Sweyn Asleifsson

Sweyn Asleifsson or Sveinn Ásleifarson ( 1115 – 1171) was a 12th-century Viking who appears in the Orkneyinga Saga.

Early career Sweyn was born in Caithness in the early twelfth century, to Olaf Hrolfsson and his wife Åsleik. According to the Orkneyinga Saga, he came to prominence when he murdered Earl Paul of Orkney's cup-bearer c. 1134 in a quarrel over a drinking game, and fled to Tiree to take refuge with Holdbodi Hundason.

In 1140, Holdbodi called on Sweyn to join him raiding the coast of Wales, but they were beaten off; Holdbodi withdrew to the Isle of Man and Sweyn to Lewis. Much of the material describes events that are up to three centuries earlier than this date and its historical accuracy is dubious. However, as the document was written only a few decades after Ásleifarson's death it is reasonable to suppose the later chapters may more accurately reflect the events they describe. In fact, Ásleifarson's activities take up fully one quarter of the saga and the oldest version ends with his death.

He is depicted as the quintessential Viking, a freebooter whose activities include drunkenness, murder and plundering and whose support is crucial to the politics of the Orkney earldom. His tale is closely bound up with that of Earl Rögnvald, a more rounded character who is also a troubadour and ultimately a saint, and it may be that the saga writers were seeking to portray them as exemplars of the Viking lifestyle. However, there may also be a more complex moral to the story. Although Ásleifarson's dying words are "Be it known to all men... that I belong to the bodyguard of Saint Rögnvald the Earl", he also blackmailed Rögnvald and caused him a great deal of trouble. It is possible that the saga intends to cast Rögnvald as a weak leader who was unable to control his nobles.