Erik the Heathen. The Duke of Uppland, he was an unabashed pagan, a worshiper of Asatru, the native pagan faith of Scandinavia. Their gods had once been worshiped across the region before then, but Catholic missionaries from the south had been increasingly moving north, converting the people away from the old gods. By this point only a small minority of people, mostly in isolated rural areas, spoke of the old gods. The region of Uppland was one of these regions.

The second brother was also named Erik, Erik the II, or more famously Erik Stenkilsson. Unlike his brother, Erik Stenkilsson was a devout Catholic like their father was. Unlike his brother though, he was the King of Sweden, having been elected by the other nobles of the kingdom. The two were obviously at odds with each other considering their differing faiths.

Their father was King Stenkil, a devout Catholic as well who had helped in turning Sweden towards Christ. Despite his worship of Christ, Stenkil was very accommodating to the remaining Asatru pagans in Sweden, allowing them religious freedoms and even positions in government. Erik Stenkilsson didn't share his father's views on the Asatru though. As soon as he came to throne he began to remove all the privileges that the Asatru had under his father, intent on making the pagans in his realm second class citizens in their own lands unless they turned to Christ. Erik the Heathen wouldn't be spared this.

As Erik Stenkilsson was preparing to make these new laws Erik the Heathen forcefully barged into the court, angry at his brother for these new laws and demanding to know why he was doing this. Erik Stenkilsson just said that he was doing this for God and instead demanded Erik the Heathen give up his position as the Duke of Uppland and that he had until tomorrow to make his decision or else he would be arrested.

Erik the Heathen stormed out of the court and galloped back to Sigtuna in Uppland. He gathered up his soldiers and declared war on his brother for the Swedish throne and to restore Asatru as the faith of Sweden.

Erik the Heathen marches his army south to Strigines to lay siege to the Swedish capital while Erik Stenkilsson leads his army north to lay Gestrikalandia under siege.

The war though quickly gets a lot bigger as Norway and Denmark joins on the side of Erik Stenkilsson, not wanting to see a Asatru take the throne of Sweden. The Swedish forces would abandon their siege to instead meet up with the Danes and while the Norwegians did join they wouldn't commit any forces to the war as Harald Hardrada was more interested in his invasion of England.

The combined Christian forces would return to the siege of Gestrikalandia. Meanwhile, Strigines would fall to Erik the Heathen's forces, capturing another brother of his in the siege.

After taking Strigines, Erik the Heathen would march his army north to relieve the siege at Gavle. He would meet a part of the Danish army in battle there expecting the rest to reinforce. The other armies don't however, and the other half of the Danish army instead marches further north away from the battle leaving their fellow Danes to die in a battle where only seven Danes escape the battle alive.

Erik the Heathen then marches to face his brother's forces at Henamorum. The Danes do reinforce the battle this time, though it doesn't change the tide of the battle and give another victory to the Heathen.

He then lays siege to Vastmannaland, allowing the Swedes and Danes to retreat. As he's laying siege though, Erik Stenkilsson returns to Strigines where he kills the garrison that had been left by Erik the Heathen. As soon as Erik is done with his siege he marches back south to face his brother in a second battle.

It would turn out to be the last battle of the war though. As Erik the Heathen is surveying the bodies of the battle with his guards they find Erik Stenkilsson among the bodies, wounded and pretending to be dead so that he could escape later. He wasn't lucky though and tries to beg for his life, even promising to become an Asatru. Erik the Heathen doesn't buy it though.

With the king captured he forces the Christians to recognize him as King of Sweden. As for Erik Stenkilsson, he was stripped of all of his titles until he was nothing more than a commoner. Forced to beg in the streets to the people that he tried to get rid of.

And just like that Erik the Heathen was now the King of Sweden. All that Norway and Denmark could do was look on as Erik the Heathen replaced the old Christian nobility with his Asatru knights and begin a rebirth of the Asatru faith.

 

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Chapter One
Settling In
1068-1075
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The first thing that Erik does when coming to the throne of Sweden is to create a Runestone to commemorate his ascension and the fall of his brother, gathering the best artists and carvers he could find in Sweden to work on the Runestone it was soon finished and placed outside of Sigtuna. It's widely believed that The Saga of Erik and Erik runestone currently sitting outside of Sigtuna is this very runestone as it is dated to have been completed in 1068.

Runestones were a common tradition in Norse Scandinavia, found commonly in Scandinavia with most located in Sweden and some scattered around in various locations across Europe, mostly in places that saw Norse settlements. Most runestones are used for remembrance of a deceased person, usually detailing the person it was raised for, who raised it, and how the person who it was raised for the person who raised it were related to each other. The inscriptions would also tell of their social status, foreign voyages and accomplishments, place of death, and when Scandinavia was Christian, prayers.

