Raum the Old (
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...
: ''Raumr inn gamli'') is a legendary king in Norway in the ''
Hversu Noregr byggdist'' and in
Thorsteins saga Víkingssonar. He was said to have been ugly, as was his daughter, Bryngerd, who was married to King Álf. Indeed, in Old Norse, ''raumr'' means ''a big and ugly person''.
In ''Hversu Noregr byggdist''
Raum and his sons
In ''Heversu Noregr byggdist'', Raum is one of the three sons of
Nór
Nór (Old Norse Nórr) is according to the Orkneyinga Saga the eponymous founder of Norway.
Icelandic accounts
Source material
Nór of Norway appear in “Fundinn Nóregr” (‘Norway Founded’), hereafter called F, which begins the '' Orkne ...
, the legendary first king of Norway, and succeeds his father as a ruler and ancestor of rulers over southwestern Norway.
Raum attended a Yule feast given by Bergfin (''Bergfinn'') son of
Thrym (''Þrymr'') the Giant of
Vermland and bedded Bergfin's sister Bergdís (''Bergdísr''). Bergdís subsequently bore three sons: Björn (''Bjǫrn'' 'bear'), Brand (''Brandr'' 'sword'), and Álf (''Álfr'' 'elf'). Álf was fostered by Bergfin himself and so became known as Finnálf (''Finnálfr''). Björn was kept by his mother and his name was expanded to Jötunbjörn (''Jǫtunbjǫrn'' 'Giant-bear'). Brand was sent to his father Raum who dedicated him to the gods (whatever that means exactly), and so he was afterwards known as Gudbrand (''Guðbrandr'' 'God-sword').
Later Raum married Hild the daughter of Gudröd the Old (''Guðrǫðr inn gamli'') the son of King Sölvi (''Sǫlvi'') who first ruled the land now called Sóleyjar (the modern region of
Solør Solør is a Norwegian traditional district consisting of the valley between Elverum in the north and Kongsvinger in the south. It is part of Innlandet county and it includes the municipalities Våler, Åsnes, and Grue.
Glomma valley
Glommadal ...
comprising the municipalities of
Grue,
Åsnes
Åsnes is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Solør. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Flisa, which is also the largest village in the municipality with around 1 ...
, and
Våler).
However 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 ...
says that Sölvi the Old who first cleared Sóleyar lived much later, making this Sölvi to be the father of a second Sölvi, the father of Halfdan Goldtooth (''Hálfdanr Gulltanni''), the father of Sólveig or Sölva who married
Ólaf Woodcutter (''Ólafr Trételgja''). But ''Af Upplendinga Konungum'' claims that Olaf's wife Sölva was the sister of King Sölvi the Old.
By his wife Hild, Raum became father of four legitimate sons: Gudröd, Hauk (''Haukr'') or Höd (''Hǫðr''), Hadding (''Haddingr''), and Hring (''Hringr'').
Descendants of Raum
Descendants of Gudbrand
Gudbrand inherited the valley
Gudbrandsdal
Gudbrandsdalen (; en, Gudbrand Valley) is a valley and Districts of Norway, traditional district in the Norway, Norwegian county of Innlandet (formerly Oppland). The valley is oriented in a north-westerly direction from Lillehammer (town), Lille ...
from his father Raum. King Gudbrand was father of King Audleif (''Auðleifr''), father of King Gudmund (''Guðmundr''), father of Gudbrand who rejected the title of king but called himself Jarl instead, and yet was the most powerful Jarl in the northern lands. Jarl Gudbrand's son was Jarl Geirmund (''Geirmundr''), father of Jarl Hródgeir (''Hróðgeirr''), father of Gudbrand who rejected the title of Jarl and called himself ''hersir'' 'lord' as did his descendants.
Descendants of Jötunbjörn
Jötunbjörn the Old inherited Raumaranes Dale from his father King Raum. (Raums Dale is the modern district of
Romerike
Romerike is a traditional district located north-east of Oslo, in what is today south-eastern Norway. It consists of the Viken municipalities Lillestrøm, Lørenskog, Nittedal, Rælingen and Aurskog-Høland in the southern end (Nedre Romerike) ...
in the county of
Akershus
Akershus () is a traditional region and current electoral district in Norway, with Oslo as its main city and traditional capital. It is named after the Akershus Fortress in Oslo. From the middle ages to 1919, Akershus was a fief and main county ...
