118-487: Eadgils , Adils , Aðils , Adillus , Aðísl at Uppsölum , Athisl , Athislus or Adhel was a semi-legendary king of Sweden , who is estimated to have lived during the 6th century. Beowulf and Old Norse sources present him as the son of Ohthere and as belonging to the ruling Yngling (Scylfing) dynasty . These sources also deal with his war against Onela , which he won with foreign assistance: in Beowulf he gained
236-549: A brother's child : Eadgils, however, survived and later, Beowulf helped Eadgils with weapons and warriors. Eadgils won the war and killed his uncle Onela. In the following lines, Eadgils is mentioned by name and as the son of Ohtere , whereas Onela is referred to as the king : This event also appears in the Scandinavian sources Skáldskaparmál and Skjöldunga saga – see below. The allusive manner in which Eadgils and his relatives are referred to in Beowulf suggests that
354-488: A century earlier and refrained from reproducing the erroneous text. Ynglingatal also inspired Eyvindr skáldaspillir's Háleygjatal , which demonstrably was written in the late 900s. Another argument for early dating comes from the Icelandic philologist Bergsveinn Birgisson , whose doctoral thesis said Ynglingatal is not supposed to be a praising poem but an entertainment poem and a warning. He asserts this partly based on
472-550: A child who is the child of both the parents but is neither god or giant but something completely different that will be the first of a "new" species; a new royal family. With effort and tensions from this, the king, who has high status, is valued above all other people. The author of the myth gives the king a special destiny as the main symbol within the ruling ideology in the Norse-thought universe. Both major ruling families in Norway,
590-643: A descendant of the Ynglings. The poem was written on behalf of Ragnvald the Mountain-High , a cousin of King Harald Fairhair, and its last stanza is about Ragnvald . Ynglingatal is composed in kviðuháttr (modern Norwegian kviduhått ); this genealogical verse form is also used in Son loss (Sonatorrek) in Egils saga . In this form of verse, the lines alternate between three and four syllables—the first line has three syllables,
708-511: A fond farewell to his mother and departed over the Fyrisvellir . When they saw Aðils and his warriors in pursuit, they spread the gold behind themselves. Aðils saw his precious Svíagris on the ground and stooped to pick it up with his spear, whereupon Hrólfr cut his back with his sword and screamed in triumph that he had bent the back of the most powerful man in Sweden. The Chronicon Lethrense (and
826-419: A horn full of gold, the ring Svíagris and asked them to flee. As they rode over the Fyrisvellir , they saw Aðils and his men pursuing them. The fleeing men threw the gold on the plain so that the pursuers would stop to collect it. Aðils, however, continued the chase on his horse Slöngvir. Hrólfr then threw Svíagris and saw how Aðils stooped down to pick up the ring with his spear. Hrólfr exclaimed that he had seen
944-563: A lack of sources. The modern Swedish monarchy considers Eric the Victorious to have been the first King of Sweden. In medieval Swedish lists of kings, the figure generally represented as the first king of Sweden is Olof Skötkonung, the first Christian king of Sweden and the first Swedish king to mint coins. The earlier kings are for the most part only attested in Icelandic sagas , sometimes contradictory mixtures of myths and poetry, written in
1062-517: A lineage that stretched back centuries, the Norwegian rulers may have attempted to demonstrate their inherent right to their lands and to put themselves on the same level as the Danes, who had historical accounts of their ancestors. The Swedish Ynglings might have been invented to glorify the Norwegian kings further, giving them a glorious and mythical past associated with Uppsala. Most of the sagas known today,
1180-415: A man named Vöggr to entertain them. This Vöggr remarked that Hrólfr had the thin face of a pole ladder, a Kraki . Happy with his new cognomen Hrólfr gave Vöggr a golden ring, and Vöggr swore to avenge Hrólfr if anyone should kill him. Hrólfr and his company were then attacked by a troll in the shape of a boar in the service of Aðils, but Hrólfr's dog Gram killed it. They then found out that Aðils had set
1298-617: A man named Torgrim from Kvine, "son" to Thjodolf in the Olav Tryggvasson saga. Beyond this there are no more references to Thjodolf in the sagas in Heimskringla . Snorri wrote the preamble and the saga in the 1220s, over 300 years after Thjodolf should have lived, so any information about him is uncertain. According to the Ynglinga saga , Fjolne, the first king described in Ynglingatal , was
SECTION 10
#17329023061181416-632: A negative light as a rich and greedy king. Snorri Sturluson , who documented many of the Scandinavian traditions, reported that the Swedes called him a "great king". The Norse forms are based on an older ( Proto-Norse ) * Aþagīslaz (where * aþa is short for * aþala meaning "noble, foremost" (German 'adel') and * gīslaz means "arrow shaft"). However, the Anglo-Saxon form is not etymologically identical. The A-S form would have been * Ædgils , but Eadgils (Proto-Norse * Auða-gīslaz , * auða- meaning "wealth")
1534-507: A new royal line. The sequence of kings presented below is given by the Hervarar saga , a saga written in the 12th or 13th century. The existence of Ivar Vidfamne and his dynasty, at least in the way described in the sagas, is considered highly unlikely in modern scholarship. As with the Yngling kings, precise dates are not presented in the sagas for Ivar Vidfamne or his descendants, but his reign
1652-471: A ninth-century creation". Krag's late dating has been challenged. If the saga is a late work of propaganda, it should reasonably have been concluded with Norwegian king Harald Fairhair and not by his largely unknown cousin Ragnvald Heidrumhære, whose meaning seems otherwise to have been lost after 1000. There are places and names in the poem that archeology has shown to have had great importance until
1770-559: A particular family. Bergsveinn Birgisson says Ynglingatal is not a genealogy, but a poem about people from different clans. Not all sources agree; in Historia Norvegiæ , About Uplanders kings and Íslendingabók , several of the kings of other names than in Ynglingatal or are said to live on or be buried elsewhere. Finnur Jonsson said the various descriptions stem from the kings mentioned in Ynglingatal ; all have different traditions handed down by word of mouth. He said Thjodolf's poem