During the Christianization of Scandinavia runestones remained common though they slowly started to lose relevance, though they saw a revival when Scandinavia return to the Norse gods before slowly petering out until new ones stopped being made in the early 14th century.

Besides the runestone, Erik soon had his first child with his wife Sigrid. A daughter who would be named Edla.

Erik would also have to deal with the Christians within his realm. At this point most of Scandinavia and most of Sweden were thoroughly Christian and would take a lot of effort to get them to return to the old gods. He couldn't revoke their privileges either as it would cause a full on rebellion unlike what his brother attempted with the Norse. He would have to deal with the Christian question slowly and peacefully.

Another matter that he would have to deal with in his early reign was the Count of Dal serving as the last stronghold of the Christian nobility in Sweden. Already independent before Erik the Heathen took the throne of Sweden, the surviving Christian nobility would flee to Dal's court under the control of Count Faste Galta where they were likely plotting to retake the throne of Sweden for God.

This was something that Erik couldn't allow, so he declared war on the small county on March 26, 1069 to bring the county into Sweden.

Compared to Sweden, Dal couldn't bring up a large amount of men to fight where Sweden could bring in plenty. Confident in this victory, Erik left half of his army behind and marched with the other half to meet them in battle at Dalaborg where Dal's army was easily crushed and sent running into Norwegian lands.

As he's sieging Dalaborg however, the army of Dal returns a few months later in what Erik would comment as: "A completely suicidal charge in some last ditch attempt". As much as their bravery can be admired, they didn't win this battle and were forced to retreat back into Norwegian lands.

Shortly after this battle Dalaborg would fall and Faste would surrender a few days later, what happens to Faste after losing Dal would be lost to the dust of history.

To celebrate this victory Erik would hold a Great Blot where he would invite the people of Uppland and the court to attend.

The Blot is another tradition of the Norse faith. It was a celebration that contained blood sacrifices of either animals, usually pigs or horses, or sacrificing people that were obtained through war. The animal meat would be would be boiled in large pots where they would then be eaten and the blood would be sprinkled onto statues of their gods, on the walls or the participants themselves as blood was considered to hold special powers. A drink of beer or mead would also be passed around.

After the return of the Norse faith in Scandinavia the Blot would make a return as a celebration among the nobility and a holiday among both the nobility and peasants. The holiday versions of the Blot take place in the middle of October, usually four weeks after the autumn equinox, a winter Blot that takes place right after the winter solstice, and a summer Blot that takes place in the middle of April four weeks after the spring equinox.

At the beginning of the Late Modern Period many people in Scandinavia would begin to question the morality of human sacrifices in the Blot, even if they were almost always prisoners. The debate would continue to flare until the end of the 19th century when human sacrifices for the Blot were officially banned though animal sacrifices are still allowed.

At this time Erik would become fascinated by the subject of Rome, specifically the exploits of the great Julius Caesar. He would seek to emulate Caesar and considered his Siege of Alesia a masterpiece, learning much about siege tactics from this and Caesar's many exploits.

He would put these strategies to the test in his raids along the Holland coast, first landing on the islands of Zeeland where he began his raid.

He would spend several months raiding along the coast of Holland and Germany. Many cities and towns like Dokkum would be completely burned down and stripped of anything of value, leaving nothing behind besides smoldering ruins and bodies. Telling Europe that the Vikings were here once again and they weren't changing their ways.

He planned to raid his way through Denmark to get back to Sweden instead of taking the boats again, but a Holy Roman army would appear and chase him all the way back to Frisia where he would be force to escape by boat and return to Sweden.

He would use the plunder he got from the raid to build a siege workshop in Sigtuna, knowing that he would need these if he wanted to conquer like Caesar once did.

For most of her childhood, Erik's daughter Edla would be sickly child even as she got older which forced her to find entertainment in reading. Edla did start to slowly feel better though and when she witnessed some soldiers training she would beg Erik to allow her to participate. Erik would allow her to join, but on the condition that no harm would come to her as he feared any injury would cause her sickness to become stronger again.

The result of this decision would be that Edla would kill six people with a wooden shaft including one of Erik's advisors. Something that Erik would have to apologize for very quickly.

All in all, the family was settling into ruling pretty well.

 

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Chapter Two
Carrying the Torch
1075-1090
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Erik would be met with two new children after this event, a pair of twin daughters named Alfridh and Ylva. Up to three daughters and no sons.