. Jötunbjörn was father of King Raum, father of Hrossbjörn (''Hrossbjǫrn''), father of Orm Broken-shell (''Ormr Skjelamoli''), father of Knatti who had two sons: Thórolf (''Þórolfr'') and Ketil Raum (''Ketill Raumr''). A variant of this genealogy appears at the beginning of the ''Vatnsdæla saga'' in which Ketil the Large is the direct son of Orm Broken-shell with no mention of either Knatti or of Ketil's brother Thórolf. Also nothing is said of Jötunbjörn's ancestry, only that he was from the north of Norway.
The ''Hversu'' then relates that Thórolf was father of Helgi, the father of Bersi, the father of Thormód (''Þormóðr''), the father of Thórlaug (''Þórlaugr'') who was the mother of Tungu-Odd (''Tungu-Oddr''). In the ''Landnámabók'' (1:15) it is said that two brothers whose ancestry is not given settled the Akraness in Iceland between Kalman's river (''Kalmansár'') and Char river (''Aurridaár''). One was Thormod who settled the land to the south of Reymir, and dwelt at Holm; he was the father of Bersi and Geirlaug, the mother of Tungu-Odd (''Tungu-Oddr''). The other was named Ketil. Further information appears in the Landnámabók (1.20). Tungu-Odd is a major character in ''Hænsna-Thóris saga'' (''Hen-Thórir's saga''). Geirlaug rather than Thorlaug is the name of Tungu-Odd's mother in all accounts except for that of the ''Hversu''.
Descendants of Finnálf the Old
According to the ''Hversu'', Finnalf inherited the land of East Dale (''Eystri-Dal'', probably the modern
Dal
In Indian cuisine, ''dal'' (also spelled ''daal'' or ''dhal''; pronunciation: , Hindi: दाल, Urdu: ) are dried, split pulses (e.g., lentils, peas, and beans) that do not require soaking before cooking. India is the largest producer of pu ...
) and all the land north of Lake Vænir (modern Lake
Vänern
Vänern ( , also , ) is the largest lake in Sweden, the largest lake in the European Union and the third-largest lake of all Europe after Ladoga and Onega in Russia. It is located in the provinces of Västergötland, Dalsland, and Värmland in ...
) from the Gaut Elf river (the modern
Göta älv
The Göta älv (; "River of (the) Geats") is a river that drains lake Vänern into the Kattegat, at the city of Gothenburg, on the western coast of Sweden. It was formed at the end of the last glaciation, as an outflow channel from the Baltic Ic ...
river) north to the Raum Elf river (the modern
Glomma
The Glomma, or Glåma, is Norway's longest and most voluminous river. With a total length of , it has a drainage basin that covers fully 13% of Norway's surface area, all in the southern part of the country.
Geography
At its fullest length, the ...
river), and that the land was then called Álfheim.
Finnálf married Svanhild (''Svanhildr'') who was called Gold-feather (''Gullfjǫðr'') and was the daughter of Day (''Dagr'') son of Dayspring (''Dellingr'') by Sun (''
Sól'') daughter of ''
Mundilfari
In Norse mythology Mundilfari (Old Norse: ; rendered variously ''Mundilfari'', ''Mundilföri'' and ''Mundilfœri'') (Old Norse, possibly "the one moving according to particular times"Simek (2007:222).) is the father of Sól, goddess associated ...
''. Dag as a personification of day and the sun-goddess Sól are mentioned elsewhere, but only the ''Hversu'' mentions their daughter. Svanhild bore Finnálf a son named Svan the Red (''Svanr inn rauðr'') who was father of Sæfari, father of Úlf (''Úlfr''), father of Álf, father of Ingimund (''Ingimundr'') and Eystein (''Eysteinn'').
According to the eddic poem ''Hyndluljód'' (stanza 12), Óttar, whose genealogy is the subject of this poem, was son of Innstein (''Innsteinn''), son of Álf the Old, son of Úlf, son of Sæfari, son of Svan the Red. So the Innstein of the ''Hyndluljód'' and ''Eystein'' of the ''Hversu'' are presumably identical.
Descendants of Gudröd
Gudröd, Raum's eldest legitimate son, inherited the largest portion of his father's lands. Gudröd's son was Eystein the Wicked (''Eysteinn illráði'') who conquered part of
Trondheim
Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...
and set his son Önund over it. When Önund was killed in a revolt, Eystein made his dog,
Saur
Saur may refer to:
* Saur (company) a French utility company
* Saur (restaurant), Michelin starred restaurant in The Hague, Netherlands
* Dog king - a Scandinavian tradition
* Saur 1 - an APC developed by ROMARM
* K. G. Saur Verlag, German publ ...
, king of the territory. The tale is also told more fully as a deed of long ago in the ''Saga of Hakon the Good'' in 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 ...
