That the duel occurred at the end of a "secret interview" suggests that Alrik and Erik were alone when they fought just as were their counterparts in the Norse accounts. That Erik was believed to have died suggests knowledge of the "Ynglinga saga" version in which both fighters met their death. There is no mention of horse bridles. But Erik is not elsewhere a great duelist or champion but instead a trickster who wins through stratagems and deceiving words so that is it likely that Saxo or his source passed over a stratagem in which a horse bridle played a part.