Not that Erik seemed to mind though. It is known that he had a great relationship with his eldest daughter, Edla, who was his heir. In the winters when it was snowing he would take time out of his day to go sled with her, even sneaking away from his duties a few times to do this.

On the 18th of February, 1076, it finally happened. Despite Erik's tolerance of the Christian population he was still incredibly unpopular among the Catholic peasantry to the point that it finally became an uprising.

The peasants rose up in various places across the south of the kingdom, with one city joining the rebellion against Erik.

Seeing the roving bands of Christian peasants as more of a threat, Erik ignores the city that joined the rebellion to instead meet one of the peasant armies in battle. Considering that they were only peasants with only a few of them having an sort of combat experience the first army was easily crushed.

The leader of the rebellion however, Tolir Bure, was apart of this bigger army and was captured at the end of the battle trying to flee into the wilderness. With his capture the rebelling peasants put down their arms and return to their lives, Erik deciding to spare their lives.

The same couldn't be said for Tolir who would be turned into a Blood Eagle.

At this time some Russians down south in Russia decided to covert away from Orthodoxy, but not back to their pagan faiths. Some Arabs from southern Iraq traveled up to the region and converted quite a few Russians to Mandeaism, a Gnostic faith with some relation to Christianity.

Also, William the Bastard, now the Conqueror, won in the race to see who would gain control of England where they embrace a strange new culture called 'English'.

A strange amalgamation of various languages and rules it will surely be forgotten soon.

A year after the peasant rebellion, Erik begins to look for opportunities for expansion. Denmark and Norway were out of the question currently, they were too strong at the moment and had Christian allies to back them up in a war. So the only option was to push into the lands of the Finns.

Erik crosses into Finland via Aland and attacks the Finnish army at Rikala, a battle among the dense woodlands of Finland. It's a close victory for Erik that cost quite a few lives. After the battle Erik decides to retreat back to Aland to gather more troops for the campaign.

A few months later they land on Finland's shores once more, but a mistake is made that nearly dooms the campaign. Half of the army was accidentally sent out ahead of the other half, finding themselves outnumbered by the Finns at the Battle of Turku. Erik manages to hold for long enough for the other half to catch up and reinforce the battle, giving him another victory.

They soon take Turku and march north to Ulvila where they face and defeat the weaken Finnish army.

As they siege down Satakunta, the Finns regroup and retake Turku, requiring Erik to march down south again and face the Finns in another battle.

And with that final battle the Finns surrender, the entire kingdom being absorbed into Sweden.

The duchy is given to a Swedish man named Bengt to rule over.

Four years would go by with nothing really happening until 1083. Harald Hardrada would die and leave his kingdom to his daughter after all of his sons met tragic ends and throwing Norway into instability. Erik decides to take this chance to take Trondheim along Norway's north coast as there was a Norse holy site there in the city.

Erik sails his army up and lands in Trondheim. As he sieges the city he receives a letter from the queen asking for a white peace. He crumples the letter and tosses it away. There would be no white peace.

As Erik sieges Trondheim, Edla comes of age. Having become a very studious and bright she was also known to be compassionate and content with many things in her life. She was also known to be a social butterfly and enjoyed speaking with people.

She was given a matrilineal marriage to a minor Lithuanian nobility named Komantas Suvalkija.

Trondheim soon falls along with the rest of the duchy that Erik wanted, but the entire time they hadn't caught one sighting of the Norwegian army so they just continue to siege down various castles.

Back in Uppland, Edla and Komantas appeared to have hit it off as they give Erik a grandson named Georg.

For three years the Swedes continue to siege down Norway with no sighting of the Norwegian army. Eventually, a letter does arrive to Erik saying that the queen had surrendered and is giving Erik what he wants.

Erik originally wanted to give Trondheim to a Norwegian, but not even the Norwegian peasants in the region wanted the title so Erik eventually gave it to a Swedish noble named Dan Thomassson.

With the war over and getting old, Erik decides to set off on a pilgrimage to one of the Norse holy sites, eventually choosing the temple at York as his destination.

On his way there by boat, he and his ship of pilgrims are attacked by Norwegian pirates, who recognized the Swedish design of the boat they were using and decide to attack as revenge for the war.

Erik leads the defense against the pirates and repels them but not without taking a serious sword stab to the shoulder.

Despite the injury he presses on to York, eventually arriving to the temple there to find it in disrepair with only a lone, English Hofgodi looking after the temple. The Hofgodi gives Erik his blessings and then sends him on his way back to Sweden.

