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The Tyrfing Cycle is a collection of Norse legends, unified by the shared element of the magic sword Tyrfing. [1] Two of the legends are found in the Poetic Edda, and the Hervarar saga can be seen as a compilation of these legends.
The first part deals with the forging of the sword Tyrfing by the Dwarves Durin and Dvalin. They are forced to do so by Svafrlami, the king of Gardariki, but in revenge they curse the sword so that it will kill a man every time it is unsheathed, cause three evil deeds and be the undoing of Svarflami.
Svafrlami is killed in single combat with the berserker Arngrim, who takes the sword and gives it to his son Angantyr.
The second part deals with the legend of Hjalmar, Orvar-Odd and the duel on Samsø. Arngrim's twelve sons meet Hjalmar and Orvar-Odd in a duel, but the outnumbered heroes kill Arngrim's sons. However, Hjalmar has been wounded by Tyrfing and dies.
The third part deals with Angantyr's daughter Hervor and how she reclaims Tyrfing from her father's ghost. Later she marries and has the sons Angantyr and Heidrek.
The fourth part deals with the saga of Heidrek the wise, the king of the Goths, and contains the riddles of Gestumblindi. If the killing of Hjalmar may be the sword's first evil deed, its second is the accidental slaying of Heidrek's brother Angantyr. The third and last evil deed is probably when Heidrek's slaves murder Heidrek during an expedition in the Carpathians.
The fifth part is about Heidrek's sons Angantyr and Hlöd and how Hlöd invades the land of the Goths with the Hunnish horde.
The last part is about Swedish history and its line of kings from Ivar Vidfamne until king Philip Halstensson.
For links to source text in English translation and Old Norse and for general commentary see Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks.
Tyrfing, Tirfing or Tyrving was a magic sword in Norse mythology, which features in the Tyrfing Cycle, which includes a poem from the Poetic Edda called Hervararkviða, and the Hervarar saga. The name is also used in the saga to denote the Goths. The form Tervingi was actually recorded by Roman sources in the 4th century.
Hlöðskviða, known in English as The Battle of the Goths and Huns and occasionally known by its German name Hunnenschlachtlied, is an Old Norse heroic poem found in Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks. Many attempts have been made to try to fit it with known history, but it is an epic poem, telescoping and fictionalising history to a large extent; some verifiable historical information from the time are place names, surviving in Old Norse forms from the period 750–850, but it was probably collected later in Västergötland.
Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks is a legendary saga from the 13th century combining matter from several older sagas in Germanic heroic legend. It tells of wars between the Goths and the Huns during the 4th century. The final part of the saga, which was likely composed separately from and later than the rest, is a source for Swedish medieval history.
Örvar-Oddr is a legendary hero about whom an anonymous Icelander wrote a fornaldarsaga in the latter part of the 13th century. Örvar-Odds saga, the Saga of Örvar-Odd, became very popular and contains old legends and songs. He also appears in Hervarar saga and, concerning the battle on Samsø, in Gesta Danorum.
Hjalmar and Ingeborg were a legendary Swedish duo. The male protagonist Hjalmar and his duel for Ingeborg figures in the Hervarar saga and in Orvar-Odd's saga, as well as in Gesta Danorum, Lay of Hyndla and a number of Faroese ballads. Hjalmar never lost a battle until meeting a berserker wielding the cursed sword Tyrfing.
Hervör is the name shared by two female characters in the Tyrfing Cycle, presented in The Saga of Hervör and Heidrek with parts found in the Poetic Edda. The first, the Viking Hervör, challenged her father Angantýr's ghost in his gravemound for his cursed sword Tyrfing. She had a son, Heidrek, father of the other Hervör. The second Hervör was a commander killed in battle with her brother.
Heidrek or Heiðrekr is one of the main characters in the cycle about the magic sword Tyrfing. He appears in the Hervarar saga, and probably also in Widsith, together with his sons Angantyr (Incgentheow) and Hlöð (Hlith), and Hlöð's mother Sifka (Sifeca). The etymology is heiðr, meaning "honour", and rekr, meaning "ruler, king".
Svafrlami was in the H and U version of the Hervarar saga the son of Sigrlami, who was the son of Odin. In the R version, Svafrlami is called Sigrlami[ˈsiɣz̠ˌlɑme] and his parentage is not given. Svafrlami was the king of Gardariki and the first owner of the magic sword Tyrfing.
Arngrim was a berserker, who features in Hervarar saga, Gesta Danorum, Lay of Hyndla, a number of Faroese ballads and Orvar-Odd's saga in Norse mythology.
Angantyr was the name of three male characters from the same line in Norse mythology, and who appear in Hervarar saga, Gesta Danorum, and Faroese ballads.
Hervararkviða, is an Old Norse poem from the Hervarar saga, and which is sometimes included in editions of the Poetic Edda.
Hlöd or Hlod was the illegitimate son of Heidrek, the king of the Geats, in Norse mythology.
Árheimar was a capital of the Goths, according to the Hervarar saga. The saga states that it was located at Danparstaðir, which is identified with the ruins of Kamjans'ke Horodyšče, near Kamianka-Dniprovska in southern Ukraine.
Gizur, Gizurr or Gissur was a King of the Geats. He appears in The Battle of the Goths and Huns, which is included in the Hervarar saga and in editions of the Poetic Edda. Gizur was the foster-father of Heidrek, who made a coup-d'état in Reidgotaland, the land of the Goths .
Eyfura was a princess in Norse mythology, who married Arngrim and had twelve sons. In all accounts, her twelve sons would be slain by the Swedish champion Hjalmar and his friend Orvar-Odd.
Munarvágr was a location on the southern shore of Samsø, which is mentioned in the legendary sagas Hervarar saga and Ragnar Lodbrok's saga.
The Dagling or Dögling dynasty was a legendary clan of the petty kingdom Ringerike in what today is Norway. It was descended from a Dag the Great.
The Haddingjar refers on the one hand to Germanic heroic legends about two brothers by this name, and on the other hand to possibly related legends based on the Hasdingi, the royal dynasty of the Vandals. The accounts vary greatly.
Tófa (Tófu) is the wife of Angantyr and mother of Hervor in Norse mythology. She is mentioned only once the Poetic Edda, in Hervararkviða. The Poetic Edda is part of the Tyrfing Cycle of Old Norse legends.
Humli is a legendary king of the Huns who appears in the Hervarar Saga. He is the Grandfather of Hlod, illegitimate son of Heidrek, King of the Goths.