Alfred the Great
First supreme king over all England, ruling in Harold Fairhair's time, attested in 1 source.
Alfred the Great is attested in Egil's Saga as the first supreme king over all England from his family, ruling during the days of Harold Fairhair, king of Norway (Egil's Saga, Chapter 50 - Of Athelstan king of the English). The saga's interest in Alfred is not biographical but genealogical: he establishes the English royal line that produces Athelstan, the king with whom Egil and Thorolf later interact. Both attestations derive from the same chapter and reinforce the same point -- Alfred's supremacy over England and his temporal overlap with Harold Fairhair (Egil's Saga, Chapter 50 - Of Athelstan king of the English).
Egil's Saga mentions Alfred twice in quick succession, both times to frame the English political landscape for the Norse characters who will enter it. The saga does not dwell on Alfred's deeds or character; he functions as a dynastic marker, the ancestor whose achievement -- unifying England under one crown -- creates the stage on which the saga's protagonists will act. The synchronization with Harold Fairhair's reign anchors the English timeline to the Norwegian one, giving saga audiences a familiar reference point.
Appears in: Beings, Entities in Egil's Saga, Norse Tradition