Ale the Strong (

Heimskringla () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland. While authorship of ''Heimskringla'' is nowhere attributed, some scholars assume it is written by the Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson (117 ...

) or ''Ole'' (English: ''Ola''), in

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

n legend, belonged to the House of Skjöldung (

Scylding The Scyldings ( OE Scyldingas) or Skjǫldungs ( ON Skjǫldungar), both meaning "descendants of Scyld/Skjǫldr", were, according to legends, a clan or dynasty of Danish kings, that in its time conquered and ruled Denmark and Sweden together with ...

), and he was the son of king Friðfróði of

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

and a cousin of

Helgi Helge or Helgi is a Scandinavian, German, and Dutch mostly male name. The name is derived from Proto-Norse ''Hailaga'' with its original meaning being ''dedicated to the gods''. For its Slavic version, see Oleg. Its feminine equivalent is Olga ...

's (and consequently of the

Hrothgar Hrothgar ( ; ) was a semi-legendary Danish king living around the early sixth century AD. Hrothgar appears in the Anglo-Saxon epics ''Beowulf'' and '' Widsith'', in Norse sagas and poems, and in medieval Danish chronicles. In both Anglo-Saxon ...

Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ) is an Old English poetry, Old English poem, an Epic poetry, epic in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 Alliterative verse, alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and List of translat ...

). He fought several battles against king

Aun Aun the Old (Old Norse ''Aunn inn gamli'', Latinized ''Auchun'', Proto-Norse ''*Audawiniʀ'': English: "Edwin the Old") is a List of legendary kings of Sweden, mythical Swedish king of the House of Yngling in the ''Heimskringla''. Aun was the so ...

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

, and he ruled in Uppsala for 25 years until he was killed by

Starkad ''Starkad'' ( or ; Latin: ''Starcaterus''; in the Late Middle Ages also ''Starkodder''; Danish language, modern Danish: ''Stærkodder'')The article ''Starkad'' in ''Nationalencyklopedin''. was either an eight-armed giant or the human grandson of ...

the old. According to Starbäck and Bäckström,

Saxo Grammaticus 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 ...

tells a related story in ''

Gesta Danorum ("Deeds of the Danes") is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th-century author Saxo Grammaticus ("Saxo the Literate", literally "the Grammarian"). It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark and is an essentia ...

''. Starkad was accepted with honour in the warband of the Norwegian hero Ole (''Olo''). However, when Ole had succeeded in conquering

Zealand Zealand ( ) is the largest and most populous islands of Denmark, island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size) at 7,031 km2 (2715 sq. mi.). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 Januar ...

, Starkad was convinced to join Lennius/Lenus/Lennus scheme to attack and kill Ole. However, Ole was hard to kill as his gaze scared everyone. It was not until Starkad managed to cover Ole's face that he could kill him. Starkad was rewarded with 120 pounds in gold, but regretted his crime, and avenged Ole's death by killing Lennius.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ale The Strong Semi-legendary kings of Sweden