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44-506: Ynglinga saga ( modern Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈiŋliŋka ˈsaːɣa] ) is a Kings' saga , originally written in Old Norse by the Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson about 1225. It is the first section of his Heimskringla . It was first translated into English and published in 1844 by Samuel Laing . Snorri Sturluson based his work on an earlier Ynglingatal which

88-733: A chief in Vanaland, but people there realize how bad he actually is at taking decisions when not advised by Mime. They decapitate Mime and send his head to Asaland, where Odin smears it with herbs and sings incantations over it giving it the power to speak and reveal many secrets to Odin. Odin has a foresight about the new dwelling place in the north and goes there "with all the gods and a great many other people", leaving his two brothers, Vilje and Ve , to rule in Asgaard. First, Odin and his companions wander westwards to Gardarike and from there - south to Saxland, where Odin's sons start to rule. Odin goes towards

132-604: A friendship with King Frode. Frode's messengers come to demand the scatt promised by Egil, which Ottar refuses to pay. As a punishment, the Sweden is ravaged by the Danes who kill many people and take captives there. In revenge, King Ottar sails to Denmark with his warriors when Frode is away on an expedition, and desolates the country. When Ottar is plundering the Vend district of Lymfjord, Danish earls Vatt and Faste bring their army there to fight off

176-704: A gallows. Thus Gylog revenges his father's death on Jorund. Jorund's son On , a wise and quiet man, becomes a king of the Swedes and rules peacefully in Upsal until Halfdan , a son of the Danish king Frode Mikellati , comes to Sweden with his army. On flees to Gotland, yielding the kingdom to Halfdan, who remains there as a new king for 25 years. When Halfdan dies, On returns to Upsal while being already 60 years old and sacrifices his own son to Odin, who tells him that he will live 60 years more. King On rules in Upsal for 25 years until Ole

220-427: A great mound with three windows. People think Frey is still alive and continue to pay tribute to him, putting gold through one window, silver through another and copper coins through the third one. The Swedes eventually discover the truth but do not burn Frey's body, since they believe that peaceful times continue thanks to his presence in Sweden. They treat him as a god and sacrifice to him. Frey's son Fjolne inherits

264-516: A high tree, while wearing a golden ornament around his neck - the legacy of king Visbur. Froste's daughter fastens a noose under the ornament and lets her men hang Agne on a branch of that tree. Skjalv sails away after murdering her husband and Agne is buried at that place, which is called Agnefet afterwards. Agne is succeeded by his sons Alric and Eric , who both become kings at the same time. Outstanding horsemen, they like to compete over who rides better. While riding out far away onto distant fields,

308-538: A more celebrated role as the chief of the Norse pantheon. Óðinn remains at the head of a triad of the mightiest gods: Óðinn, Þórr , and Freyr . In the Gylfaginning , first book of the prose Edda , Óðinn is also styled Þriði "the third", in which case he appears by the side of Hárr and Jafnhárr (the "high" and the "even-high" or "co-equal"), as the "Third High". At other times, he is Tveggi "the second". In relation to

352-411: A powerful warrior, who leads his army to Finland to subdue the land. After killing a Finnish chief Froste together with many of his men in a great battle, Agne marauds Finland and brings Froste's daughter Skjalv with her brother Loge to Stoksund . There he marries Skjalv, who begs him to make a funeral feast to commemorate her father. Agne gets very drunk during the feast and falls asleep in a tent under

396-482: A son Domald . Gisle and Ond grow up and demand their mother's dower of Visbur, but he refuses to pay. They revenge by burning Visbur in his own house, assisted by the Huld's sorcery. After his fathers's death, Domald becomes a king. His rule is marked by great famine and distress, and Swedes make many offerings of sacrifice in a hope to end the times of scarcity. When they see that nothing helps they sacrifice Domald himself to

440-564: A son Visbur , but then Vanlande leaves his family for a long time. Driva sends Visbur to Sweden and asks the witch Huld to either force Vanlande to return to Finland or kill him with her witchcraft. Vanlande does not return, and thus is killed in his sleep by the Mara . Visbur succeeds his father and marries the daughter of Aude the Rich, who gives birth to their two sons Gisle and Ond. However, Visbur leaves his family and takes another wife, with whom he has

484-451: A strong force to advance towards Upsal against Hake, who meets them at Fyrisvold and a great battle takes place there. In spite of having a smaller army, Hake fights bravely and kills Eric, forcing Jorund with his men flee to their ships. However, king Hake himself is mortally wounded in the battle and knows that his days are numbered. He orders a warship to be loaded with bodies of his warriors together with their weapons, and to be taken out to

