"Chronica regni Gothorum", "Historia Norwegie" och fornsvenska krönikor

Abstract

Chronica regni Gothorum (The Chronicle of the Kingdom of the Goths), written in the 15th century by historian and theologian Ericus Olai, is the first comprehensive history of Sweden in Latin. An important question is how Ericus Olai used his sources. Did he barely reproduce facts and statements? Or did he process the source material? I focus on Ericus Olai's use of certain sources - in particular, the Historia Norwegie. My study confirmed that a Swedish source, The Prosaic Chronicle, served as a source for Ericus Olai when he wrote about the Ynglinga kings. However, there are common traits with Historia Norwegie, which indicates that Ericus Olai used Historia Norwegie too. Concerning The Chronicle of Duke Erik, dealing mainly with the 13th century, we can state that Ericus Olai did not copy it verbally, but processed it skillfully. He shortened a number of passages and focused on political and ecclesiastical history. In general, Ericus Olai edited the narrative sources in a creative way and complemented them with the help of other material.