1888-455: A ruse to run away from the king and at the same time liberate him of his wealth. She incited Athislus to rebel against Roluo, and arranged so that Roluo would be invited and promised a wealth in gifts. At the banquet Roluo was at first not recognised by his mother, but when their fondness was commented on by Athisl, the Swedish king and Roluo made a wager where Roluo would prove his endurance. Roluo
2006-456: A son, Hrólfr kraki . When the boy was three years of age, Yrsa's mother, queen Alof of Saxony, came to visit her and told her that her husband Helgi was her own father. Horrified, Yrsa returned to Aðils, leaving her son behind, and stayed in Sweden for the rest of her life. When Hrólfr was eight years old, Helgi died during a war expedition and Hrólfr was proclaimed king. Aðils waged a war against king Áli ( Onela of Oppland ), and they fought in
2124-532: A source and recent archeological methods including C14 dating and dendrochronology are taken into account, finding out who was buried in the various barrows on the basis of information in this poem is at best educated guessing. In 1943, Danish historian Niels Lukmann said the Nordic folklore tradition, of which Yngling is a part, originated from the migration period and that people have historically not been Nordic figures. According to Lukmann, poems and legends about
2242-481: Is also quoted in Þáttr Ólafs Geirstaða Alfs . Stories that build on the poem are found in the Norwegian history, Historia Norvegiæ , which was written in Latin in the late 1100s, and in the short saga Af Upplendinga konungum (About the upplander-kings). Ynglingtal is also indirectly preserved as a list of names in Íslendingabók from the early 1100s. A few of the characters in Ynglingatal are also mentioned in
2360-400: Is an attempt at a synthesis of different oral traditions about different kings. According to Snorri, the Yngling stemmed from the gods Yngve-Frey and Odin. This kinship, a euhemerism, is not left in the poem; only Snorri's words support this. Finnur Jonsson said he thought this song originally contained several verses and started with Yngve. Religion historian Walter Baetke said Yngligatal
2478-459: Is believed to have resulted from, or at the very least have been connected to, Viking expansion , with petty kings increasing their power through aggressive military ventures directed both to foreign lands (i. e. Viking raids) and against their neighbors. According to the Ynglinga saga , the Yngling dynasty's rule in Sweden was succeeded by Ivar Vidfamne, previously a petty king in Scania, who founded
SECTION 20
#17329023061182596-548: Is estimated to have taken place in the 7th century. The only sources that mention Ivar are Icelandic sagas from centuries after his death. As Ivar is described as building a vast empire, including parts of Britain and northern Germany, it is unlikely that contemporary and later writers in Europe would not have written of him, had he existed. It is possible that the saga preserves a grain of the truth, perhaps being an embellishment of vague memories of an ancient warrior king, but most of what
2714-506: Is only mentioned in Snorri's preamble. In the saga he is only referred to as a friend of Harald and as the son whom Godred fostered. Snorri also quotes several other poems of Thjodolf in Harald Fairhair's saga. The historian Claus Krag proposes that the connection between Harald Fairhair and Thjodolf was constructed by Snorri, probably because Thjodolf would have been an important person in
2832-399: Is possible Thjodolf is linked here to the Norwegian seed in the Swedish genealogies to provide the Norwegian kings with a divine origin and thus greater legitimacy. The first breeding of the kings of Norway was supposed to have been Halfdan Hvitbeinn , who died in his bed at Toten . According to the poem, his son Eystein was killed on a ship; he was beaten by the boat's vessel and fell into
2950-474: Is problematic to work out when these people might have lived. Are Frode , in the 1100s, was probably the first person who tried to convert the dates from relative time stamps to absolute chronological dates on the basis of Jesus' birth; the reckoning began to be used during the Middle Ages and is still in use. Are dated Harald Fairhair's birth to 848, and until the 1920s historians used Are's reckoning to calculate
3068-748: Is referred to as Ole's deadly foe (Ála dólgr). This animosity is treated in more detail in the Skjöldunga saga and Skáldskaparmál , which follow. The Historia Norwegiæ , which is a terse summary in Latin of Ynglingatal , only states that Eadgils fell from his horse and died during the sacrifices. In this Latin translation, the Dísir are rendered as the Roman goddess Diana : Cujus filius Adils vel Athisl ante ædem Dianæ, dum idolorum, sacrificia fugeret, equo lapsus exspiravit. Hic genuit Eustein, [ ... ] His son Adils gave up
3186-399: Is said of Ivar Vidfamne has to be considered legendary and fictional. The Munsö dynasty of kings is the earliest royal lineage that is mentioned not only in Icelandic sagas, but also in medieval Swedish sources. Though only a few examples survive, medieval Swedish lists of kings overwhelmingly begin with Olof Skötkonung , the first Christian king of Sweden, suggesting that he, and not any of
3304-653: Is the Danish king Hroðulf who provides help in Scandinavian tradition. Skáldskaparmál was written by Snorri Sturluson , c. 1220, in order to teach the ancient art of kennings to aspiring skalds . It presents Eadgils, called Aðils , in two sections. The first section is the Kálfsvísa of which Snorri quotes small parts: This is a reference to the Battle on the Ice of Lake Vänern , during which Eadgils slew Onela and which also appears in
3422-407: Is the ancestor of Hákon jarl. Both poems were thus used as genealogies and served as mythological propaganda, poetry, and grounds for alliances. According to religious historian Gro Steinsland , the myth also has an erotic element and is thus a fertility myth that tells of the relationship between the ruler and his "territory"; the scalds describe the land as a sexual, longing giantess who rested in
3540-399: Is usually interpreted as "descendants of Yngve", but as in modern Nordic , it can also mean "young man". In skaldic poems, the word yngling is only used in the singular; only in the sagas has it has been used in the plural Ynglings ; thus the ynglings of the poem cannot be defined as one family. The term may be a kenning, a euphemism, for the prince or king and not something connected with
