Eskil was a British monk and bishop who was sent to Sweden to convert the native Swedish people to Christianity. The date of Eskil's birth and death are lost to time, but he lived sometime in the mid-to-late eleventh century.

Eskil is the patron saint of two diocese in Sweden where he spent most of his ministry. Eskil made the town of Tuna—which is now present-day Eskilstuna—the seat of his missionary diocese.

He worked tirelessly to convert villages in the surrounding area to Christianity. As part of his missionary travels, Eskil made a journey to Strägnäs, an Old Norse holy site. Eskil disrupted a ritual happening in Strägnäs, and he was stoned to death by the angry villagers. In the image to the left, Eskil is shown holding three stones, to represent both his message of bringing the Trinitarian God to Sweden and his manner of martyrdom. Swedish Christians brought him back to Tuna. Legend has it that, while on their journey, his pallbearers laid his body down on the ground. A miraculous spring gushed out from underneath his body and began to flow down the mountain.

To this day, the spring is known as the spring of St. Eskil. The traditional site of Eskil's martyrdom is now the location of the Strägnäs Cathedral.

Eskil is the patron saint of the dioceses of Södermanland and Strägnäs in Sweden.

St. Eskil, missionary to Sweden—pray for us!