Hagbard ( non, Hagbarðr ), the brother of
Haki and son of
Hamund, was a famous
Scandinavian
sea-king in
Norse mythology
Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period ...
. He is mentioned in ''
Skáldskaparmál'', ''
Ynglinga saga'', ''
Nafnaþulur
''Nafnaþulur'' (Old Norse: ) is a subsection of the ''Prose Edda'', the last part of the ''Skáldskaparmál
''Skáldskaparmál'' (Old Norse: 'The Language of Poetry'; c. 50,000 words; ; ) is the second part of the ''Prose Edda''.
The sectio ...
'', ''
Völsunga saga'' and ''
Gesta Danorum''. The heroes' connections with other legendary characters place the events in the 5th century AD.
Hagbard remained well-known until recent times in the legend of
Hagbard and Signy. This famous legend tells that Hagbard fell in love with
Signy, the daughter of king
Sigar, the nephew of king
Siggeir (of the
Völsunga saga), a love affair which ended in their deaths, when Sigar wanted to have Hagbard hanged. This legend is told most fully in ''
Gesta Danorum'' (book 7).
However, most legends surrounding Hagbard are probably lost. In the ''
Völsunga saga'',
Gudrun
Gudrun ( ; non, Guðrún) or Kriemhild ( ; gmh, Kriemhilt) is the wife of Sigurd/Siegfried and a major figure in Germanic heroic legend and literature. She is believed to have her origins in Ildico, last wife of Attila the Hun, and two que ...
and
Brynhild have a discussion on the "greatest of men" referring to a legend now lost, where Hagbard is mentioned together with Haki's sons, who have not yet avenged their sisters by killing the evil
Sigar (the feud with Sigar is still going on and Hagbard not yet hanged):
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 ...
wrote in the ''
Ynglinga saga'' that Hagbard occasionally plundered together with his brother Haki. Concerning, the adventures and death of the Swedish king
Jorund (whom Snorri makes a successor of Haki), he cites the poem ''
Háleygjatal'' by a Norwegian
skald
A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: , later ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry, the other being Eddic poetry, which is anonymous. Skaldic poems were traditionally ...
named
Eyvindr skáldaspillir containing the
Kenning ''Sigar's steed'' referring to the legend of Hagbard and Signy:
The same kenning appears with Hagbard's name in a stanza from ''
Ynglingatal'', which Snorri also quotes in the same section:
{,
,
:Varð Jörundr
:hinn er endr of dó,
:lífs of lattr
:í Limafirði,
:þá er hábrjóstr
:hörva Sleipnir
:bana Goðlaugs
:of bera skyldi;
:ok Hagbarðs
:hersa valdi
:höðnu leif
:at halsi gekk.
/ref>
,
:Jorund has travelled far and wide,
:But the same horse he must bestride
:On which he made brave Gudlog ride.
:He too must for a necklace wear
:Hagbert's fell noose in middle air.
:The army leader thus must ride
:On Horva's horse, at Lymfjord's side.
Notes
Heroes in Norse myths and legends