Aun the Old

According to the Ynglingatal tradition as preserved in Ynglinga saga (Heimskringla) and summarized in Historia Norwegiae, Aun is a late Yngling king, son of Jorund, who ruled at Uppsala. His reign includes defeats and periods of exile (he fled twice to the Geats in Västergötland after attacks by Danish princes such as Halfdan and later Ale the Strong), returns to rule at Uppsala, and a succession by his son Egil. In the saga narrative Aun enters into a bargain with Odin: by sacrificing his sons to Odin he is granted additional years of life, a pattern that recurs until communal intervention ends the sequence.

The saga accounts give scant physical description beyond progressive signs of extreme old age produced by the repeated life-extension sacrifices. After the seventh sacrifice he is carried on a chair because he cannot walk; after the eighth he becomes bedridden; after the ninth he is described as so old that he must be fed 'like a little child' by suckling from a horn. The epithet 'inn gamli' ('the Old') marks advanced age as his defining characteristic.

Aun possesses no innate supernatural powers in the sources; rather, his notable condition is the prolonged lifespan granted by Odin in response to human sacrifice. The narrative reports that Odin promised life in exchange for the killing of his sons and, later, that he could remain alive by sacrificing a son every ten years. The saga also characterizes Aun as a reputedly wise and peace-preferring king rather than a warlike ruler. His actions—sacrificing sons to extend life—are described as bargains with a deity rather than personal magical abilities.