He returns to Sweden just in time to see the birth of his first granddaughter, Ingrid.

He stays with his family for a while before retreating to his chambers. In the morning Erik the Heathen would be found dead in his bed, his stab wound from the pirates having never healed and resulting in his death.

The 21 year old Edla was now Queen of Sweden, being confirmed by the nobility as such.

Not that they were happy to be ruled over a queen...

 

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Chapter Three
Wrath of the Old Gods
1090-1103
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Knowing the situation with her vassals wasn't good Edla would spend her first few months of ruling starting feasts and throwing Blots for her vassals in an attempt to get them to like her.

It didn't work though as her vassals soon came to her with the demand to lower the authority that the crown had over it's vassals or face a civil war. It wasn't for independence at least.

Knowing that a civil war would just allow the Norwegians and Danish to move in, Edla agrees to their demands to lower the authority of the crown.

All of this just served to stress the young queen who felt like she wasn't ready to rule Sweden and that her father and the nobles should've chosen someone else. Her husband would help her relax and she seems to take up writing as a way to relieve stress.

Looking to distract her vassals from another potential revolt she has them raid the Emirate of Cordoba. They sail there and land only to find that the Emirate's army was ready for them. They manage to retreat to the hills outside of the city where the Andalusians attack them.

The Swedes are able to use the hills at Pedroche to their advantage and drive the Andalusians off, though the casualties are extremely close and the Andalusians almost take the hill. The Andalusians retreat and allow the Swedes to raid the Mosque at Pedroche.

The Andalusians return once the Swedes leave the hills to raid the city of Cordoba itself and another close battle begins.

The Andalusians have the upper hand until their commander dies on the battlefield from an arrow to the head. With no commander to lead them the Andalusian army evaporates as the Swedes swarm them.

With the army gone the Swedes break into Cordoba and proceed to sack and pillage as much as they could, the city's many famous mosques and buildings being emptied of all of their valuables. They could've easily continued sacking the countryside of Cordoba, but instead they pile all their spoils onto their boats and sail away, leaving the city in ruin.

Back home, Edla and Komantas have their third child and second son, Henrik.

The relationship between Edla and her vassals also begins to improve at this time with Edla and Duke Thomas agreeing to end a long standing rivalry that they had going on.

Edla and Komantas soon have a fourth child as well, a daughter named Sigrid.

And in the lands of the Christians, Pope Alexander proclaims that the Age of Crusades have begun. For now, these Crusaders set their sights onto Jerusalem though it was a constant worry of Edla's that the Crusaders would suddenly turn their gaze north and try to retake Sweden.

After a few years of peace Edla declares her first war. Instead of continuing to focus on Finland she turns her sights to Estonia and the island of Osel under the rule of Courland.

The army gathers and then sets sail for Osel. When they land they find the Curonian army waiting for them at Kuressaare. The Swedes simply decide to find a different place to land on the island and then attack the Curonians from there instead of risking a battle to disembark from their ships.

The Curonians didn't exactly get this though as they simply disembarked from their boats on the second battle for Osel and suffered for this decision.

Once Osel was sieged down the Swedes arrived on the mainland of Courland to force them to peace. However, the Curonians simply walked through Estonia and landed on Osel from the other side where they retook Osel, forcing the Swedes to turn around and attack the Curonians in the third battle for Osel.

After this final battle the Curonians finally surrendered Osel to Edla. For now she controlled the island as part of her personal domain.

And as soon as the war was over Edla and Komantas had another child, another daughter named Malmfrid.

To the south the First Crusade would end in failure, the Christians having gotten nothing from the invasion besides a string of defeats, not even taking a single town in the Holy Land.

Back in Sweden, Edla would become famous for the amount of children she had, an impressive feat considering that they have all survived childhood so far. Many Norse began to believe that Edla had been blessed by Freya.

In 1099, Edla would command her army to raid the eastern coast of Ireland, cutting a swath through Dublin and Leinster and leaving ruined towns in their wake.

It would soon become clear why she ordered the raid: to reclaim Kiev and return it to the Norse.

The army would soon land at Kiev and begin a siege, the weakened Ruthenian army unable to do anything besides watch. Kiev was heavily defended though and had plenty of supplies so the army digs in for a very long siege.

Back home, Edla and Komantas have yet another child, another daughter named Katarina.

Georg, her eldest son, would also come of age at this time. Having a great deal of stewardship and a way with money, Georg was known to be a content and sociable young man like his mother, though he was also known to have a temper.

