Freygeirr

Who is Freygeirr?

Freygeirr was a Viking chieftain who probably led a leidang expedition. He is considered to have been active in the 1050s on the Baltic coast, and he has been identified on six runestones, Gs 13, DR 216, U 518, U 611, U 698 and U 1158.

On the runestone Gs 13, Freygeirr is reported to be the leader of an expedition to Tavastia:

In Denmark, there is a runestone in memory of a warrior who fell in Sweden while he was in the retinue of a man who was either named Friggir or Freygeirr:

U 698 and U 611 are raised in memory of two men who died in the retinue of a warchief whose name has been reconstructed by runologists as Freygeirr:

There is also a runestone reporting where Freygeirr died, runestone U 518:

The Rundata project places Freygeir's death near the island of Selaön in lake Mälaren. According to another theory the runes isilu represent *isi[s]la and they are to be transcribed as *ī ey-sȳsla, i.e. "in Ösel".

Another runestone mentioning a Freygeirr was raised by his sons:

Omeljan Pritsak remarks that Freygeir's son was named Eistr and he connects the name to Freygeir's activities on the other side of the Baltic Sea. He further suggests that Freygeir's death took place during a joint Swedish-Kievan Rus' expedition against the Estonians of Saaremaa.