The Jómsvikings

They were a band of Viking mercenaries in the eighth and ninth centuries, fearless warriors bound by a severe code of honor and reminiscent of both Mafia gangsters and Arthurian Knights. It is not even known if they actually existed. The Jómsviking stronghold on the island of Jómsborg, for example, has never been identified by archaeologists. Their memory is owed entirely to a handful of contemporary runestones in the Swedish countryside memorializing a battle between Haakon Jarl and King Olaf; a single Icelandic saga, Jómsvikinga saga, written in the late thirteenth century; and a few references of the eleventh century preserved by the historian Snorre Sturlesson in the Heimskringla—most notably Óláf’s saga Tryggvasonar and Óláf’s saga Helgi.

The Jarl

Leif Engberg: born August 1, 1959, Stockholm, Sweden, to Per Engberg, father, and Àsta Engberg, mother. The proof of his power lies in the obscurity of his name…