He would be married to Chieftess Cecilia of Sjeltie, an independent tribe of Norse Swedish that have so far resisted the attempts by Sweden to peacefully vassalize them.

She would immediately bring Edla into another war. While it was accepted, Edla was more focused on taking Kiev rather than helping her ally.

And in 1103 Kiev finally falls and better yet, the young queen of Ruthenia would be captured as the Swedish army swarmed into the city. With the queen captured and their goal taken, they would be forced to give up Kiev and give it to Sweden.

And within the church at Kiev, Edla herself would make a proclamation. No longer would the Norse watch as their neighbors and lands follow a foreign god and a foreign leader many miles to the south. From now on, the Norse faith would be an organized faith on equal footing to the cross and crescent moon.

The Norse Reformation had begun.

 

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Chapter Four
Annoying Allies and Perfidious Finns
1103-1121​

While some Swedes were happy to accept these changes in the reformation, many Norse were apprehensive about the changes with some even hostile to it, and the Catholics refused to convert as well. Now two groups that had to be dealt with.

Far to the south, in response to the Crusades, the Caliphate of Sunni Islam calls for a renewed Jihad to push back against any Crusaders and possibly to push itself into Europe. Sweden was extremely far from all this though so Edla never showed any worry about any Jihads suddenly coming up.

She was more concerned about the continued expansion of Sweden by finally continuing the policy of expansion into Finland.

The army is quick to sail over and land in Nyland only to find no resistance upon their landing.

As they siege Nyland down the war suddenly changes a little. Tavasts, one of the provinces that Edla declared for, suddenly became independent and split off from Nyland so instead of two provinces it would only be one now.

They soon learn where the enemy Finns had gone off to. For some reason they decided to try and siege down the island of Osel instead of defending their homes. The army would sail down and arrive just before the garrison at Osel could surrender, killing the army of Finns and capturing their leader in battle.

With their chief captured they were forced to end the war give up Nyland to Sweden.

The army didn't get to rest for too long though as Sevilay, a Crimean Chieftan that Edla married one of her daughters to, calls Sweden into a war for his claim on Crimea itself.

She accepts though it was going to be a long boat ride to get there.

The Swedish army would immediately land in enemy territory and attack the enemy army in the marshes of Kalos Limen. In the end, hundreds of Crimeans would be dead in the mud, their army slaughtered.

The swedes would then siege down their tribe and take it over quickly with little help from their allies. Ending the war and giving Sevilay control of the Crimea.

Henrik would come of age at this time, an extremely learned man who was known for his patience and temperance, though he was often fickle and indecisive.

He would end up being married off to the Countess of Skara within Sweden.

The army would get to rest a bit more before the next call to arms came in, this time from Franjo of Wallachia. Wallachia used to be Christian but had recently returned to pagan roots.

The army wasn't very happy to have to sail down there again.

As soon as the army reaches Wallachia another call to arms comes in and it was from Sevilay again. He had allowed the old Chieftain of Crimea to keep a county and now that old chieftain was revolting to get his crown back. Another thing that would have to be dealt with.

Instead of landing in Wallachia though the army lands in the enemy's capital of Odessa, trusting the Wallachian army to take care of the enemy forces. This way as soon as the war was over they could go and help Crimea immediately.

They siege down Odessa and the enemy army is killed by the Wallachians, ending the war quickly.

They then go to help the Crimeans, but it turns out that they didn't need their help and are able to win the war on their own without the Swedes having to step one foot onto their lands.

They don't even make it back to their boats when the next call to arms comes in, this time from Cecillia of Sjeltie.

So they sail all the way back and land to face the Finns, expecting Sjeltie reinforcements to come in and help. They instead completely circumvent the battle and leave their allies to their fates. The Sapmi are able to use the woods to their advantage against a superior foe and route the Swedes from the battle.

To compound this news Edla receives news that Henrik had been killed in battle. He went off to join the Varangians in Byzantium and got killed by some rebel forces.

The Swedes rest and gather their forces for a while and then try facing the Sapmi again in battle. The Sjeltie are nowhere to be seen and once again they use the woods to their advantage to drive the superior Swedish forces from the battle, though they take quite a few more casualties doing this.

The Swedes eventually return after gathering more forces and spending a moment debating on if they should continue this war considering how their ally was acting. The Sjeltie manage to win a battle against the Sapmi so the Swedes land in their capital and siege it down.

After sieging their capital down the Swedes attack the Sapmi once more, expecting an easy victory with the Sampi greatly outnumbered and the Sjeltie nearby, but it doesn't go well. The Sapmi are able to use the woods to their advantage again and the Sjeltie circumvent the battle, again.
They do this multiple times.