3658-457: The Skjöldunga saga . There is also second stanza, where Eadgils is riding his horse Slöngvir, apparently a combination famous enough to be mentioned. Eadgils' horse Slöngvir also appears in Snorri's later work, the Ynglinga saga . Snorri also presents the story of Aðils and Hrólfr Kraki ( Hroðulf ) in order to explain why gold was known by the kenning Kraki's seed . Snorri relates that Aðils
Eadgils - Misplaced Pages Continue
3776-504: The Battle on the Ice of Lake Vänern . Áli died in this battle. Snorri writes that there was a long account of this battle in the Skjöldunga Saga , which also contained an account of how Hrólf came to Uppsala and sowed gold on the Fyrisvellir . Snorri also relates that Aðils loved good horses and had the best horses in his days (the contemporary Gothic scholar Jordanes noted that the Swedes were famed for their good horses). One horse
3894-519: The Old English poem Beowulf . According to Snorri, Ynglingatal was composed by the scald Þjóðólfr of Hvinir , who was from Kvinesdal in what is now Vest-Agder , Norway. In the preamble to the Heimskringla , Snorri writes that Thjodolf, in addition to composing the poem Ynglingatal , was poet at Harald Fairhair's hird (royal retinue ). Thjodolf also appears in the Saga of Harald Fairhair , in
4012-560: The Swedes who preceded Eric the Victorious and Olof Skötkonung , the earliest reliably attested Swedish kings . The stories of some of these kings may be embellished tales of local rulers or chiefs that actually existed. For example, Hygelac (500 A.D.) is believed to have historical basis due to his name being attested in Frankish, English, Danish and Icelandic sources. But the historicity of most legendary kings remains impossible to verify due to
4130-451: The Viking Age , but not later, and thus should not have been stated in a more recent saga. Archeologist Dagfinn Skre is an advocate for these arguments. According to Swedish researcher Olof Sundquist , Krag bypasses clear signs of Ynglingatal on a tradition of Swedish area visible in kenning , place names and personal names. Cultural phenomena such as a king who goes to holy places and
4248-552: The Ynglinga saga as good sources for genuine historical information. As a historical source, the Ynglinga saga is much better used as a source on historiography and society during Sturluson's own time than as a source on Sweden's early history. It is possible that the Yngling line of kings is entirely fictional, invented by later Norwegian rulers to assert their right to rule Norway. In the Viking Age and later, Danish rulers repeatedly attempted to conquer Norway and through inventing
4366-417: The Ynglinga saga included, were composed during a relatively brief period, from the 12th to 13th century, a time when royal power was being consolidated in Norway, Denmark and Sweden. Their creation might thus stem from political and social needs (i. e. justifying the rule of a dynasty), rather than a desire to tell genuine history. In addition to having been written centuries after the events they describe,
4484-512: The Ynglinga saga , most of them being described as "Kings in Uppsala ", an early political center in Sweden. The Yngling dynasty is sometimes referred to as the "Royal House of Uppsala" in later scholarship. Notes The Ynglinga saga presents the following line of Yngling kings of the Swedes: Sturluson's Ynglinga saga was created far too late to serve as a reliable source in regards to
4602-894: The Ynglinga saga . Although its age has been debated, most scholars hold to date from the 9th century. It survives in two versions: one is found in the Norwegian historical work Historia Norvegiæ in Latin , and the other one in Snorri Sturluson 's Ynglinga saga , a part of his Heimskringla . It presents Aðils (Eadgils) as the successor of Óttarr ( Ohthere ) and the predecessor of Eysteinn . The stanza on Aðils refers to his accidental death when he fell from his horse: Þat frák enn, at Aðils fjǫrvi vitta véttr of viða skyldi. Ok dáðgjarn af drasils bógum Freys ôttungr falla skyldi. Ok við aur ægir hjarna bragnings burs of blandinn varð. Ok dáðsæll deyja skyldi Ála dolgr at Uppsǫlum. Note that Eadgils' animosity with Onela also appears in Ynglingatal as Aðils
4720-519: The Ynglings and Earls of Lade , legitimized their statuses by using a wedding myth. Just as Yngling had their legitimacy reinterpreted in Ynglingatal , the Ladejarlsætt got its equivalent in the poem Háleygjatal , which was written by the Norwegian poet Eyvindr skáldaspillir at the end of the 900s. In Háleygjatal it is Odin and the giantess Skade were of mythological origin, and their son Sæming
4838-474: The scop expected his audience to have sufficient background knowledge about Eadgils, Ohthere and Eanmund to understand the references. Likewise, in the roughly contemporary Norwegian Ynglingatal , Eadgils (Aðils) is called Onela's enemy (Ála dólgr), which likewise suggests that the conflict was familiar to the skald and his audience. The tradition of Eadgils and Onela resurfaces in several Old Norse works in prose and poetry, and another matter also appears:
Eadgils - Misplaced Pages Continue
4956-574: The "Norwegian" part of Ynglings—from Halfdan Hvitbeinn—that scientists have tried to prove or disprove were real, historical persons. They partly reasoned that people in Norse times kept track of their genus for six generations, thus it is possible to follow Harald Fairhair's ancestors back to Halfdan Hvitbeinn. Norwegian historians and archeologists have traditionally held the Norwegian Ynglings to be historical people. Because of problems with dating, it
5074-507: The 10th–11th century in England, but concerning events in Scandinavia in the 6th/7th century), wherein the Ynglings are called Scylfings ( Old Norse : Skilfingar ; Swedish : Skilvingar ). According to the Ynglinga saga , the earliest rulers used the title drotin (modern Swedish: Drott ). Even later Yngling rulers are typically not designated as "Kings of Sweden" or "Kings of the Swedes" in
5192-503: The 1100s and that it was based on other royal lists. In a research project during the 1980s Krag's attempt to justify the doubt regarding Ynglingatal 's age began to take shape, disregarding the traditional, uncritical acceptance. Krag studied the Yngling tradition's place in folklore and the Yngling's genealogy in relation to other European royal genealogies and scholarly genealogical works in Iceland . As an argument, Krag proposed that
