Ragnvald Heidumhære (or Rognvald) was a semi-historical petty king or chieftain 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 ...

in what is today

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

in the 9th century, according to ''

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 ...

'' and to ''

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 ...

'' in ''

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 ...

''. He was apparently a member of the

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'' ...

clan (mentioned in later Norse and Anglo-Saxon literature, such as ''

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 ...

''). His name ''Heiðumhæri'' could be translated as ''highly honoured''Gokstadhøvdingen og hans tid
Edited by Tore Frost. Sandefjordsmuseene, 1997. . Page 56 His greatest contribution to posterity was that he asked the

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 ...

Þjóðólfr of Hvinir Þjóðólfr ór Hvini (anglicized as Thjódólf of Hvinir or Thiodolf; fl. late 9th–early 10th c. AD), was a Norwegian skald, said to have been one of the court-poets of the semi-legendary Norwegian king Harald Fairhair. His name suggests that ...

to compose a poem about his ancestry. This poem is known as ''

'' and is not only one of the oldest, but also one of the most famous and debated of the Old Norse poems. Þjóðólfr ended the poem with these lines: :''Under the heaven's blue dome, a name'' :''I never knew more true to fame'' :''Than Rognvald bore; whose skilful hand'' :''Could tame the scorners of the land, --'' :''Rognvald, who knew so well to guide'' :''The wild sea-horses through the tide:'' :''The Heidumhære was the proud name'' :''By which the king was known to fame.''

Family

Traditional sources differ as to whether Ragnvald Heidumhære was the son of

Ragnar Lodbrok according to legends, was a Viking hero and a Danish and Swedish king.Gutenberg Projec ...

or of

Olaf Geirstad-Alf Olaf Gudrødsson (c. 810 – c. 860), known after his death as Olaf Geirstad-Alf "Olaf, Elf of Geirstad" (Old Norse Ólafr Geirstaðaalfr), was a semi-legendary petty king in Norway. A member of the House of Yngling, he was the son of Gudrød the Hu ...

. The 13th-century account in ''

'', which uses ''Ynglingatal'' as a source, makes Ragnvald a cousin of

Harald Fairhair Harald Fairhair no, Harald hårfagre Modern Icelandic: ( – ) was a Norwegian king. According to traditions current in Norway and Iceland in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, he reigned from 872 to 930 and was the first King of Nor ...

. A dubious, later pedigree attributes to Ragnvald a daughter, Åsa Ragnvaldsdatter (''Aseda Rognvaldsdatter''), who married

Eystein Ivarsson Eystein Glumra ("Eystein the Noisy" or "Eystein the Clatterer"; Modern Norwegian ''Øystein Glumra''), also known as Eystein Ivarsson, was reputedly a petty king on the west coast of Norway during the 9th century. The ''Heimskringla'' saga states ...

. It is through this line that Ragnvald Heidumhære is a purported ancestor of

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

(and subsequent British royal houses).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ragnvald Heidumhaere Norwegian petty kings

Family

See also

References