
Svein (died 794) was the Steward of Kattegat under Earl Haraldson during the 8th century AD.
Biography[]
Svein was born in Kattegat, Norway, and he served as Stivardur (Steward) of Kattegat under Earl Haraldson. He was a loyal follower of his liege, reading criminal charges to offenders and pronouncing their sentences before the Thing. He later murdered the executioner Olafur when he tried to bed the Earl's wife Siggy, and he killed Hakon Hemingsson, the blacksmith responsible for forging the anchor for Ragnarr Lodbrok's longship, in front of Hakon's anguished daughter. Svein later suffocated a young boy to death in order to have him serve as the guardian of the Earl's buried treasure in Valhalla, following the Sack of Lindisfarne. When Ragnarr took the fall for his wife Lagertha's killing of Knut Haraldson upon his return from the Sack of Hexham, Svein had Ragnarr arrested and tried for murder, but Lagertha ultimately confessed that she had killed him in self-defense when he attempted to rape her, causing Ragnarr to be freed. The Earl desired revenge, so he, Svein, and several other warriors attacked Ragnarr's farm while he was hunting and killed several of his peasants. Svein succeeded in wounding Ragnarr with an arrow, but Ragnarr went on to escape and elude the Earl.
Death[]

Svein's death
In January 794, the Earl accepted a challenge from Ragnarr, who emerged from hiding to fight the Earl in single combat. After Ragnarr killed the Earl, Svein ordered that someone step in and kill Ragnarr. However, Ragnarr's brother Rollo Sigurdsson, annoyed with Svein, approached him and struck him in the chest with an axe. Svein failed to remove the axe, and he fell down and died seconds later.