5310-538: The 11th–13th centuries, several centuries after the events described in them. What is genuine history and what is myth and legend in the sagas is impossible to determine today, and everything contained in them must as such be regarded as legendary, if not fictional. The earliest legendary dynasty, the Ynglings , may be an entirely invented sequence of kings, serving to justify and legitimize the later dynasties and rulers in Scandinavia who claimed descent from them. Many of
5428-438: The 12th century. Sturluson would have had access to older (now lost) manuscripts when writing the Ynglinga saga , but this does not necessarily corroborate anything that appears in the Ynglinga saga as true. What is genuine history and what is myth and legend is today impossible to determine, and everything contained in the saga must as such be regarded as legendary, if not fictional. Modern scholarship does not see sagas such as
5546-601: The 9th century in an attempt to Christianize the Swedes. In the writings of his companion Rimbert , the Vita Ansgari , several Swedish kings (who all precede Eric the Victorious) and who they met or heard of at Birka , an important Viking Age trading center, are mentioned. Attempts have been made to harmonize Ansgar's kings with the kings mentioned in the sagas but such attempts have to be considered unreliable and unverifiable. The Vita gives no genealogical information in regards to
5664-486: The 9th century) the oldest source that mentions Eadgils. The text of Beowulf implies that the Swedish king Ohthere died and that his younger brother Onela succeeded him, because Ohthere's two sons, Eadgils and Eanmund had to seek refuge with Heardred , Hygelac 's son and successor as king of the Geats . This caused Onela to attack the Geats, and Heardred was killed. Onela returned home and Beowulf succeeded Heardred as
5782-487: The Black was the half-brother of Olav Geirstadalv and Harald, and was thus Ragnvald's cousin, but neither Harald nor his father Halfdan are mentioned in the poem, so this is probably an attempt by Snorri and other writers to make Harald look more royal. It may have been the Icelandic poet Ari Þorgilsson who constructed the genealogy of the Ynglings and connected Harald Fairhair's seed to Ynglingatal. Snorri later developed this to
5900-420: The Danes. Finally Aðils entertained them but put them to a test where they had to endure immense heat by a fire. Hrólfr and his berserkers finally had enough and threw the courtiers, who were feeding the fire, into the fire and leapt at Aðils. The Swedish king disappeared through a hollow tree trunk that stood in his hall. Yrsa admonished Aðils for wanting to kill her son, and went to meet the Danes. She gave them
6018-533: The Icelandic sources also contain the figure Blot-Sweyn , who is only present in some of the Swedish sources (and notably absent in Västgötalagen , an important early Swedish legal document) and a king by the name Kol or Erik Årsäll , completely absent in the Swedish sources. The same is true for the Hervarar saga , whose sequence of kings is identical to the sequence presented in Langfeðgatal . In some respects,
SECTION 50
#17329023061186136-477: The Swedes pay tribute. However, he committed suicide due to shame for his incestuous relationship with Urse ( Yrsa ), and his son Roluo ( Hrólfr Kraki ) succeeded him. The new king of Sweden, Athislus, thought that the tribute to the Daner might be smaller if he married the Danish king's mother and so took Urse for a queen. However, after some time, Urse was so upset with the Swedish king's greediness that she thought out
6254-474: The Swedish king and his men pursued him, Rolfo "sowed" the gold on the Fyrisvellir , so that the king's men would pick up the gold, instead of continuing the pursuit. As can be seen, the Skjöldunga saga retells the story of Eadgils fighting his uncle Onela , but in this version Onela is no longer Eadgils' uncle, but a Norwegian king of Oppland . This change is generally considered to be a late confusion between
6372-510: The Victorious, Icelandic sources give Björn Eriksson, preceded by Erik Anundsson. Apart from the kings found in the Vita Asgari , Adam writes that Eric the Victorious was preceded by Anund/Emund Eriksson, who in turn was preceded by Eric Ringsson and Emund/Anund Ringsson, sons and successors of a king by the name of Ring. Adam of Bremen's line of kings is thus: The Sparlösa Runestone , created c. 800, mentions several names, including
6490-752: The Yngling dynasty, claimed to have been descended from the Norse god Odin , the dynasty founded by Ivar Vidfamne , who conquered Sweden and deposed the Ynglings, and the House of Munsö , which succeeded Vidfamne's dynasty. The final few kings considered part of the Munsö dynasty by the Icelandic sagas; Eric the Victorious, Olof Skötkonung, Anund Jacob and Emund the Old , were real historical kings, though that does not mean that their legendary ancestors were real historical figures. Contemporary primary sources from 9th–11th century Germany, such as
6608-514: The Ynglinga Saga. The content of Ynglingatal has been interpreted and discussed, mostly during the National Romantic period of the 1800s. Norwegian historians Rudolf Keyser and Peter Andreas Munch held the traditional dating to the late 800s. The same applies to the historian Gustav Storm and the Icelandic philologist Finnur Jonsson. Around the time of World War I , saga literature
6726-480: The Ynglingar') is a Skaldic poem cited by Snorri Sturluson in the Ynglinga saga , the first saga of Snorri's Heimskringla . Þjóðólfr of Hvinir (Thjodolf), who was a poet for Harald Fairhair (r. 872–930), is traditionally credited with its authorship. Snorri quotes frequently from this poem and cites it as one of the sources of the saga. The composition of the poem is dated to the 9th century. The poem lists
6844-508: The Ynglings were real historical figures, they would have ruled during the Migration Period ( c. 375–550) and the subsequent Vendel Period ( c. 550–790), predating the Viking Age . Historical evidence of early geopolitics in Scandinavia suggests that larger political structures, kingdoms such as medieval Sweden, Norway and Denmark, did not form until the late Viking Age. The centralization of power under one monarch
6962-416: The accounts of Adam of Bremen and Rimbert , contradict the line of Munsö kings purported to have existed by the sagas. The sequence of legendary kings below derives from medieval Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson 's Ynglinga saga , the first section of the saga collection Heimskringla . The Ynglinga saga was composed by Sturluson c. 1230 and details the reigns and lives of