'' where Eystein (no parentage given) is said to be King of the Uplands in Norway, part of the modern county of
Oppland
Oppland is a former county in Norway which existed from 1781 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020. The old Oppland county bordered the counties of Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The co ...
. See
Snær
In Norse mythology, Snær (Old Norse Snærr, East Norse Sniō, Latin Nix, Nivis, English "snow") is seemingly a personification of snow, appearing in extant text as an euhemerized legendary Scandinavian king.
Icelandic tradition
In the '' Orkney ...
for another use of the
dog king
The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...
motif.
Descendants of Höd
Höd ruled over
Hadeland
Hadeland () is a traditional district in the southeastern part of Norway. It is centered on the southern part of the large lake Randsfjorden in Innlandet and Viken counties. The district consists of the municipalities Gran in Innlandet county ...
(''Haðaland''). Höd was father of Höddbrodd (''Hǫdbroddr''). (The name Höd is identical to that born by the slayer of the god
Baldr
Baldr (also Balder, Baldur) is a god in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, Baldr (Old Norse: ) is a son of the god Odin and the goddess Frigg, and has numerous brothers, such as Thor and Váli. In wider Germanic mythology, the god was kno ...
in other tales. And while the Höd of the ''Hversu'' is said to be father of a son named Höddbrodd, in
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 3) Høtherus, the slayer of Balderus, is the son of Hothbrodus or Hothbroddus.)
The ''Hversu'' relates that Höddbrodd son of Höd was the father of Hrólf (''Hrólf''), father of Hrómund Beserk (''Hrómundr beserkr''), father of three children: Hámund (Hámundr), Haki, and Gunnlöd (''Gunnlǫðr'').
Hámund was Earl of
Hordaland
Hordaland () was a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland was the third largest county, after Akershus and Oslo, by population. The county government was the Hordaland County Municipal ...
and father of Hrók the Black (''Hrókr inn svartr'') and Hrók the White (''Hrókr inn hvítr''). Haki was father of Hródgeir (''Hróðgeirr''), father of Haki Beserk. Gunnlöd was the mother of Ústein (''Ústeinn'') and Innstein (''Innsteinn''). In ''Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka'' ('The saga of Hálf and his heroes'), the two brothers named Hrók and the brothers Útstein (''Útstein'') and Instein play prominent roles. This saga names the father of Útstein (''Útstein'') and Instein as a Jarl named Álf the Old of Hordaland, which is one of Hálf's kingdoms.
Hrók the Black was the father of Gunnlöd (''Gunnlǫðr'') the mother of Hrómund Grip's son, the protagonist of ''Hrómundar saga Gripssonar'' ('Saga of Hrómund Grip's son'). Two sons of Hrómund named Björnólf (''Bjǫrnólfr'') and Hróald (''Hróaldr'') appear among the first Norse settlers in
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
in the ''Landnámabók'' (1.3) and are mentioned in other sagas.
Descendants of Hadding
The ''Hversu'' tells that Hadding son of Raum ruled over Haddingjadal and
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 ...
(''Þelamörk''). He was father of son also named Hadding, who himself was father of another Hadding, father of Högni the Red. The ''Hversu'' then comments cryptically that after him the three Haddings (''Haddingjar'') took power, that they ruled one after the other, and that Helgi Hadding-prince (''Haddingjaskati'') was one of them.
The ''
Haddingjar
The Haddingjar (Old Norse: ) refers on the one hand to Germanic heroic legends about two brothers by this name, and on the other hand to possibly related legends based on the Hasdingi, the royal dynasty of the Vandals. The accounts vary greatly. ...
'' are otherwise known as two of the sons of
Arngrim
Arngrim was a berserker, who features in Hervarar saga, Gesta Danorum, Lay of Hyndla, a number of Faroese ballads and Orvar-Odd's saga in Norse mythology.Henrikson, Alf. (1998). ''Den stora mytologiska uppslagsboken''.
Hervarar saga
Accordin ...
of which the fullest account is in ''
Hervarar saga'' and are certainly not the Haddingjar spoken of by the ''Hversu''. (But some suspect all references to the Haddingjar are garblings of old traditions about the divine twins.) Helgi ''Haddingjaskati'' is mentioned in the prose epilogue to the eddic poem ''Helgavida Hundingsbana II'' which states that
Helgi Hundingsbane
Helgi Hundingsbane is a hero in Norse sagas. Helgi appears in ''Volsunga saga'' and in two lays in the ''Poetic Edda'' named ''Helgakviða Hundingsbana I'' and ''Helgakviða Hundingsbana II''. The ''Poetic Edda'' relates that Helgi and his mistres ...
