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Arngrim was a berserker, who features in Hervarar saga,
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 ...
,
Lay of Hyndla Lay may refer to: Places *Lay Range, a subrange of mountains in British Columbia, Canada *Lay, Loire, a French commune *Lay (river), France *Lay, Iran, a village *Lay, Kansas, United States, an unincorporated community People * Lay (surname) * ...
, a number of Faroese
ballads A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
and Orvar-Odd's saga in Norse mythology.Henrikson, Alf. (1998). ''Den stora mytologiska uppslagsboken''.


Hervarar saga

According to versions ''H'' and ''U'', Arngrim went pillaging to Gardariki and met its king
Svafrlami Svafrlami (Old Norse: ) 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 and his parentage is not given. Svafrlami was the king of Gardariki ...
, who was in possession of
Tyrfing Tyrfing, Tirfing or Tyrving (the name is of uncertain origin, possibly connected to the Terwingi) was a magic sword in Norse mythology, which features in the Tyrfing Cycle, which includes a poem from the '' Poetic Edda'' called '' Hervarar ...
at the moment. Tyrfing cut through Arngrim's shield and down into the soil, whereupon Arngrim cut off Svafrlami's hand, grabbed the sword and slew him with his own weapon. Then Arngrim captured Svafrlami's daughter
Eyfura 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. According to the Hervarar saga, versions ''U'' and ''H ...
and forced her to marry him. Version ''R'', however relates that Arngrim became ''Sigrlami's'' war-chief and won many battles and conquered land and subjects for the old king. In recompense, Arngrim was given a high position in the realm, Eyfura and Tyrfing. In all versions of the saga, Arngrim returned to
Bolmsö Bolmsö is an island located in lake Bolmen near Växjö in Småland. It had 382 inhabitants in 1998. History It presents 530 ancient remains, including dolmens and cobble-clad graves in various forms, especially large triangular ones. The dominat ...
with Eyfura (although versions ''H'' and ''U'' say that it was the island ''Bolm'' in
Hålogaland Hålogaland was the northernmost of the Norwegian provinces in the medieval Norse sagas. In the early Viking Age, before Harald Fairhair, Hålogaland was a kingdom extending between the Namdalen valley in Trøndelag county and the Lyngen fjord ...
). They had twelve sons who all followed in their father's footsteps and became berserkers. According to the ''U'' version, they were called
Angantyr 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. The last generation named Angantyr also appears to be mentioned as ''Incgentheo ...
, Hjörvard, Hervard, Hrani, Barri, Tyrfing, Tind, two Haddings, Bui, Bild and Toki. According to the ''H'' version, their names were Angantyr, Hjorvard, Hervard, Hrani, Brami, Barri, Reifnir, Tind, Saeming and Bui and the two Haddings (in version ''R'' only six are mentioned: Angantyr, Hjörvard, Hervard, Hrani and the two Haddings). For the continued adventures of the sword Tyrfing, see
Angantyr 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. The last generation named Angantyr also appears to be mentioned as ''Incgentheo ...
and
Hjalmar 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 Fa ...
.


Gesta Danorum

According to
Saxo Grammaticus Saxo Grammaticus (c. 1150 – c. 1220), 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 ...
, Arngrim was a Swedish champion who had killed Skalk the Scanian. This made him very proud of himself and he consequently ventured to ask for the hand of
Eyfura 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. According to the Hervarar saga, versions ''U'' and ''H ...
, the daughter of Frodi, a Danish king. However, when Frodi denied his request, Arngrim turned to Erik, the
King of Sweden The monarchy of Sweden is the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parliamentary system: see the Instrument ...
, and asked him for advice. Erik told Arngrim to earn Frodi's respect by killing Egther, the king of
Bjarmaland Bjarmaland (also spelt ''Bjarmland'' and ''Bjarmia''; Latin: ''Biarmia''; Old English: ''Beormaland,'' Komi: Биармия ''Biarmia,'' Old Permic: 𐍑𐍙‎𐍐𐍒‎𐍜𐍙‎𐍐) was a territory mentioned in Norse sagas since the Vikin ...
and Thengil, the king of
Finnmark Finnmark (; se, Finnmárku ; fkv, Finmarku; fi, Ruija ; russian: Финнмарк) was a county in the northern part of Norway, and it is scheduled to become a county again in 2024. On 1 January 2020, Finnmark was merged with the neighbouri ...
. Arngrim first attacked Thengil and crushed the Saami. As the Saami fled they threw three pebbles behind them that they enchanted so that the pebbles looked like three mountains. As Arngrim was tricked he called back his men. The next day, they again started to chase the Saami, but the Saami threw snow on the ground and made it look like a river, and this made the Swedes stop the pursuit. The third day, the battle recommenced and this time the Saami had no more magic to resort to, and they were defeated. The Saami agreed to the peace terms, and every third year every Saami was forced to pay a full carriage of
reindeer Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 sub ...
hides. Then Arngrim took on Egther of Bjarmaland and slew him in single combat. He then forced the Bjarmians to pay him one hide each. Arngrim returned to Erik, who accompanied Arngrim to Frodi. Erik convinced Frodi that Arngrim was the best possible match for Frodi's daughter Eyfura. Frodi agreed to the marriage and by Eyfura Arngrim had twelve sons. Saxo Grammaticus agrees with Hervarar saga by giving the same names for nine of the twelve sons:
Angantyr 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. The last generation named Angantyr also appears to be mentioned as ''Incgentheo ...
, Hjörvard, Hervard, Hrani, Biarbe, Tyrfing, Tand, two Haddings, Brand, Brodd and Hiarrande.


Lay of Hyndla

The
lay of Hyndla Lay may refer to: Places *Lay Range, a subrange of mountains in British Columbia, Canada *Lay, Loire, a French commune *Lay (river), France *Lay, Iran, a village *Lay, Kansas, United States, an unincorporated community People * Lay (surname) * ...
also mentions Arngrim and Eyfura, but only relates that they lived on
Bolmsö Bolmsö is an island located in lake Bolmen near Växjö in Småland. It had 382 inhabitants in 1998. History It presents 530 ancient remains, including dolmens and cobble-clad graves in various forms, especially large triangular ones. The dominat ...
and that they had as sons twelve ravaging berserkers named Hervard, Hjorvard, Rane, Angantyr, Bue, Brame, Barre, Reivner, Tind, Tyrving and two Haddings.


Arngrim's sons

It appears that Lay of Hyndla preserves the original list.


Ballads

A medieval ballad collected in
Telemark Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...
(''The restless men'') relates to the "sons of Arngrim" in the refrain: "Those sons of Arngrim of the north pray for homeward passage".


References


External links


The Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus on Arngrim
{{Tyrfing Tyrfing cycle Heroes in Norse myths and legends