7080-432: The aforementioned Hervarar saga , also written in the 12th or 13th century. Langfeðgatal presents the following line of kings: The Langfeðgatal reconstruction of the Munsö dynasty and the later lineage of Swedish kings it presents does not conform with medieval Swedish primary sources. Though a majority of the kings from Olof Skötkonung onwards appear in the Icelandic sources with the same name and overall chronology,
7198-527: The animosity between Eadgils and Hrólfr Kraki , who corresponds to Hroðulf in Beowulf . The skaldic poem Ynglingatal is a poetic recital of the line of the Yngling clan . They are also called Skilfingar in the poem (in stanza 19), a name that appears in its Anglo-Saxon form Scylfingas in Beowulf when referring to Eadgils' clan. It is presented as composed by Þjóðólfr of Hvinir by Snorri Sturluson in
SECTION 60
#17329023061187316-426: The composition time stamp for different people and events. In 1921 historian Halvdan Koht introduced generation counting and his method became the dominant one. In 1964, Icelandic historian Ólafía Einarsdóttir found the old Icelandic reckoning more accurate; with adjustments this has since been the most commonly used approach. Traditionally, historians have attributed great source value to scaldic poems because of
7434-493: The core province of the Swedes, Uppland , and its Norwegian namesake Oppland. Whereas, Beowulf leaves the Danish court with the suspicion that Hroðulf (Rolfo Krage, Hrólfr Kraki) might claim the Danish throne for himself at the death of Hroðgar (Roas, Hróarr), it is exactly what he does in Scandinavian tradition. A notable difference is that, in Beowulf , Eadgils receives the help of the Geatish king Beowulf against Onela, whereas it
7552-439: The development of scaldic art, while according to tradition, Harald was Norway's first national king. To create a connection between them would thus enhance both their reputations. According to Finnur Jonsson , Thjodolf was Harald's scald without dwelling much on the subject. Finnur said Thjodolf was not a hird scald, but a scald who mostly stayed home on the farm, where in another saga we meet Thjodolf's grandson. Snorri mentions
7670-493: The earl's arms. The prince guarantees growth and prosperity in their territory. There may have been a special connection between the king and the fertility goddess in times of crisis he was sacrificed to her. This is seen in Ynglingatal where Swedes sacrificed King Domalde after a prolonged famine. This is illustrated in Carl Larsson 's controversial monumental picture Midvinterblot , but there are no other sources supporting
7788-438: The early 12th century, Eadgils only appears as a name in the listing of the kings of the Yngling dynasty as Aðísl at Uppsala . The reason what that the author, Ari Þorgilsson , traced his ancestry from Eadgils, and its line of succession is the same as that of Ynglingatal . As can be seen it agrees with the earlier Ynglingatal and Beowulf in presenting Eadgils as the successor of Óttarr ( Ohthere ). The Skjöldunga saga
7906-403: The events and kings it describes, being separated from the earliest ones by several centuries. Ynglinga saga appears to have been based on an earlier scaldic poem, Ynglingatal , which is quoted at length by Snorri. Ynglingatal is not a reliable source either, though traditionally believed to have been composed at the end of the 9th or beginning of the 10th century, it might be from as late as
8024-497: The example above—defines the poem's structure. Akerlund has also said the bard Thjodolf learned the verse-form kviðuháttr by studying the Rök runestone in present-day Sweden, which dates from around the year 800. Ynglingatal is preserved in its entirety in Snorri's Ynglinga saga , which Snorri wrote based on the poem. In the saga, Snorri expanded his text by quoting from the poem in addition to his own text. A stanza from Ynglingatal
8142-406: The first four kings' deaths represent the cosmology of Greek philosopher Empedocles , with the four classical elements Earth, Water, Air, and Fire, and thus that a euhemeristic vision influenced the description of the first few generations. Krag's hypothesis has received serious criticism on several points, and so far "a convincing case has not been made against the authenticity of the poem as
8260-530: The ghost after falling from his horse before the temple of Diana, while he was performing the sacrifices made to idols. He became sire to Øystein, [ ... ] The same information is found the Swedish Chronicle from the mid-15th century, which calls him Adhel . It is probably based on the Ynglingatal tradition and says that he fell from his horse and died while he worshipped his god. In Íslendingabók from
8378-448: The gold that Aðils had taken from Helgi after the battle. Hrólfr departed with 120 men and his twelve berserkers and during a rest they were tested by a farmer called Hrani ( Odin in disguise) who advised Hrólfr to send back all his troops but his twelve berserkers, as numbers would not help him against Aðils. They were at first well received, but in his hall, Aðils did his best to stop Hrólfr with pit traps and hidden warriors who attacked
8496-471: The grotesque and often ridiculous ways the kings in the poem die—they often appear to be dishonorable, which is clearly in breach of customs of the praising poem. Bergsveinn says the poem is old but the meaning of the praising poem is constructed by Snorri and other scholars of the Middle Ages . He also says Ynglingatal was not originally a genealogy, but is about different families . According to Bergsveinn,
8614-439: The hall on fire, and so they broke out of the hall, only to find themselves surrounded by heavily armed warriors in the street. After a fight, king Aðils retreated to summon reinforcements. Yrsa then provided her son with a silver drinking horn filled with gold and jewels and a famous ring, Svíagris. Then she gave Hrólfr and his men twelve of the Swedish king's best horses, and all the armour and provisions they needed. Hrólfr bid
8732-408: The included Annales Lundenses ) tell that when the Danish kings Helghe ( Halga ) and Ro ( Hroðgar ) were dead, the Swedish king Hakon/ Athisl forced the Daner to accept a dog as king. The dog king was succeeded by Rolf Krage ( Hrólfr Kraki ). The Gesta Danorum (book 2), by Saxo Grammaticus , tells that Helgo ( Halga ) repelled a Swedish invasion, killed the Swedish king Hothbrodd , and made
