Dag the Wise or Dagr spaki was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

king of the

House of Yngling The Ynglings were a dynasty of kings, first in Sweden and later in Norway, primarily attested through the poem ''Ynglingatal''. The dynasty also appears as Scylfings (Old Norse ''Skilfingar'') in ''Beowulf''. When ''Beowulf'' and ''Ynglingatal'' ...

s (dated to the 4th century by 16th-century historiographer

Johannes Magnus Johannes Magnus (a modified form of Ioannes Magnus, a Latin translation of his birth name Johan Månsson; 19 March 1488 – 22 March 1544) was the last functioning Catholic Archbishop in Sweden, and also a theologian, genealogist, and histori ...

). He was the son of

Dyggvi 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. A ...

, the former king. According to legend, he could understand the speech of birds and had a sparrow that gathered news for him from many lands. When the bird was killed on one of these trips, Dag invaded

Reidgotaland Reidgotaland, Reidgothland, Reidgotland, Hreidgotaland or Hreiðgotaland was a land mentioned in Germanic heroic legend (mentioned in the Scandinavian sagas as well as the Anglo-Saxon Widsith) usually interpreted as the land of the Goths. Etymol ...

(considering the date and location, apparently

Gothiscandza According to a tale related by Jordanes in his ''Getica'', Gothiscandza was the first settlement area of the Goths after their migration from Scandza during the first half of the 1st century CE. He claimed that the name was still in use in his own d ...

), in order to avenge it. There he was ambushed by a

thrall A thrall ( non, þræll, is, þræll, fo, trælur, no, trell, træl, da, træl, sv, träl) was a slave or serf in Scandinavian lands during the Viking Age. The corresponding term in Old English was . The status of slave (, ) contrasts with ...

and killed. The earliest two versions based on ''

Ynglingatal ''Ynglingatal'' or ''Ynglinga tal'' (Old Norse: 'Enumeration of the Ynglingar') is a Skaldic poem cited by Snorri Sturluson in the ''Ynglinga saga'', the first saga of Snorri's ''Heimskringla''. Þjóðólfr of Hvinir (Thjodolf), who was a poe ...

'', i.e. ''

Historia Norwegiæ ''Historia Norwegiæ'' is a short history of Norway written in Latin by an anonymous monk. The only extant manuscript is in the private possession of the Earl of Dalhousie, and is now kept in the National Records of Scotland in Edinburgh. The manu ...

'' and ''

Íslendingabók ''Íslendingabók'' (, Old Norse pronunciation: , ''Book of Icelanders''; ) is a historical work dealing with early Icelandic history. The author was an Icelandic priest, Ari Þorgilsson, working in the early 12th century. The work originally ex ...

'' (see below) say that Dag was succeeded by his sons Alrekr and Eírikr who in their turn were succeeded by Dag's grandson

Agne Agne (English: ''Agni''), ''Hogne'' or ''Agni Skjálfarbondi'' was a semi-legendary, king of Sweden, of the House of Yngling. Snorri Sturluson relates that he was the son of Dag the Wise, and he was mighty and famous. He was also skilled in many ...

(in ''Historia Norwegiæ'' incorrectly called ''Hogne''): ''

'': ''

'' only lists the line of succession: ''x Dyggvi. xi Dagr. xii Alrekr. xiii Agni. xiiii Yngvi'.Guðni Jónsson's edition of Íslendingabók
/ref> However, 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 ...

'',

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 ...

gives

as Dag's son and successor, and the two brothers Alrekr and Eiríkr as his grandsons. This is what Snorri tells of Dag:
Then Snorri quoted ''

'' (9th century): The fact that ''Skjótansvað''/''Vápnavað'' appear both in ''Ynglinga saga'' and in ''Historia Norwegiæs earlier summary of ''Ynglingatal'' but not in Snorri's later quotation from it, suggests that all of ''Ynglingatal'' was not presented by him.

Sources

(part of the

Heimskringla ''Heimskringla'' () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorre Sturlason (1178/79–1241) 1230. The name ''Heimskringla'' was first used in the 17th century, derived ...

) *

Historia Norwegiae Historia may refer to: * Historia, the local version of the History channel in Spain and Portugal * Historia (TV channel), a Canadian French language specialty channel * Historia (newspaper), a French monthly newspaper devoted to History topics * ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dag the Wise 2nd-century births 3rd-century deaths Mythological kings of Sweden