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528-492: A sword, before Bera's eyes, but the dying Yngve manages to lethally wound Alf too. Both brothers fall dead and are buried in Fyrisvold. Alf's son Hugleik inherits the power and quietly rules in the kingdom of the Swedes, until a powerful sea-king Hake comes with many warriors to attack the country. King Hugleik gathers a great army to oppose him, but loses a battle at Fyrisvold. Hake kills Hugleik together with two of his sons in

572-414: A truce and exchange hostages. Thus the best people of Vanaland are sent to Asaland as hostages: Njord the Rich, with his son Frey and daughter Freya as well as the wisest man in Vanaland called Kvase . The people of Asaland , in their turn, send a wise man called Mime along with a stout handsome man called Hone , who is allegedly very suitable to become a chief, to Vanaland. Hone is immediately made

616-475: A wife in Vanaland called Vana, who gives birth to their son Vanlande . When Swegde returns to Sweden with his family he is still determined to seek Godheim. During his second journey Swegde meets a dwarf, who tricks him into entering a big hollow stone, where Swegde is trapped forever. Vanlande becomes a king in Upsal. As a great warrior, he ventures out to many lands and gets a wife in Finland called Driva. They have

660-485: Is cognate with Gothic weiha ('priest'), both stemming from Proto-Germanic * wīhōn , itself from the adjective * wīhaz , meaning 'holy' (cf. Goth. weihs , Old High German wīh ) . A related noun, * wīhan ('sanctuary'), can also be reconstructed on the basis of Old Norse vé ('sanctuary'), Old English wēoh ('idol'), and Old Saxon wīh ('temple'). Vili transparently means 'will' in Old Norse. It stems from

704-489: Is Al-father, from whom all the other superior, world-directing beings, the Æsir, are descended." According to Loki , in Lokasenna , Vili and Vé had an affair with Óðinn's wife, Frigg . This is taken by Grimm as reflecting the fundamental identity of the three brothers, so that Frigg might be considered the wife of either. According to this story Óðinn was abroad for a long time, and in his absence his brothers acted for him. It

748-773: Is attributed to the Norwegian 9th-century skald Þjóðólfr of Hvinir , and which also appears in Historia Norwegiae . It tells the most ancient part of the story of the House of Ynglings ( Scylfings in Beowulf ). Snorri described the descent of the kings of Norway from this royal house of Sweden . Ynglinga saga is the first part of Snorri's history of the ancient Norse kings, the Heimskringla . Interwoven in this narrative are references to important historical events. The saga deals with

792-535: Is called Sealand, where Gefion dwells and marries Skjold, an Odin's son. When Odin hears of how prosperous the lands to the east of Gylve's possessions are, he goes there. Despite the opposition of Gylve, Asaland people take the upper hand, make piece with him and remain on those lands. Odin settles at the Maelare lake, in the Old Sigtun , builds a temple there and sets his men to rule in the neighboring places around. Odin

836-430: Is described as a great sorcerer in the saga. He can shape-shift, speaks only in verse, and lies so well that everything he says seems true. He strikes enemies blind and deaf and when his own men fight they go berserk and cannot be harmed. Odin has a ship named Skidbladnir , which can be folded together like a cloth. He relies on two talking ravens to gather intelligence, and he keeps Mime's head with him, which tells him

880-740: Is going to Godheim (the other name of "Swithiod the Great" in the saga). He dies in his bed in Swithiod and is burned with honor. Snorri says: "The Swedes believed that he was gone to the ancient Asgaard, and would live there eternally". Njord starts to rule over the Swedes after Odin. During this time, marked by peace and prosperity, all the gods die. When Njord also dies, Frey takes the power and makes Upsal his capital. Frey has also another name, Yngvi, which begins to be used as an honorific title by his descendants. Thus they are called Ynglinger . When Frey dies of illness, his men keep it secret and place his body into

924-416: Is worthy of note that Saxo Grammaticus also makes Óðinn (Latin: Othinus ) travel to foreign lands and Mitoðinn (Latin: Mithothyn ) fill his place, and therefore Mitoðinn's position throws light on that of Vili and Vé. But Saxo represents Óðinn as once more an exile, and puts Ullr (Latin: Ollerus ) in his place. Chapter 3 of Heimskringla says that Odin had two brothers, Vili and Vé. While Odin

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968-571: The Ural Mountains ) lies "outside of all inhabited lands" but its southern part is not far from "Turkland" (probably Khazaria ). On the southern side of the mountains runs the river Tanais, formerly known as Tanaquisl or Vanaquisl (the modern day Don ), which flows into the Black Sea and marks the border between Europe and Asia. People on the Tanais live in a country called Vanaland or Vanaheim. East of

