Editing Eric Bloodaxe (section)

===Eric's second reign (952–954)===
Eric's removal cleared the way for Amlaíb [Anlaf Cwiran], who having suffered defeat at [[Slane]] (Co. Meath, Ireland) in 947, returned to Northumbria and took the kingship, supposedly in 949, if the E-text is to be trusted.<ref name="ftn50">''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle ''(MS E) 949. The E-text of the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' describes Edmund's death two years too late and accordingly, some doubts may be cast over the dating of Amlaíb's arrival in 949 and his expulsion in favour of Eric in 952. However, a solid {{lang|la|terminus post quem}} for Amlaíb's second reign at York is provided by the entry for 948 in the D-text and by the Irish entries for Amlaíb's defeat in Slane in 947.</ref> Eadred does not appear to have undertaken any significant action and may even have turned a blind eye on his brother's godson, or so at least the silence of the sources appears to suggest.

The E-text reports, however, that in 952, "the Northumbrians drove out King Olaf and accepted Eric, son of Harold."<ref name="ftn51">''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' (MS E) 952. Henry of Huntingdon, ''Historia Anglorum'', assigns it to the fourth year of Eadred's reign.</ref> The Annals of Ulster for the same year report a victory of the "foreigners", i.e., the Northmen or the Norse-Gaels, over "the men of Scotland and the Welsh [''Bretnu'', i.e., Britons of Strathclyde] and the Saxons."<ref name="ftn93">''Annals of Ulster''</ref> Exactly what this succinct account may tell us of his second rise to power, if anything, is frustratingly unclear. He may have led the Viking forces in a second bid for the throne, or only returned from the sideline to exploit the ravages of defeat.<ref name="ftn95"/> His reign proved once again of a short duration, since in 954 (a date on which MSS D and E agree), the Northumbrians expelled him, too.<ref name="ftn52">''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' (MSS D, E) 954. Henry of Huntingdon, ''Historia Anglorum'': "King Eadred, in the seventh year of his reign, was once more received in the kingdom of Northumbria."</ref>

Clare Downham notes the existence of an otherwise unrecorded ''Eltangerht'', whose coins were minted at York and date from about the same time, but nothing is known of him from other records.<ref name="ftn89">Clare Downham, "Chronology". p. 48.</ref>