Guthorm | |
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King of the Danes | |
Predecessor | Svipdagr |
Successor | Svipdagr |
House | Scylding |
Father | Gram |
Mother | Groa |
Religion | Pagan |
Characters of Gesta Danorum |
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Danish kings (family tree) |
Foreign rulers |
Other men |
Women |
Guthorm or Guthormus was one of the earliest legendary Danish kings according to Saxo Grammaticus. He was a son of the Danish king, Gram, and a Swedish princess, Groa.
His father was slain by the Norwegian king, Svipdagr. After the incident, Svipdagr installed him as the puppet king of the Danes. However, his half-brother, Hading refused the offer and entered exile, later he returned and retook his father's kingdom, but lack of mentions of Guthorm implies that his half-brother died before his return. (It is also stated that when Hading defeated Svipdag, he had vengeance not only for his father but also his brother, supporting the idea that Guthorm had already died.) [1]
Gesta Danorum, Book One |
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GUTHORM and HADDING, the son of Gram (Groa being the mother of the first and Signe of the second), were sent over to Sweden in a ship by their foster-father, Brage (Swipdag being now master of Denmark), and put in charge of the giants Wagnhofde and Hafle, for guard as well as rearing. |
Swipdag, now that he had slain Gram, was enriched with the realms of Denmark and Sweden; and because of the frequent importunities of his wife he brought back from banishment her brother Guthorm, upon his promising tribute, and made him ruler of the Danes. But Hadding preferred to avenge his father rather than take a boon from his foe. |
The family tree of legendary Kings of the Danes, according to the Gesta Danorum (Books I to VII) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Kings of the Danes are in bold and marked with an asterisk (*). Kings of the Swedes are marked with a dagger (†). Superscript numbers before a name indicate in which books of Gesta Danorum the individual is mentioned.
Name spellings are derived from Oliver Elton's 1905 translation, The First Nine Books of the Danish History of Saxo Grammaticus, via Wikisource. |
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