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Egil Skallagrímsson (circa 910 - 990) was born in Iceland. | Egil Skallagrímsson (circa 910 - 990) was born in Iceland. | ||
Egil was a viking and a poet. He enjoyed killing people. He fought | Egil was a viking and a poet. He enjoyed killing people. He fought alongside his brother Thorolf against King [[Olaf]] in the Battle of Brunnanburh in which his brother got killed. | ||
After the battle, Egil was rewarded greatly for the loss of his brother by [[King Athelstan]]. The King bestowed upon him a gold braclet and two chests filled with silver that he was to take back to his father as compensation for his brother's death. Egil stayed with [[King Athelstan]] for some time after the battle and the two became close friends. When it came time for Egil to leave [[King Athelstan]] asked that he stay and pick whatever position he chose, but Egil refused. He instead set off for Norway to fullfil his duty of caring for his dead brother's family. | |||
Egil had strange, fearsome features, including a [http://www.viking.ucla.edu/Scientific_American/Egils_Bones.htm skull] that could resist blows from an ax. He may have suffered from [http://www.paget.org/ Paget's disease]. |
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