8850-463: The king of Geatland . In the following lines, Onela is referred to as the Scylfings ' helmet and the son of Ongenþeow , whereas Eadgils and Eanmund are referred to as the sons of Ohtere : Later in the poem, it tells that during the battle, Eadgils's brother Eanmund was killed by Onela's champion Weohstan , Wiglaf 's father. In the following lines, Eanmund also appears as the son of Ohtere and as
8968-415: The king was thrown forward and hit his skull on a stone. The Swedes called him a great king and buried him at Uppsala . He was succeeded by Eysteinn . Hrólfr Kraki's saga is believed to have been written in the period c. 1230 – c. 1450. Helgi and Yrsa lived happily together as husband and wife, not knowing that Yrsa was Helgi's daughter. Yrsa's mother queen Oluf travelled to Denmark to tell her daughter
9086-572: The kings of the Yngling dynasty ( Swedish : Ynglingar ), a legendary line of kings said to descend from the Norse god Odin . The Ynglings are described in the Ynglinga saga as the first royal blood line of the Swedes. The Ynglinga saga contains no references to chronology (such as specific dates of the reigns of the various kings) with the exception of presenting the rulers in chronological order. In some places, names appear (notably kings Ottar and Adils ) that might belong to people also attested in other sagas, such as Beowulf (written in
9204-493: The kings preceding Olof Skötkonung. As the successors of King Stenkil ( r. c. 1060–1066), the Icelandic sources give Håkan the Red , followed by a co-regency of Inge the Elder, Halsten and Blot-Sweyn. Adam of Bremen instead gives a more linear succession of Eric and Eric , followed by Halsten, Anund Gårdske and then Håkan the Red. As the direct predecessors of Eric
9322-460: The kings who ruled Norway in his time and claimed Yngling descent were not to be taken seriously. Though descent from figures such as Odin and Njord, gods in Norse mythology, might seem a prestigious origin, it would be problematic in early medieval Norway since the kings were Christian and their ancestors were worshipped as Pagan gods. Their addition to the saga might thus have been another attempt by Sturluson to undermine royal ideology. If some of
9440-440: The kings. It mentions the following four kings: In terms of sources on Viking Age kings, Adam of Bremen , who worked in the 11th century and wrote of Swedish kings, is significantly closer in time and place to the kings he describe than the centuries of separation in the sagas, only being separated from the mentioned rulers by at most about 150–100 years. The Icelandic sources are substantially different from his work, not only in
9558-434: The legendary kings would have ruled during the Migration Period ( c. 375–550) and subsequent Vendel Period ( c. 550–790), but larger political structures in Scandinavia (i. e. the medieval kingdoms of Sweden, Norway and Denmark) are not believed to have formed and centralized until the Viking Age . The legendary kings of Sweden, as presented in the sagas, covers three legendary dynasties of rulers;
9676-446: The memory of a warrior elite can point to ancient human migrations . Sundquist posits the theory that Thjodolf from Kvine composed his works in the 900s and based them on an extant tradition. He also said Empedocles' cosmology can hardly be argued as evidence of late dating; in that case it would be influenced by Britannia or Franks . The fact Snorri has reproduced the poem suggests he would probably have known about any falsification
9794-574: The mightiest man in Sweden bend his back. The Ynglinga saga was written c. 1225 by Snorri Sturluson and he used Skjöldunga saga as a source when he told the story of Aðils. Snorri relates that Aðils succeeded his father Óttar ( Ohthere ) and betook himself to pillage the Saxons, whose king was Geirþjófr and queen Alof the Great. The king and consort were not at home, and so Aðils and his men plundered their residence at ease driving cattle and captives down to
9912-563: The mythical story of Harald and the Sami girl Snæfrithr Svásadottir , who cursed Harald to marry her. According to the saga, Harald and Snøfrid had four sons but Harald sent them away when he woke up from the curse. Thjodolf raised one of these sons, Gudrod Ljome. When Thjodolf learned Harald had disowned his sons, he sided with the boys and said to Harald, "They probably would have liked better ancestry, if you had given them that". The saga contains no information about Thjodolf being Harald's scald; that
10030-412: The name Alríkr (Alaric) in an unclear context, the name Eiríkr (Eric) in reference to a king at Uppsala and the name Eyvísl as the son of this Eiríkr. No written source mentions a king by the name Eyvísl, though the context of the stone does not make it clear whether he ruled as king or whether he was simply a prince. Ynglingatal Ynglingatal or Ynglinga tal ( Old Norse : 'Enumeration of
10148-414: The next has four, the next three, and so on. For example: Ynglingatal has also makes extensive use of acquaintance , such as rewriting and metaphors that give life to the poem, which otherwise contains much litany . The Icelandic philologist Finnur Jónsson believed the eight-line stanza defines Ynglingatal' s structure, while Walter Akerlund believed the four-line helming—the half-stanza as in
10266-613: The occasion, but he drank so much that he killed himself. Kings of the Danes are in bold and marked with an asterisk (*). Kings of the Swedes are marked with a dagger (†). Name spellings are derived from Oliver Elton 's 1905 translation, The First Nine Books of the Danish History of Saxo Grammaticus , via Wikisource . Semi-legendary king of Sweden The legendary kings of Sweden ( Swedish : sagokonungar, sagokungar , lit. ' saga kings / fairy tale kings') according to legends were rulers of Sweden and
10384-471: The original poem is preserved is uncertain. If Ynglingatal is younger, perhaps dating from the end of the 1100s as Krag says, its value as a source of real events shrinks further. According to Fidjestøl, the scald's main task was to express the Kingdom's official ideology, not necessarily render the facts. Archeologists, particularly Anton Wilhelm Brøgger in the early 1900s, have made many attempts to "place"
10502-447: The partly mythical and partly historical ancient Swedish kings; twenty-seven of whom are mentioned in the poem, along with details about their deaths and burial places. The title Ynglingatal alludes to Yngling , who had the name Yngve-Frey—another name for Frey , the god who was worshipped in Sweden . Yngling allegedly descended from Frey's son Fjölnir . Snorri portrayed Harald Fairhair as
