Scandinavian tradition
It has been suggested that Hreðric corresponds to Hrörekr/Rørik in Scandinavian tradition. [2] However, the traditions vary and so Hrörekr is either killed by Hrólfr Kraki or his successor as the ruler of Zealand (the Danish heartland).
In Saxo Grammaticus's Gesta Danorum (Book 2), Hrólfr Kraki kills a Rørik: "... our king, who laid low Rorik (i.e. Rørik), the son of Bok the covetous, and wrapped the coward in death." Rørik is the expected Old East Norse form of Hreðric, and personages named Rørik, Hrok or similar such names can be found in most versions of the Hrólf Kraki tradition.
Saxo Grammaticus, also known as Saxo cognomine Longus, was a Danish historian, theologian and author. He is thought to have been a clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, the main advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark. He is the author of the Gesta Danorum, the first full history of Denmark, from which the legend of Amleth would come to inspire the story of Hamlet by Shakespeare.
Gesta Danorum is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 13th century author Saxo Grammaticus. It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark and is an essential source for the nation's early history. It is also one of the oldest known written documents about the history of Estonia and Latvia.
In the Skjöldunga saga , Valdar disputes Hrörekr's succession of Hrólfr Kraki as the king of the Daner. After the war, Hrörekr took Zealand, while Valdar took Skåne. If based on the same tradition as Hversu Noregr byggdist, Valdar had the right to claim the throne being the son of the former king Hróarr (Hroðgar).
The Skjöldunga saga was an Old Norse Legendary saga. Dating from c. 1180 – 1200, the saga was lost in its original form. The saga focused on the Danish dynasty of Scylding, the same semi-legendary dynasty featured in the Old English poem Beowulf. The fragmentary Icelandic text known as Sögubrot af nokkrum fornkonungum is believed to be based on the Skjöldunga saga, perhaps deriving from a late version of that work.
Valdar was the name of several legendary Danish kings.
Hrólfr Kraki, Hroðulf, Rolfo, Roluo, Rolf Krage was a legendary Danish king who appears in both Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian tradition.
Even though Hrólfr Kraki was made their guardian, their mother could have easily fled back to her Wuffing kin, as the male line of Hroðgar seemed to live on through Valdar. Valdar also took power in Scane, which makes sense as it is near Östergötland. After Ingjald's death, Sögubrot relates, Ivar Vidfamne gave the East Geatish throne to Hjörmund, the son of Hjörvard, since it had been the kingdom of Hjörmund's father Hjörvard. As Ivar Vidfamne was a great grandson of Hroðgar and his Wuffing wife Wealhþēow, this could be seen as a reward for loyalty as well as kinship with the Wuffings.
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Hrothgar is portrayed in medieval sources as a Danish king living around the early sixth century CE.
Yrsa, Yrse, Yrs or Urse was a tragic heroine of early Scandinavian literature.
Ivar Vidfamne was a legendary Scanian, Danish and Swedish mythological king hailing from Scania. He may have died c. 700 in Karjálabotnar which has possibly been Kurkijoki in Karelia. According to the Heimskringla and the Hervarar saga, Ivar was also king of parts of Norway, Saxony and England.
Old English Scylding and Old Norse Skjöldung, meaning in both languages "People of Scyld/Skjöld" refers to members of a legendary royal family of Danes, especially kings. The name is explained in many texts, such as Friedrich Christoph Dahlmann's 'Research on the Field of History', by the descent of this family from an eponymous king Scyld/Skjöld. But the title is sometimes applied to rulers who purportedly reigned before Scyld/Skjöld and the supposed king Scyld/Skjöld may be an invention to explain the name. There was once a Norse saga on the dynasty, the Skjöldunga saga, but it survives only in a Latin summary by Arngrímur Jónsson.
Halga, Helgi, Helghe or Helgo was a legendary Danish king living in the early 6th century. His name would in his own language (Proto-Norse) have been *Hailaga.
Halfdan the Valiant was the legendary father of Ivar Vidfamne according to Hervarar saga, the Ynglinga saga, Njal's Saga and Hversu Noregr byggdist. The genealogical work Hversu Noregr byggdist gives his father as Harald the Old, his grandfather as Valdar and his great-grandfather as Hróarr.
Geatish kings, ruling over the provinces of Götaland (Gautland/Geatland), appear in several sources for early Swedish history. Today, most of them are not considered historical.
The Wulfings, Wylfings or Ylfings was a powerful clan in Beowulf, Widsith and in the Norse sagas. While the poet of Beowulf does not locate the Wulfings geographically, Scandinavian sources define the Ylfings as the ruling clan of the Eastern Geats.
Granmar was a king of Södermanland, in Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla. The same king also appears in the Volsunga saga.
Heoroweard is a character who appears in Beowulf and also in Norse legends, where he is named Hjörvarðr or Hiartuar. If he existed in real life, his name would have been Proto-Norse *Heruwarduz.
Ingeld or Ingjaldr was a legendary warrior who appears in early English and Norse legends. Ingeld was so well known that, in 797, Alcuin wrote a letter to Bishop Higbald of Lindisfarne questioning the monks' interest in heroic legends with: 'Quid enim Hinieldus cum Christo?' - What has Ingeld to do with Christ?
Hrólfs saga kraka, the Saga of King Hrolf Kraki, is a late legendary saga on the adventures of Hrólfr Kraki and his clan, the Skjöldungs. The events can be dated to the late 5th century and the 6th century. A precursor text may have dated to the 13th century, but the saga in the form that survived to this day dates to ca. 1400. 44 manuscripts survive, but the oldest one of them is from the 17th century, although a manuscript is known to have existed c. 1461 at the monastery of Möðruvellir in Iceland.
Harald Valdarsson, also known as Harald the Old appears only by name in Hversu Noregr byggðist, but his father, sons and their descendants played a central role in the politics of Scandinavian legends.
Hrœrekr Ringslinger or Ringscatterer, Old Norse: Hrærekr slöngvanbaugi, Old Danish: Rørik Slængeborræ or Rørik Slyngebond was a legendary 7th-century king of Zealand or Denmark, who appears in Chronicon Lethrense, Annals of Lund, Gesta Danorum, Sögubrot, Njáls saga, Hversu Noregr byggðist, Skjöldunga saga, and Bjarkarímur. Connection with such historical figures such as Horik I, who ruled Denmark around 854 for a dozen or so years, or the founder of the Rurik dynasty is fraught with difficulty.
Guðröðr was a legendary 7th century Scanian king who according to the Ynglinga saga was the brother of Halfdan the Valiant, Ivar Vidfamne's father.
