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Halfdan (, ang, Healfdene,
Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
: "half
Dane Dane or Danes may refer to: People Pertaining to Denmark * Dane, somebody from Denmark * Danes, an ethnic group native to Denmark * Danes (Germanic tribe) Other people * Dane (name), a surname and a given name (and a list of people with the nam ...
") was a late 5th and early 6th century
legendary Danish king The legendary kings of Denmark are the predecessors of Gorm the Old, a king who reigned ca. 930s to 950s and is the earliest reliably attested Danish ruler. Historicity of the earlier legendary kings are thus half legend and half history. The acc ...
of the
Scylding Old English Scylding (plural Scyldingas) and Old Norse Skjǫldung (plural Skjǫldungar), meaning in both languages "children of Scyld/Skjǫldr" are the members of a legendary royal family of Danes, especially kings. The name is explained in many ...
(Skjöldung) lineage, the son of king named
Fróði Fróði ( non, Frōði; ang, Frōda; Middle High German: ''Vruote'') is the name of a number of legendary Danish kings in various texts including ''Beowulf'', Snorri Sturluson's ''Prose Edda'' and his ''Ynglinga saga'', Saxo Grammaticus' ''Gesta ...
in many accounts, noted mainly as the father to the two kings who succeeded him in the rule of Denmark, kings named
Hroðgar Hrothgar ( ang, Hrōðgār ; on, Hróarr) 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 chroni ...
and
Halga Halga, ''Helgi'', ''Helghe'' or ''Helgo'' was a legendary Danish king living in the early 6th century. His name would in his own language (Proto-Norse) have been *''Hailaga'' (dedicated to the gods). Scholars generally agree that he appears in bo ...
in the Old English poem ''
Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. The ...
'' and named Hróar and Helgi in Old Norse accounts.


Various accounts

According to the ''
Chronicon Lethrense ''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 information ...
'' and
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. ...
' ''
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 ...
'' (Book 2), Halfdan had two brothers named Ro and Skat who also sought the throne. Both were killed by Halfdan. Saxo adds that his brothers' supporters were hanged and that Halfdan continued to reign with great cruelty, but that he reigned long and died peaceably in extreme old age. 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 ...
'' gives Halfdan (in this work also son of a king named Fróði) a brother named Fridleif and says both were great warriors but that Halfdan was the better of the two. This might have been a lead-in to a feud between the brothers if Snorri had been dealing with Danish matters rather than Swedish matters. Snorri here only tells us that Halfdan attacked King
Aun Aun the Old (Old Norse ''Aunn inn gamli'', Latinized ''Auchun'', Proto-Norse ''*Audawiniʀ'': English: "Edwin the Old") is a mythical Swedish king of the House of Yngling in the ''Heimskringla''. Aun was the son of Jorund, and had ten sons, nin ...
of
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 ...
and drove him into exile into
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 ...
. Halfdan then ruled Sweden for twenty years until he died in
Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat 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 inha ...
of sickness and was buried in a mound. According to ''Ynglinga saga'', a Danish king named
Fróði Fróði ( non, Frōði; ang, Frōda; Middle High German: ''Vruote'') is the name of a number of legendary Danish kings in various texts including ''Beowulf'', Snorri Sturluson's ''Prose Edda'' and his ''Ynglinga saga'', Saxo Grammaticus' ''Gesta ...
the Bold aided Aun's successor Egil against the rebelling thrall Tunni. This may be Froda the Heathobard of ''Beowulf'' who becomes Fróði the slayer of Halfdan in other Norse traditions which do not make his end peaceful. In the ''Saga of
Hrolf Kraki Rolf is a male given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other member ...
'', this Fróði is Halfdan's younger brother but in the Latin epitome to the ''
Skjöldunga saga The ''Skjöldunga saga'' (or, in another standardised Old Norse spelling, ''Skjǫldunga saga'') was an Old Norse legendary saga. Dating from c. 1180 – 1200, the saga was lost in its original form. The saga focused on the Danish dynasty of Scyl ...
'' the younger brother, here a half-brother, is named Ingjalldus and this Ingjalldus is later father of a son named Frothi. Since in ''Beowulf'' Froda is father of a son named Ingeld, it is usually considered that the names have accidentally been interchanged in the tradition behind the ''Skjöldunga saga''. In the ''Saga of Hrolf Kraki'', Fróði brother of Halfdan is ruler of a separate kingdom. Halfdan was calm and good-natured but Fróði was cruel and vicious. Fróði attacked Halfdan's hall by night and burned it. Halfdan was killed in the battle and Fróði took over his country and his widow. But eventually Halfdan's sons in turn killed Fróði to avenge their father's death. Thus the tradition in ''Beowulf'' of a feud between the Danes and Heathobards in which Fróda king of the Heathobards was slain appears in Norse texts as a family feud in which Halfdan's brother Fróði kills Halfdan and Halfdan's sons kill Fróði.