Fed up with the way their ally was acting but not wanting to give up, the Swedes force the Sjeltie to stay with them as they chase down the Sapmi, finally getting a victory over them.

And with that final battle the Sjeltie get what they want and the army is finally allowed to rest.

For about two years before Edla declares her own war to continue the expansion into Finland. This time it was against the Tavasts who managed to gain independence and avoid a war with Sweden when they attacked Nyland.

The army gathers and attacks the combined Finnish forces at Messukyla. The Finns try to use the woods to their advantage, but the Swedish army had learned fighting with the Sapmi and are able to predict this. Still, the battle is tough and both sides take roughly the same amount of casualties.

Hoping to press the advantage the Swedes follow them into Hameenlinna and fight them again on the shores of a lake. However, the Finns surprise the Swedes by sending part of their army around the lake to flank them in the back, a terrible defeat that results in many Swedes dying in the battle and getting the Swedish army to flee.

Meanwhile, the Duchess of Vastergotland declared war on Denmark and managed to win, taking Northern Jutland for herself.

The war in Finland would soon grind into a halt, neither side having enough men to attack the other side. Sweden had more men though so all they would have to do is wait until they had enough.

During this stalemate, King Komantas, who very much loved by Edla, would die of natural causes at the age of 54. A death that would break the heart of Edla who would refuse to remarry for the rest of her life.

After some time in a stalemate the Swedes finally attack the Finns. This time they have the men to win the battle and force the Finns to flee instead, though the battle takes a lot of casualties on both sides.

And after a short siege they finally surrender. What was meant to be a short war ended up taking 4 years to finish.

The tragedy doesn't end though. Georg, who was part of the last battle against the Finns, took a serious wound that would grow infected and never heal. It would eventually claim his life and break Edla's heart even further, her last son dead and Sweden thrown into a succession crisis.

 

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Chapter Five
Brother Wars
1121-1127
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As Edla's reign continued along her reputation would grow more and more. Many people across Sweden would come to respect her, even among the large amount of Christians that made up most of Sweden.

This respect would be higher among the Norse and newly converted Norse. It would become close to worship as she was the one who reformed the Norse faith to allow it to survive and her father was the one that gave the faith a second chance. Increasingly, she would be called 'the Divine', though Edla would write that she didn't enjoy this title nor the attention.

She would spend some time fixing the succession after the deaths of her two sons, finding that her eldest son had a son who was currently being raised in Sjeltie. She would take her grandson to Sweden, she would also convince the nobility to revise the succession laws so that the realm wasn't split.

It didn't take her long to start looking for the next target. The tribes of Finland were starting to consolidate a bit against the expansion of Sweden so she decided that it was time to expand into Christian lands again. Norway was in the middle of a civil war so they wouldn't be able to do anything if Denmark got attacked. So in 1122 she would declare war on Denmark for Skane.

The Danish would be a bit quicker to act at the declaration of war, quickly moving up into Northern Jutland and sieging down a few areas. The Swedish army is quick to sail over and attack the Danes at the Battle of Ormstrup, winning the first battle of the war within the woods despite the death of the Swedish commander in the battle.

The Danes try again by moving into Sweden itself, but the Swedish army follows them and attacks them at Uppvidinge, winning another battle against the Danes.

Shortly after the battle the Swedes move into Denmark itself, sieging down Blekinge and then Skane itself, helped by the fact that Denmark chooses this time to fall into a civil war.

Denmark did get some help in the war though as some Germans from Angria would march up to join the war on the Danish side. They would slip behind the Swedish army and lay a siege at Vaxjo, hoping to draw the Swedes away from their siege at Skane. The Swedes simply finish up their siege and march up to Vaxjo just before the garrison there could surrender, killing half of the Germans that dared to invade Sweden.

While the war raged explorers went out again. While exploration had lost a lot of it's luster to the Christian Danish and Norwegians the now Norse Swedes started to explore again. One of these new explorers was one by the name of Dyre who sailed out to find the land of Vinland that Erik the Red found. He would sail to Greenland before sailing off, returning a few weeks later claiming to have found the lost Vinland, regaling the Norse Greenlanders about the bountifulness of the land and the savagery of the natives there.

Dyre's Voyage is likely to be mythical with it's earliest inscription being found in Sweden a few decades after he would've made this voyage. However, recovered parts of Edla's journal would spend some time going over the visit of a certain Dyre of Vinland to the castle at Sigtuna.

