Randvér or Randver was a legendary Danish king. In
Nordic legends, according to ''
Sögubrot'' and the ''
Lay of Hyndla'', he was the son of
Ráðbarðr
Ráðbarðr, Raðbarðr or ''Rathbarth'' (late 7th century) was a legendary king of Garðaríki, who appears in '' Sögubrot'' and the ''Lay of Hyndla''.
''Sögubrot'' tells that he married the fugitive princess Auðr the Deep-Minded without the ...
the king of
Garðaríki and
Auðr the Deep-Minded, the daughter of the Danish-Swedish ruler
Ivar Vidfamne. In these two sources, Auðr had Randver's brother,
Harald Wartooth, in a previous marriage.
One of the genealogies in ''
Hversu Noregr Byggðist
''Hversu Noregr byggðist'' ( non, How Norway was inhabited) is an account of the origin of various legendary Norwegian lineages, which survives only in the ''Flateyjarbók''. It traces the descendants of the primeval Fornjót, a king of ''"Gotlan ...
'' seems to say that he is the son of
Hrœrekr slöngvanbaugi
Roderick, Rodrick or Roderic (Proto-Germanic ''* Hrōþirīks'', from ''* hrōþiz'' "fame, glory" + ''* ríks'' "king, ruler") is a Germanic name, recorded from the 8th century onward.Förstemann, ''Altdeutsches Namenbuch'' (1856)740 Its Old Hi ...
and the brother of
Harald Wartooth. Hrœrekr was, according to ''Sögubrot'', a Danish king on
Zealand who was killed by Ivar Vidfamne.
According to ''
Hervarar saga'' both Randver and Harald Wartooth were the sons of
Valdar
Valdar was the name of several legendary Danish kings.
The '' Hervarar saga'' tells the tale of a Valdar who was viceroy of Denmark under Ivar Vidfamne and he was the father of Randver and of Harald Wartooth (half siblings and fathers found were ...
and Alfhild, the daughter of
Ivar Vidfamne. This saga relates that Ivar appointed Valdar as the king of Denmark, and when Valdar died, he was succeeded by Randver. Randver married
Åsa Haraldsdottir of Agder (in other sagas said to be the wife of
Gudrød the Hunter
Gudrød the Hunter (Old Norse: ''Guðrøðr veiðikonungr'', Norwegian: ''Gudrød Veidekonge'', literally ''Gudrod Hunter-king''; died 820 AD), also known as Gudrød the Magnificent (Old Norse: ''enn gǫfugláti'', Norwegian: ''den gjeve''), is a l ...
of
Vestfold
Vestfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered th ...
), who gave birth to a son,
Sigurd Hring. After his brother Harald had reclaimed
Götaland (or
Gotland
Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the ...
depending on the manuscript), Randver fell in battle in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
The ''Hervarar saga'' says that Randver was succeeded as Danish king by his son
Sigurd Hring (probably as Harald's viceroy). However, ''Sögubrot'' says that Harald Wartooth elevated Sigurd Hring as sub-king of Sweden and
Västergötland
Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden.
Väs ...
.The Danish chronicle of
Saxo Grammaticus (c. 1200) does not clearly mention Randver, but rather asserts that Hring was the son of the Swedish king Ingjald and an unnamed sister of Harald Wartooth.
The Danish scholar
Gudmund Schütte
Gudmund Schütte (17 January 1872– 12 July 1958) was a Danish philologist, historian and writer who specialized in Germanic studies.
Biography
Gudmund Schütte was born at Eskjær, Salling, Denmark on 17 January 1872, the son of landowner The ...
drew a parallel between the pair Ráðbarðr - Randver in ''
Langfeðgatal The LangfeðgatalSometimes written Langfedgetal or Langfedgatal (Old Norse pronunciation: , ) is a 12th-century Icelandic genealogy of Scandinavian kings.
The anonymous Icelandic Langfeðgatal is preserved in a manuscript that is part of the Arnam ...
'' and the pair Rædhere - Rondhere that is mentioned in line 123 in the Anglo-Saxon poem ''
Widsith
"Widsith" ( ang, Wīdsīþ, "far-traveller", lit. "wide-journey"), also known as "The Traveller's Song", is an Old English poem of 143 lines. It survives only in the ''Exeter Book'', a manuscript of Old English poetry compiled in the late-10th c ...
'' (7th century?). Schütte's argument was that lists of heroic figures found in ''Widsith'' were reflected in the ordering of names in some later medieval sagas and chronicles.
[Schütte (1926), p. 44.]
References
Literature
* Ellehøj, Svend (1965) ''Studier over de ældste norrøne historieskrivning''. Hafniæ: Munksgaard.
* Nerman, Birger (1925) ''Det svenska rikets uppkomst''. Stockholm: Generalstabens litografiska anstalt.
* Saxo Grammaticus (1905) ''The nine books of the Danish history of Saxo Grammaticus''. London: Norroena Societ
* Schütte, Gudmund (1926) "Dansk kongetals tusendaarige traad", ''Dansk Historisk Tidskrift'' 9:
Mythological kings of Denmark
People whose existence is disputed
{{Norse-myth-stub