and his
Valkyrie
In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ("chooser of the slain") is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become (Old Norse "single (or once) fighters"Orchard (1997:36) ...
and his lover
Sigrún
Sigrún ( Old Norse "victory rune"Orchard (1997:194).) is a valkyrie in Norse mythology. Her story is related in '' Helgakviða Hundingsbana I'' and '' Helgakviða Hundingsbana II'', in the '' Poetic Edda''. The original editor annotated that s ...
were afterwards reincarnated as Helgi ''Haddingjaskati'' and
Kára
In Norse mythology, Kára is a valkyrie, attested in the prose epilogue of the ''Poetic Edda'' poem '' Helgakviða Hundingsbana II''.
The epilogue details that "there was a belief in the pagan religion, which we now reckon an old wives' tale, tha ...
as told in the ''Káraljód'' (''Káraljóðr''), a poem no longer extant. A version of this tale survives only in ''
Hrómundar saga Gripssonar ''Hrómundar saga Gripssonar'' or ''The Saga of Hromund Gripsson'' is a legendary saga from Iceland. The original version has been lost, but its content has been preserved in the ''rímur'' of ''Hrómundr Gripsson'', known as ''Griplur'', which were ...
'' in which the ''Haldingjar'' are two concurrent kings of Sweden and Helgi is their champion. Helgi conquers in part through the magic of his lover, the sorceress Kára, who appears in the form of a swan. When Helgi accidentally kills her, he meets his own doom and the Halding kings flee. ''Haldingjar'' seems to a garblings of ''Haddingjar''. The ''Hversu'' account probably indicates a version in which both Helgi and the two Haddingjar proper (probably here the sons of Högni the Red) were all three called Haddingjar and ruled in rotation. Also, in the text the name of Helgi's lover actually appears as ''Cára'', which should have been normalized as ''Kára''. But ''Cára'' was instead misread and transcribed as ''Lára'' in Jónsson and Vilhjálmsson's ''Fornaldarsögur Norðurlanda'' and so appears in most later discussion.
Descendants of Hring
Raum's son Hring was the eponym and ruler of
Ringerike (''Ringeríki'') and also ruled
Valdres
Valdres () is a traditional district in central, southern Norway, situated between the districts of Gudbrandsdalen and Hallingdal. The region of Valdres consists of the six municipalities of Nord-Aurdal, Sør-Aurdal, Øystre Slidre, Vestre Slidre ...
(a valley of modern
Oppland
Oppland is a former county in Norway which existed from 1781 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020. The old Oppland county bordered the counties of Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The co ...
). Hring married the daughter of a sea-king named Vifil (''Vifill'') by whom he was the father of Halfdan the Old (''Hálfdan gamli''). See
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 ...
to follow this lineage further.
Alternative spellings
Alternative Anglicizations are: Álf: ''Alf'' ; Álfheim: ''Alfheim'' ; Bergdís: ''Bergdis'' ; Björn: ''Bjorn'' ; Björnólf: ''Bjornolf'' ; Finnálf: ''Finnalf'' ; Gudröd: ''Gudrod'' ; Gunnlöd: ''Gunnlod'' ; Hálf: ''Half'' ; Halfdan: ''Hálfdan'' ; Hámund: ''Hamund'' ; Hródgeir: ''Hrodgeir'' ; Hrossbjörn: ''Hrossbjorn'' ; Högni: ''Hogni'' ; Höd: ''Hod'', ''Hodr'', ''Hoder'', ''Hother'' ; Höddbrodd: ''Hoddbrodd'' ; Hróald: ''Hroald'' ; Hrók the Black: ''Rook the Black'' ; Hrók the White: ''Rook the White'' ; Hrólf: ''Hrolf'' ; Hrómund: ''Hromund'' ; Jötunbjörn: ''Jotunbjorn'' ; Kára: ''Kara'' ; Ketil Raum: ''Ketil the Large'' ; Lára: ''Lara'' ; Ólaf: ''Olaf'' ; Önund: ''Onund'' ; Raumaríki: ''Raumarike'', ''Raumarik'', ''Raum's-ric'' ; Sæfari: ''Saefari'' ; Sigrún: ''Sigrun'' ; Sól: ''Sol'' ; Sóleyjar: ''Soleyjar'' ; Sölva: ''Solva'' ; Sólveig: ''Solveig'' ; Sölvi: ''Solvi'' ; Thórolf: ''Thorolf'' ; Thrym: ''Thrymr'' ; Úlf: ''Ulf'' ; Útstein: ''Utstein''.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raum The Old
Norwegian petty kings
Kings in Norse mythology and legends