The war with the Danes would go on for a few years until the Swedes finished their siege of Bornholm where they would find the King's daughter there strangely enough. The simply hold her hostage until the king capitulated and agreed to give up Skane to Sweden.

Instead of Skane being given to a Swedish noble, Edla would give it to a Danish man named Frej. He was the Bishop of Lund, but would be given the title after agreeing to convert.

 

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Chapter Six
Northern Lights
1121-1143
​

Shortly after the end of the war with Denmark, Kettilmund would come of age as a sociable and well adjusted adult.

Several years of peace then go by in Sweden with little happening until in the middle of 1130 when Edla would send a declaration of war to Pohjanmaa, one of the bigger remaining powers in Finland though their armies were currently weak.

The army gathers and quickly marches up to Mustasaari to lay siege to the tribe there. Strangely, they weren't met by any army or opposing forces, nothing to stop them from taking the tribe.

Until the Finnish army suddenly comes thundering out of the woods and attacks the Swedes at Levanluhta, not even with a commander to lead the forces in this suicidal charge. For their bravery they would be slaughtered to the last man by the Swedes.

The tribe would fall shortly after this and the Chief of Pohjanmaa would promptly surrender to Edla after only 9 months at war.

The Chiefdom would be given to Egil, one of Edla's grandsons. He wouldn't rule for very long though as some Finnish nobles would be left alone and would overthrow Egil. Edla would make a deal with the new Chief for him to convert to Norse and he would get to keep the title he took from Egil.

The peace didn't last very long as Karelia, the largest of the Finnish tribes left, declared war for Viborg, bringing in a coalition of the remaining Finnish tribes to try and push the Swedes back.

Part of the sizable Karelian army would make it's way to Viborg to lay siege while the other half stayed behind. This didn't end up working too well as the Swedes would attack them at Viborg and the other half of the Karelian army would strangely not reinforce their brothers in the battle, leaving them to die.

While the Finns retreated north the Swedes would advance into Karelian lands right to Kakisalmi, their capital, taking the tribe in a short siege and capturing the Chief's son in the siege.

The Finns had regrouped though and instead of facing the Swedes they marched north to Oulu and took the settlement. The Swedes would march north to face them only for the Finns to retreat back south in a long chase. After chasing them all the way back to Viborg the Karelian chief would surrender and give up his attempted conquest of Viborg.

Edla would return to her normal rule by ordering the upgrading of the castle at Sigtuna to now include a keep.

Her vassals would make conquests of their own during this period as well, with Igne II of Bergslagen taking over a large part of Norway, connecting Trondelag with the rest of Sweden and splitting Norway into three parts.

Edla would also found the first Norse Holy Order which would function in ways similar to the Christian Holy Orders that were around at the time. They would be declared to be the second Jomsvikings and their first Grandmaster would be Fredrick Stjerne, a man deemed to be perfect for the position of first Grandmaster.

A few more years pass before Edla starts looking for her next target which would end up being Norway. The kingdom had just come out of a long civil war which saw a new ruler installed, a Gaelic man from The Hebrides. Their armies were weak and they didn't have enough gold to finance it. Edla wouldn't just take a duchy from them however, she would be taking the entire kingdom.
I wanted to declare a Great Holy War for Norway, but pretty much all of Europe joined the war and steam rolled me immediately.

The first target would be the capital at Oslo where the Swedes would run into a Norwegian army, though one being commanded by a vassal rather than the proper Norwegian army. The Norwegians here wouldn't stand a chance and quickly flee the battlefield after suffering many casualties.

After that the Swedes would be free to siege and pillage to their heart's content, the Norwegians offering no resistance to the Swedes in their conquest.

Knowing he could do little to stop them, the Gaelic Norwegian king would send out a desperate cry for help, hoping for the Swedes to get distracted by something else and allow him to gather up a proper force to face them off. The would get one response though one from an unlikely source.

The Estonians, who would try to use this opportunity to take Osel. The plan didn't really work though as the Swedes let the Estonians take Osel for now to continue the war against the Norwegians, planning to fight the Estonians once the war was over.

It was over pretty quick after this. The Gaelic Norwegian king would surrender all of his titles in Norway and return to just being a duke in The Hebrides. There were a bunch of Catholic Norwegian vassals now though, but they would convert with some gold and titles.

And with that done the Swedes would turn their attention to the Estonians, sailing over to Osel to find that it had been taken, but there were no armies guarding it. They would retake it quickly and move into Estonia itself.

Only to find out why there were no armies to meet them. All of Estonia's neighbors had declared war on them as soon as they declared war for Osel, their lands now filled by marauding armies.

