An atmospheric view of a Viking funeral
The last Viking king of York was called Erik. Later sagas suggest that this was a man famed as a ferocious Viking warrior known evocatively as Erik Bloodaxe. Erik Bloodaxe had been involved in a bitter fight for supremacy in Norway with his halfbrother, Hákon – a battle that he ultimately lost. Erik Bloodaxe therefore went into exile and lived his life as an adventurer overseas.