10620-463: The perception or construction of the poem as genealogy originates from the High Middle Ages . Swedish archeologist Svante Norr argues for an intermediate position for dating Ynglingatal . He said it is neither an authentic poem of the Viking Age nor a text from the Middle Ages. Norr accepts the traditional dating of poems origin , but says the poem was sung for the more than 300 years until it
10738-413: The previous legendary figures, was seen as Sweden's first king. In Icelandic sources, such as the 12th/13th-century Langfeðgatal , Olof Skötkonung is regarded as a late ruler of a significantly older dynasty, stretching back to legendary Viking hero Ragnar Lodbrok . In addition to the short genealogical account of Langfeðgatal , Ragnar Lodbrok's royal dynasty is also presented in a more narrative form in
10856-516: The result of Helgo raping Olava, the queen of the Saxons . Helgo raped Yrsa as well and took her back to Denmark, where she bore the son Rolfo ( Hroðulf ). After a few years, Yrsa's mother, queen Olava, came to visit her and told her that Helgo was her own father. In horror, Yrsa returned to Adillus, leaving her son behind. Helgo died when Rolfo was eight years old, and Rolfo succeeded him, and ruled together with his uncle Roas ( Hroðgar ). Not much later, Roas
10974-519: The royal sequence is more correct in the Langfeðgatal ; Swedish medieval sources tend to omit the kings Anund Jacob and Emund the Old, who can be verified through foreign documents and through the coins they minted, and where the Swedish sources present kings as successive, some (such as Inge the Elder) are known to have co-ruled with others, which is accurately presented in the Icelandic versions. The missionary Ansgar travelled to Sweden several times during
11092-481: The sacrificing of a king. Ynglingatal consists of 27 stanzas and a litany of different kings and how they died. It starts with Fjölnir , who according to the Ynglinga saga was the son of Frey. This relationship is not mentioned in the actual poem. Fjolne drowned in a mead tub. The poem continues with his son Sveigðir , who followed a dwarf into a rock and never came out again. Then comes Sveigde's son Vanlande , who
11210-495: The sagas have numerous other problems which make them unsuitable to use as sources. Many of the elements of the Ynglinga saga appear to be based on later, documented, events and people in Scandinavia. For instance, the figure of Aun, described as being driven from Uppsala and taking up court in Västergötland instead, is similar to the historical Swedish king Inge the Elder ( r. c. 1079–1084, 1087–1105), who
11328-561: The sea. Eystein's son Halfdan died in his bed in Borre , where he was buried. Halfdan's son Gudrød was killed by the servant of his wife Åsa . The poem ends with Halfdan's son Olaf Geirstad-Alf and grandson Ragnvald Heidumhære . Tjodolv dedicated Ynglingatal to Ragnvald. The last stanza reads: Þat veitk bazt und blôum himni kenninafn, svát konungr eigi, es Rǫgnvaldr, reiðar stjóri, heiðumhôr of heitinn es. According to Snorri's Ynglinga Saga , Harald Fairhair's father Halfdan
11446-420: The ships to the river Fyris and rode directly to the Swedish king's hall at Uppsala with his twelve berserkers. Yrsa welcomed them and led them to their lodgings. Fires were prepared for them and they were given drinks. However, so much wood was heaped on the fires that the clothes started to burn away from their clothes. Hrólfr and his men had enough and threw the courtiers on the fire. Yrsa arrived and gave them
11564-480: The ships. One of the captives was a remarkably beautiful girl named Yrsa , and Snorri writes that everyone was soon impressed with the well-mannered, pretty and intelligent girl. Most impressed was Aðils who made her his queen. Some years later, Helgi ( Halga ), who ruled in Lejre , attacked Sweden and captured Yrsa. As he did not know that Yrsa was his own daughter, he raped her, and took her back to Lejre , where they had
11682-448: The son of the god Frey and a giantess named Gerd. The actual poem mentions nothing about this, but since it only survives in citation it may have been mentioned in a lost verse. Frey, the great fertility god in the Nordic countries , entered into a sacred wedding ( Hiero Gamos ) with Gerd, which is retold in the poem Skírnismál . The mythological purpose of the holy wedding is to bear
11800-406: The throne of Sweden by defeating his uncle Onela with Geatish help, and in two Scandinavian sources ( Skáldskaparmál and Skjöldunga saga ), he is also helped to defeat Onela in the Battle on the Ice of Lake Vänern , but with Danish help. However, Scandinavian sources mostly deal with his interaction with the legendary Danish king Hrólfr Kraki (Hroðulf), and Eadgils is mostly presented in
11918-429: The tight form that made them easier to remember than narratives. If Ynglingatal is really from the late 800s, recent events would be relatively close in time to the scald, and there is a high likelihood the poem renders information about real people and events. Nevertheless, there is a distance of 500 years from Halfdan Hvitbeinn to Snorri, and 250 years from the poem's composition to the time Snorri wrote it down. Whether
12036-439: The truth. Yrsa was shocked and although Helgi wanted their relationship to remain as it was, Yrsa insisted on leaving him to live alone. She was later taken by the Swedish king Aðils as his queen, which made Helgi even more unhappy. Helgi went to Uppsala to fetch her, but was killed by Aðils in battle. In Lejre , he was succeeded by his son Hrólfr Kraki . After some time, Böðvarr Bjarki encouraged Hrólfr to go Uppsala to claim
12154-799: The various youth kings and their wives in barrows in Vestfold . The most famous examples are the Queen Åsa in Oseberghaugen outside Tønsberg and Olaf Geirstad-Alf in Gokstadhaugen outside Sandefjord . In addition, archeologists have said the remains of Eystein Halfdansson, Halfdan the Mild, Gudrød the Hunter, and Halfdan the Black are located at Borrehaugene outside Horten . When the issue of Ynglingatal ' s value as
12272-497: The war, and Aðils took Áli's helmet Battle-boar and his horse Raven. The berserkers demanded three pounds of gold each in pay, and they demanded to choose the gifts that Aðils had promised Hrólfr, that is the two pieces of armour that nothing could pierce: the helmet battle-boar and the mailcoat Finn's heritage . They also wanted the famous ring Svíagris. Aðils considered the pay outrageous and refused. When Hrólfr heard that Aðils refused to pay, he set off to Uppsala . They brought