Feeling some pity for the Estonians, Edla would agree to a white peace with the Estonian queen and leave. They already had enough problems to deal with.

Sweden also had some problems as well. The Ubmejeiednuo, a tribe of Old Norse Swedes that had since fully assimilated into the Sapmi culture, had attacked Norway for a province while Sweden was invading. Norway wasn't there anymore, but they hadn't stopped attacking so they would have to be dealt with.

The Swedes would sail north and face them at the gates of Nidaross itself, driving the Sapmi away and beginning a counterattack that they wouldn't recover from.

The Swedes would quickly regain all lost lands before invading the Sapmi lands themselves, hoping to end it quickly so that they could all go home and rest for a while.

Only for Iceland to declare war.

The Swedes would get the Sapmi to surrender before making the long voyage north to the isolated, frozen island of Iceland where they land at the enemy's capital and lay siege.

After several months the walls would fall and the Swedes would swarm into the city where they would find the Jarl in his castle, having idiotically decided to stay in the capital and get himself captured.

He would surrender shortly after this and the Swedish army could return home to their greatly expanded kingdom.

 

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Chapter Seven
End of an Era
1144-1150
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With the kingdom finally getting a moment of peace Edla would begin a project of urban expansion in the Uppland region starting with building a new city in Osthammer.

Of course the peace wouldn't last for very long as a year later Edla was already looking for the next target, deciding that Iceland would be the next target of conquest. One of the last vestiges of Christianity within Scandinavia besides the now rump state of Denmark.

The Swedes would land in Skalaholt where they would be met with a large force of Icelanders that Iceland had somehow gathered, resulting in a fight on the beaches before they are pushed into the town. Even more Icelandic reinforcements would arrive but they would be too late to turn the tide of battle and be forced to retreat into the wilderness of Iceland, allowing the Swedes to control the western part of Iceland.

As it seemed like with most wars that Sweden got into it would start to take longer than thought. While the Swedes would be able to take the western part of the island the enemy army would gather in the northeastern part of Iceland, attacking the Swedes in hit and run attacks as they tried to take the eastern part of Iceland slowly whittling them with these tactics and the harshness of the land.

As the war dragged on Edla would slowly grow more and more tired, the war in Iceland seemingly wearing her down more than the others combined.

The Swedes would eventually surprise the Icelanders by sailing into their camp in Nordland. It would be a tough battle but the Swedes would come out on top and would even manage to capture the Jarl in the battle, forcing the Jarl to surrender and bringing the harsh, isolated island into Swedish rule.

Edla would soon receive the news of victory from her family. According to accounts at the time she would smile at this and then fall asleep in her chair, her family leaving to allow her to rest. A few hours later one of them would return to find that she had died in her chair of natural causes, a smile on her face.

Edla was 79 when she died and had ruled as King and then Fylkir for 58 years, the longest of any monarch for Sweden. The nation would mourn her death and she would be given a ship burial, her corpse and many of her possessions being loaded onto an extravagant boat, pushed into the seat and then lit on fire. The first Viking ship burial in a long time and one that was very much deserved.

The nobles would vote for Tolir to become the next King and Fylkir of Sweden. At 45 years old, Tolir was the grandson of Edla and son of Georg, one of Edla's sons. He was a man with an extensive knowledge of military tactics and siege tactics, having even gone on a pilgrimage. He was known to be a content man and quite trusting of people, though he very much had a cruel streak and often handed out harsh punishments for the smallest of mistakes.

His eldest son was Aggi, a young man that knew his way around money. He was described as arrogant and stubborn, refusing to budge on the smallest of things.

He had a second son named Georg after his own father. An illusive man, he was known to be ambitious though overly cynical. Tolir would name Georg as his heir rather than the older Aggi.

Unlike his grandmother, Tolir would inherit a religiously united Sweden and Scandinavia. Most of the Catholics had been driven out or converted back to the Norse gods, only a few holdouts of Catholics and Old Norse remaining.

Tolir would continue the urbanization projects that his grandmother had started, beginning another construction in Enkoping, along with a renovating and upgrading of the temple at Uppsala.

South in Russia, Kiev would expand. Becoming forgotten about shortly after the conquest Kiev would be left to their own devices and allowed to do their own thing. The city would eventually come under control of the Duke of Norrland who would expand south into the steppes.

Tolir would inherit Sjeltie shortly after coming to rule in Sweden though this would become a bit of a problem, having also inherited two wars against the Finns and Sapmi from the inheritance. Along with some general unrest among his Norwegian and some of his Swedish vassals it would seem that Tolir's early rule could easily become a nightmare.