by Eric and this may well be accurate. The Legendary Saga of St. Olaf indicates that Eric was present at the siege of London and a verse by Þórðr says that Eric fought "west of London" with Ulfcytel Snillingr. After several battles, Canute and Edmund reached an agreement to divide the kingdom but Edmund died a few months later. By 1017, Canute was undisputed king of all England. He divided the kingdom into four parts; Wessex he kept for himself, he gave Northumbria to Eric, East Anglia to Thorkell the Tall, and Mercia to Eadric Streona. Later the same year Canute had Eadric executed as a traitor. According to the Encomium Emmae, he ordered Eric to "pay this man what we owe him" and he chopped off his head with his axe. Eric remained as earl of Northumbria until his death. His earlship is primarily notable in that it is never recorded that he ever fought with the Scots or the Britons of Strathclyde, who were usually constantly threatening Northumbria. Eric is not mentioned in English documents after 1023. According to English sources he was exiled by Canute and returned to Norway. This is very unlikely as there are no Norse records of his supposed return. Eric's successor as earl, Siward, cannot be confirmed as being earl of Northumbria until 1033 so Eric's death can not strictly be placed more precisely than between 1023 and 1033. According to the Norse sources he died of a hemorrhage after having his uvula cut (a procedure in medieval medicine) either just before or just after a pilgrimage to Rome. Religion According to Theodoricus monachus, Eric pledged to adopt Christianity if he emerged victorious from the battle of Svolder. Oddr Snorrason's Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar has a more elaborate version of the story where Eric replaces an image of Thor on the prow of his ship with a Christian cross. There is no skaldic poetry to substantiate this but most of the sagas agree that Eric and Sveinn adopted Christianity, at least formally. Fagrskinna says: "These jarls had had themselves baptised, and remained Christian, but they forced no man to Christianity, but allowed each to do as he wished, and in their day Christianity was greatly harmed, so that throughout Upplönd and in over Þrándheimr almost everything was heathen, though Christianity was maintained along the coast." Adopting Christianity was no doubt a politically advantageous move