1012-772: The Bold , a Halfdan's nephew, attacks the kingdom. On flees to Gotland for the second time, losing the throne to Ole, who reigns over Sweden for 25 years. When Ole is killed by Starkad the Old, On comes back to Upsal and rules over the kingdom for another 25 years. Then he sacrifices his second son to Odin, who promises that On's life will last as long as he gives one of his sons to Odin every tenth year. On keeps living and sacrificing his sons until only one of them remains, whom he also wants to give to Odin, but Swedes do not let it happen. Therefore On finally dies at an extremely old age. Tunne, an On's slave working as his counselor and treasurer, hides much of

1056-455: The On's treasures in the earth. As soon as Egil , the only remaining son of On, inherits the throne he reduces Tunne to the rank of an ordinary slave. The deeply offended Tunne runs away with some other slaves, digs up the On's treasures, shares it among his men and becomes their chief. Joined by gangs of local robbers they plunder the country and kill many people, compelling Egil to lead his army against

1100-546: The Proto-Germanic noun * weljōn ~ * weljan ('will, wish'; cf. Gothic wilja , Old English willa , and Old High German willo ). In Proto-Norse , the three brothers' names were alliterating , * Wōdinaz , Wiljô , Wīhaz , so that they can be taken as forming a triad of * wōdaz , wiljô, wīhą , approximately inspiration (transcendent, mantic or prophetic knowledge), cognition (will, desire, internal thought that leads to action) and numen (spiritual power residing in

1144-561: The Swedes. As a result of a great battle, Ottar is defeated and killed, and the Danes leave his body on a mound for wild beasts and ravens to tear at it. The remaining chapters of the saga describe the rule of Yngling dynasty down to the Rongvald the Mountain-High . Kings%27 sagas Kings' sagas ( Icelandic : konungasögur , Nynorsk : kongesoger, -sogor , Bokmål : kongesagaer ) are Old Norse sagas which principally tell of

1188-460: The Ynglings begins. These lands differ in a metaphorical sense as well, since the former is also called Godheim or the home of gods, while the latter is called Mannheim or the place where people live. Swithiod the Great is a vast territory populated by many "races of men", and divided from other lands by a large mountain ridge going from northeast to southwest. This mountain ridge (probably referring to

1232-589: The arrival of the Norse gods to Scandinavia and how Freyr founded the Swedish Yngling dynasty at Uppsala . Then the saga follows the line of Swedish kings until Ingjald ( Ingjald illråde ), after which the descendants settled in Norway and became the ancestors of the Norwegian King Harald Fairhair . Hrólf Kraki Tradition The saga begins with a description of the "earth's circle" inhabited by

1276-425: The battle and becomes king of Sweden. Hake remains in Sweden while his troops are going abroad on viking expeditions. Meanwhile the sons of Yngve, Jorund and Eric, are cruising in their warships, marauding Denmark. They capture Gudlog, a king from Halogaland , bring him to Stromones and hang him there, which makes them very famous and celebrated. After hearing that king Hake's troops are abroad, Jorund and Eric gather

1320-405: The best warriors to Egil. King Egil, assisted by Danes, defeats Tunne and rules three years over Sweden, sending King Frode great presents every year in acknowledgement of his help, but does not pay scatt to the Danes. Egil dies of a mortal wound inflicted by a runaway bull and is buried in a mound at Upsal. Egil's son Ottar succeeds to the kingdom after his father but does not continue to keep up

1364-443: The brothers seemingly crush each other's heads with a headgear and die. Alric's sons Yngve and Alf become kings of Sweden afterwards. Yngve, a renowned warrior, is handsome, cheerful and admired by everyone. In contrast to his brother, Alf is shy, unfriendly and never takes part in military expeditions. Alf's wife Bera is attracted to Yngve and spends much time in his company, which makes Alf very jealous. Alf strikes his brother with

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1408-553: The external world, in sacred objects). Compare to this alliteration in a verse found in the Exeter Book , Wôden worhte weos "Woden wrought the sanctuaries " – when compared to the "triad" above, just the middle will etymon has been replaced by the work etymon. The name of such sanctuaries to Woden, Wôdenes weohas ( Old Saxon Wôdanes wih , Old Norse Óðins vé ) survives in toponymy as Odinsvi , Wodeneswegs . Vili and Vé, together with Óðinn, are portrayed as

1452-448: The gods. Then the Domald's son, called Domar , reigns peacefully over the Swedes for a long time. When he dies in Upsal his body is moved to Fyrisvold and burned on the river bank. The power is taken by his son Dygve of whom "nothing is said", according to the saga, except for that he dies then "in his bed". King Dygve is succeeded by his son Dag , who is so wise that he can understand