Children of Halfdan

The poem ''
Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. The ...
'' mentions Healfdene as follows: There is obviously something wrong with line 62. A name of a daughter has dropped out, a daughter who was the wife of someone whose name ends in ''-ela'' and who was a Heatho-
Scylfing 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'' ...
, a battle-Scylfing. It is likely enough that at some time in copying the poem a scribe was unable to make out the exact spelling of these names and so left the text blank at that point to be fixed up later. It was never fixed up and so the names were lost in later copies. Surviving Scandinavian texts know nothing about Heorogar though they speak much of the other two sons. Two sources also mention Halfdan's daughter. According to the Latin epitome of the ''Skjöldung saga'', the sons of Halfdanus are called Roas and Helgo and their sister Sigyna is married to a certain Sevillus. In ''Hrólf Kraki's Saga'', Halfdan's eldest child is his daughter Signy who is married to a certain Jarl Sævil. Then Hróar and Helgi are born.
Friedrich Kluge Friedrich Kluge (21 June 1856 – 21 May 1926) was a German philologist and educator. He is known for the Kluge etymological dictionary of the German language (''Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache''), which was first published in 188 ...
(1896) accordingly suggested that the line be restored as ''hyrde ic þ Sigeneow wæs Sæwelan cwen'', rendering the Norse names in Old English forms. But Kluge has been seldom followed by editors or translators, in part because Sævil in ''Hrólf Kraki's Saga'' is in no way connected with Sweden so far as is told. Since the only certain Swedish (Scylfing) royal name ending in ''-ela'' that has come down to us is
Onela Onela was according to ''Beowulf'' a Swedish king, the son of Ongentheow and the brother of Ohthere. He usurped the Swedish throne, but was killed by his nephew Eadgils, who won by hiring foreign assistance. In Scandinavian sagas a Norwegian ki ...
, more often ''-ela'' is expanded instead to ''Onela''. By Old English poetic rules of alliteration the name of the daughter must also begin with a vowel. The choice is usually the name Yrs or Yrse, since Scandinavian tradition speaks much of
Yrsa Yrsa, Yrse, Yrs or Urse (fl. 6th century)The dating has never been a matter of controversy. It is inferred from the internal chronology of the sources themselves and the dating of Hygelac's raid on Frisia to c. 516. It is also supported by archa ...
the granddaughter of Halfdan and wife of King
Adils Eadgils, ''Adils'', ''Aðils'', ''Adillus'', ''Aðísl at Uppsölum'', ''Athisl'', ''Athislus'' or ''Adhel'' was a semi-legendary king of Sweden, who is estimated to have lived during the 6th century. ''Beowulf'' and Old Norse sources present h ...
of Sweden. This assumes great shifting of names and roles, since Adils is the Eadgils of ''Beowulf'', the enemy of Onela. Onela appears in Norse texts as Áli. Accordingly, many editors and translators prefer to simply note that the line is corrupt. But modern commentary sometimes refers to the marriage of Onela and Yrsa without indicating that this exists only through somewhat dubious conjectural emendation. If the tradition of Halfdan/Healfdene being slain by Fróði/Froda is an old one, it might be that the ''Beowulf'' poet knew that tale and that Heorogar (Healfdene's eldest son in ''Beowulf'') was imagined Heorogar to have died with Halfdan. Unfortunately the ''Beowulf'' poet skims over all such matters.


Other traditions of Harold, Fróði and Halfdan

A similar story is told in 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 ...
'' (Book 7) of two brother kings named Harold and Fróði in which the envious Fróði has his brother Harold killed by treachery. Harold leaves two sons behind named Harald and Halfdan, and the story of their vengeance on their uncle Fróði for killing their father Harald is almost identical to that found in Norse texts about Hróar and Helgi's vengeance on their uncle Fróði for killing their father Halfdan. The ''
Chronicon Lethrense ''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 information ...
'' indeed says that some call Halfdan's son Ro (that is Róar/Hrothgar) Halfdan instead. As to this second Halfdan, Saxo has much to say about him, including his slaying of Siward king of Sweden and his battles against Erik son of his uncle Fróði by Signe, this Erik now the rightful king of Sweden. After many battles Halfdan gained the upper hand, Erik was bound with chains and left in a wild place for beasts to consume, and Halfdan became king of both Denmark and Sweden. Saxo relates further warlike exploits. Finally, this Halfdan died childless and left his kingdom to his friend King Ungvin 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 ...
(see
Geatish kings Geatish kings ( la, Rex Getarum/Gothorum; sv, Götakungar), ruling over the provinces of Götaland (Gautland/Geatland), appear in several sources for early Swedish history. Today, most of them are not considered historical. This list follows t ...
). It is likely that more than one Halfdan has been confused with one another and with other kings, not to speak of simple invention by story tellers.


See also

*
Halfdan the Old Halfdan the Old (Old Norse: ''Hálfdanr gamli'' and ''Hálfdanr inn gamli'') was an ancient, legendary king from whom descended many of the most notable lineages of legend. A second Halfdan the Old is the purported great-grandfather of Ragnvald Eys ...
*
Origins for Beowulf and Hrólf Kraki Origin(s) or The Origin may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics and manga * ''Origin'' (comics), a Wolverine comic book mini-series published by Marvel Comics in 2002 * ''The Origin'' (Buffy comic), a 1999 ''Buffy the Vampire Sl ...


References

{{authority control 6th-century monarchs in Europe Characters in Beowulf English heroic legends Mythological kings of Sweden Mythological kings of Denmark People whose existence is disputed Scyldings