Angul or Angull was a legendary Norse king who, according to the ''

Gesta Danorum ''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 an ...

'', was the ancestor of the

Angles The Angles ( ang, Ængle, ; la, Angli) were one of the main Germanic peoples who settled in Great Britain in the post-Roman period. They founded several kingdoms of the Heptarchy in Anglo-Saxon England. Their name is the root of the name ' ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. His father was King Humbli, probably the same as

Heimdall In Norse mythology, Heimdall (from Old Norse Heimdallr) is a god who keeps watch for invaders and the onset of Ragnarök from his dwelling Himinbjörg, where the burning rainbow bridge Bifröst meets the sky. He is attested as possessing for ...

, one of

Woden Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered Æsir, god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, v ...

's twelve ''diar'' in

Sigtuna Sigtuna () is a locality situated in Sigtuna Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 8,444 inhabitants in 2010. It is the namesake of the municipality even though the seat is in Märsta. Sigtuna is for historical reasons often still referre ...

and

Gamla Uppsala Gamla, alt. sp. Gamala ( he, גַּמְלָא, The Camel) was an ancient Jewish city on the Golan Heights. It is believed to have been founded as a Seleucid fort during the Syrian Wars which was turned into a city under Hasmonean rule in 81 ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

Nordic traditions

''Getica'' (Gothic)

Already in

Jordanes Jordanes (), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat widely believed to be of Goths, Gothic descent who became a historian later in life. Late in life he wrote two works, one on Roman history (''Romana ...

' ''

Getica ''De origine actibusque Getarum'' (''The Origin and Deeds of the Getae oths'), commonly abbreviated ''Getica'', written in Late Latin by Jordanes in or shortly after 551 AD, claims to be a summary of a voluminous account by Cassiodorus of th ...

'', written in the 6th century, the

Danes Danes ( da, danskere, ) are a North Germanic ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural. Danes generally regard t ...

, of the same tribe as the

Swedes Swedes ( sv, svenskar) are a North Germanic ethnic group native to the Nordic region, primarily their nation state of Sweden, who share a common ancestry, culture, history and language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countr ...

, are said to have emigrated from Sweden to Denmark in ancient times.

''Gesta Danorum'' (Danish)

The ''

'' (13th century) continues to say that Angul had his name given to the region he governed (

Angeln Anglia (German and Low German: ''Angeln''; Danish and South Jutlandic: ''Angel''; ang, Engla land) is a small peninsula on the eastern coast of Jutland (the Cimbric Peninsula). Jutland consists of the mainland of Denmark and the northernmos ...

), and that his descendants later conquered

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and substituted the new title of their own land for the island's original name (hence "Angleland" and later "England"). Angul had a brother named

Dan Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoi ...

who in like manner became the ancestor and ruler of the Danes. There are other Nordic traditions that correspond to this. While Angul is not mentioned here, his brother Dan is.

''Chronicon Lethrense'' (Danish)

In the ''

Chronicle of Leire ''Chronicon Lethrense'' ( Danish: ''Lejrekrøniken'' English: ''Chronicle of Lejre/Leire'') is a small Danish medieval work from the 12th century, written in Latin. Themes Unlike ''Chronicon Roskildense'', which deals primarily with informatio ...

'' (12th century), there is a King Ypper of Uppsala, whose sons were Dan,

Nori Nori is a dried edible seaweed used in Japanese cuisine, made from species of the red algae genus ''Pyropia'', including ''P. yezonesis'' and '' P. tenera''. It has a strong and distinctive flavor, and is often used to wrap rolls of sushi or '' ...

, and Östen. Dan afterwards ruled Denmark, Nori afterwards ruled

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, and Östen afterwards ruled the Swedes.

''Skjöldungasaga'' (Danish)

According to Arngrímur Jónsson's Latin epitome of the lost '' Skjöldungasaga'' made in 1597, Rigus (or Rig, who is the same as Heimdall) had a son called Dan or Danum, whose subjects were called Danes.

''Rígsþula'' (Icelandic)

The

Eddic poem The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems, which is distinct from the ''Prose Edda'' written by Snorri Sturluson. Several versions exist, all primarily of text from the Icelandic med ...

Rígsþula ''Rígsþula'' or ''Rígsmál'' (Old Norse: 'The Lay of Ríg') is an Eddic poem, preserved in the manuscript (AM 242 fol, the Codex Wormianus), in which a Norse god named Ríg or Rígr, described as "old and wise, mighty and strong,", fathers ...

'' tells how the god Rígr (said to be

), fathered a son named Ríg-Jarl. Ríg-Jarl had eleven sons, the youngest of whom bore the name Konr the Young. One day, as he was hunting and snaring birds, a crow spoke to him and suggested he would gain more by going after men, and praised the wealth of "Dan and Danp". They are noted as the grandson and son of Rig in the

Ynglinga saga ''Ynglinga saga'' ( ) 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 ...

. According to the lost '' Skjöldungasaga'', Rig marries Dana, daughter of Danp, and they get Dan of the

''Ynglinga saga'' (Norwegian)

Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of the ...

's ''

'' (13th century) relates of King

Dygvi In Norse mythology, Dyggvi or Dyggve (Old Norse "Useful, Effective"McKinnell (2005:70).) was a Swedish king of the House of Ynglings. Dyggvi died and became the concubine of Hel, Loki's daughter. Dyggvi was succeeded by his son Dag the Wise. Accor ...

of Sweden, that his wife was a daughter of King Danp, the son of Rig, who was first called "konungr" in the Danish tongue. She was a sister of King Dan Mikillati, from whom Denmark takes its name.

"Ballad of Eric" (Swedish)

The "

Ballad of Eric The "Ballad of Eric" ( sv, "Eriksvisan") is a ballad found in Latin and Swedish language, Swedish about the legendary Goths, Gothic king, Erik. It was once seen as a valuable source for Migration Period history, but is now regarded as an inauthent ...

" (mid-15th century) deals with Eric, the first king of

Götaland Götaland (; also '' Geatland'', '' Gothia'', ''Gothland'', ''Gothenland'' or ''Gautland'') is one of three lands of Sweden and comprises ten provinces. Geographically it is located in the south of Sweden, bounded to the north by Svealand, wit ...

. He sent a troop of

Geats The Geats ( ; ang, gēatas ; non, gautar ; sv, götar ), sometimes called ''Goths'', were a large North Germanic tribe who inhabited ("land of the Geats") in modern southern Sweden from antiquity until the late Middle Ages. They are one of th ...

southward to a country named Vetala, where no one had yet cultivated the land. Later, a king named Humli sent his son Dan to rule the settlers. After Dan, Vetala was named Denmark. The ''Ballad of Eric'' is now regarded as an inauthentic piece of

fakelore Invented traditions are cultural practices that are presented or perceived as traditional, arising from the people starting in the distant past, but which in fact are relatively recent and often even consciously invented by identifiable historical ...

References

*
Reconstructing Rig: The Missing Page of Rigsthula by Timothy J. StephanyY-DNA Haplogroup R-U152 in Britain: Proposed Link to the 5th Century Migration of the Angle and Jute Tribes from Jutland and Fyn, Denmark, by David K. Faux

Sources

''The Origin and Deeds of the Goths''

Another version of ''Gesta Danorum'' (in Danish)

''Ynglinga Saga''

"Ballad of Eric"
{{authority control Mythological kings of Denmark Mythological kings of Sweden