12390-557: The work, this is referred to as "sowing the Fyrisvellir "), although there was a rumour that she only spread gilded copper. When Athislus, who was pursuing the escapers saw that a precious ring was lying on the ground, he bent down to pick it up. Roluo was pleased to see the king of Sweden bent down, and escaped in the ships with his mother. Roluo later defeated Athislus and gave Sweden to young man named Hiartuar ( Heoroweard ), who also married Roluo's sister Skulde . When Athislus learnt that Hiartuar and Skulde had killed Roluo, he celebrated
12508-415: Was a Norse saga which is believed to have been written in the period 1180–1200. The original version is lost, but it survives in a Latin summary by Arngrímur Jónsson . Arngrímur's summary relates that Eadgils, called Adillus , married Yrsa with whom he had the daughter Scullda . Some years later, the Danish king Helgo ( Halga ) attacked Sweden and captured Yrsa, not knowing that she was his own daughter,
12626-513: Was animosity between king Adillus of Sweden and the Norwegian king Ale of Oppland . They decided to fight on the ice of Lake Vänern . Adillus won and took his helmet, chainmail and horse. Adillus won because he had requested Rolfo's aid against king Ale and Rolfo had sent him his berserkers. However, Adillus refused to pay the expected tribute for the help and so Rolfo came to Uppsala to claim his recompense. After surviving some traps, Rolfo fled with Adillus' gold, helped by his mother Yrsa. Seeing that
12744-577: Was driven from Uppsala into Västergötland in the 11th century. The Ynglinga saga might also be an example of anti-royal social commentary rather than an attempt to tell history. Many of the kings in the saga are overshadowed by their contemporary vassals and wives, and they are rarely shown in a positive light. The inglorious deaths of many of the Swedish Ynglings; with examples such as murder, burning to death, drowning in mead and being " hag-ridden " to death, might be an attempt by Sturluson to say that
12862-452: Was free of euhemerism—the notion of lineage of gods was added in the Christian era. Claus Krag said the first kings of the poem are historicized gods, and that the hypothesis of lost stanzas may be rejected. Opinions differ on whether breedings were historical figures. If all the kings in this poem really existed, the first of them must have lived in the Migration Period . It is usually only
12980-458: Was hung by his wife Skjålv , and Agne's sons Alaric and Eric killed each other with a bridle when they were out riding. Their sons Yngve and Alf killed each other after being incited by Alf's wife Bera. The poem continues with varying degrees of mythical ways to die. Eventually the Yngling kings walked through the woods from the Svea kingdom to Norway. Here there is a clear break in the series and it
13098-432: Was in war with a Norwegian king named Áli ( Onela ), and they fought in the Battle on the Ice of Lake Vänern . Aðils was married to Yrsa , the mother of Hrólfr and so sent an embassy to Hrólfr asking him for help against Áli. He would receive three valuable gifts in recompense. Hrólfr was involved in a war against the Saxons and could not come in person but sent his twelve berserkers, including Böðvarr Bjarki . Áli died in
13216-406: Was killed by his half-brothers Rærecus and Frodo, whereupon Rolfo became the sole king of Denmark. In Sweden, Yrsa and Adillus married Scullda to the king of Öland , Hiørvardus/Hiorvardus/Hevardus ( Heoroweard ). As her half-brother Rolfo was not consulted about this marriage, he was infuriated and he attacked Öland and made Hiørvardus and his kingdom tributary to Denmark. After some time, there
13334-541: Was named Slöngvi and another one Raven , which he had taken from Áli. From this horse he had bred a horse also named Raven which he sent to king Godgest of Hålogaland , but Godgest could not manage it and fell from it and died, in Omd on the island of Andøya . Aðils himself died in a similar way at the Dísablót . Aðils was riding around the Disa shrine when Raven stumbled and fell, and
13452-477: Was placed in front of a fire that exposed him to such heat that finally a maiden could suffer the sight no more and extinguished the fire. Roluo was greatly recompensed by Athisl for his endurance. When the banquet had lasted for three days, Urse and Roluo escaped from Uppsala, early in the morning in carriages where they had put all the Swedish king's treasure. In order to lessen their burden, and to occupy any pursuing warriors they spread gold in their path (later in
13570-447: Was strangled by a mare . Vanlande's son Visbur was burned alive and his son Domalde was sacrificed by the Swedish chiefs to get a good year's harvest. Domalde had his son Domar , who died of illness in Uppsala . Domar's son Dyggve also died of illness, and his son Dag the Wise was killed by a slave with a pitchfork when he was out to avenge the death of a sparrow. Dag's son Agne
13688-500: Was subjected to much criticism as a historical source, in Sweden by the brothers Lauritz and Curt Weibull , and in Norway by Halvdan Koht and Edvard Bull . In 1908, German philologist Gustav Neckel said Ynglingatal had to be a construction from the 1100s; Norwegian historian Claus Krag also said this in his book Ynglingatal and Yngling Saga. A study of historical sources , and joins Neckel's hypothesis. Claus Krag claimed in 1990 that Ynglingatal 's origin should be dated to
13806-474: Was the only corresponding name used by the Anglo-Saxons. The name Aðils was so exceedingly rare even in Scandinavia that among almost 6000 Scandinavian runic inscriptions, it is only attested in three runestones ( U 35 , DR 221 and Br Olsen;215). The Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf , composed sometime between the 8th century and the 11th century, is (beside the Norwegian skaldic poem Ynglingatal from
13924-469: Was written down gradually, and must have undergone major changes to fit it into contemporaneous social conditions. According to Norr, genealogical poems cannot be used as historical sources because they depend on extant ideological, political and social conditions. He says the poem must be viewed as a development and a result of a long process of change. The Norwegian archaeologist Bjørn Myhre joins largely to Norr's standpoint. The meaning of term "yngling"
#117882