1496-501: The human race and divided by great seas running into the land from the "out-ocean". The Black Sea divides the earth into three parts: Asia in the east, Europe in the west and "Swithiod the Great, or the Cold" in the north. The saga distinguishes between Swithiod the Great (literally "Sweden the Great"), where the opening scenes are set, and Sweden proper, in Scandinavia , where the reign of

1540-512: The language of birds. To get news he uses a sparrow, which is killed with a stone one day, in a farm called Varva, in Reidgotaland . Infuriated Dag plunders Varva out of revenge and kills many people there. On his way back Dag crosses a river at a place called Skjotan's Ford, where a slave worker throws a hayfork at the Dag's troop, killing the king instantly. The kingdom is taken by the Dag's son Agne ,

1584-848: The lives of semi-legendary and legendary (mythological, fictional) Nordic kings , also known as saga kings . They were composed during the twelfth through the fourteenth centuries, primarily in Iceland , but with some written in Norway . Kings' sagas frequently contain episodic stories known in scholarship as þættir , such as the Íslendingaþættir (about Icelanders), Styrbjarnar þáttr Svíakappa , Hróa þáttr heimska , and Eymundar þáttr hrings (about people from elsewhere). Including works in Latin, and in approximate order of composition (though many dates could be off by decades) In Norwegian Vili and V%C3%A9 The Old Norse theonym Vé (or Véi )

1628-510: The mutinous slave. However, Tunne suddenly attacks Egil's field camp at night, forcing the king's men to flee to the forest and causing even more damage to the country. Egil assembles an army again, but suffers a heavy defeat from the forces of Tunne. After losing a series of battles to Tunne, the king flees the country and comes to Sealand in Denmark, promising to pay scatt to Frode the Bold in return for his help. Frode gives his army with some of

1672-567: The news from other worlds. Odin teaches magic, runes and incantations. He can even awaken the dead from the earth and cause death or disease to anyone. People worship Odin and the other twelve chiefs from Asaland as their gods. Odin establishes the laws that have been previously observed in Asaland: dead men should be burned with their belongings, a mound should be raised to memorialize distinguished men, sacrifices should be held on special days in winter and in summer. Short before his death, Odin says he

1716-481: The power and peacefully rules over the Swedes until he visits a great celebration in the house of Fredfrode, a ruler of Leidre. There Fjolne accidentally falls into a big vessel with mead and drowns himself. Swegde , Fjolne's son, takes the kingdom, but decides to seek Godheim and Odin, so he sets out on a 5-year travel for that. Swegde comes to Turkland and then to the Great Swithiod. He does not find Odin, but gets

1760-668: The river, in Asia, stretches a country called Asaland or Asaheim. The main city of Asaland is Asgaard , where Odin is a chief. Twelve temple priests, called Diar, direct sacrifices in Asgaard and also judge the people, who serve and obey them. Odin is a great warrior, who conquers many kingdoms in all parts of the world, never losing a battle. His men are used to receive his blessing before going into battle, and to call upon his name when fighting, in order to inspire themselves. Odin wages war against Vanaland people , but cannot win over them. After doing great damage to each other, both sides agree to

1804-559: The sea in the north, settles in an island called Odinsö in Fyen and sends Gefion to discover new lands to the north, in Scandinavia. When she reaches the possessions of king Gylve , he grants her a plowable field. After having four sons with a giant in Jotunheim, Gefion turns them into a yoke of oxen and makes them plow the field breaking out a piece of land into the ocean close to Odinsö. This land

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1848-463: The sea. A pyre is made on the ship, where Hake is burned while not being quite dead. Jorund remains in Upsal and rules over the country. He leads his army to Denmark, plundering Jutland and Lymfjord, but in Oddesund he stumbles on Gylog, a son of the late king Gudlog, with a great force. Gylog, assisted by multitudes of local people, wins over Jorund in a battle, captures him and orders him to be hanged on

1892-521: The three brothers who slew Ymir — ending the primeval rule of the race of giants — and are the first of the Æsir . Of the three, Óðinn is the eldest, Vili the middle, and Vé the youngest. To the first human couple, Ask and Embla , Óðinn gave soul and life; Vili ( Hœnir ) gave wit (intelligence) and sense of touch; and Vé ( Lóðurr ) gave countenance (appearance, facial expression), speech , hearing, and sight. While Vili and Vé are of little prominence in Norse mythology as attested; their brother Óðinn has

1936-576: The Óðinn-Vili-Vé triad, Grimm compares Old High German willa , which not only expressed voluntas , but also votum, impetus, spiritus , and the personification of Will, to Wela in Old English sources. Keyser interprets the triad as "Spirit, Will and Holiness", postulating a kind of Germanic Trinity in Vili and Vé to be "blended together again in the all-embracing World-spirit – in Odin. [...] he alone

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