''Sörla saga sterka'' is a

legendary saga A legendary saga or ''fornaldarsaga'' (literally, "story/history of the ancient era") is a Norse saga that, unlike the Icelanders' sagas, takes place before the settlement of Iceland.The article ''Fornaldarsagor'' in ''Nationalencyklopedin'' (1991 ...

which was written in the 14th or 15th century. It is a sequel to '' Hálfdanar saga Brönufóstra'' and like its prequel one of its locales is

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, which is a vassal to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. Sörli the Strong is a son of the king 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 ...

, and is at feud with Halfdan Brana's Foster Son (now king of Sweden). After some adventures in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, which greatly resemble Halfdan's exploits in

Helluland Helluland () is the name given to one of the three lands, the others being Vinland and Markland, seen by Bjarni Herjólfsson, encountered by Leif Erikson and further explored by Thorfinn Karlsefni Thórdarson around AD 1000 on the North Atlanti ...

, Sörli encounters Halfdan, kills him, and takes his ship. Halfdan's son Högni (of the

Hjaðningavíg Hjaðningavíg (the 'battle of the Heodenings'), the ''legend of Heðinn and Hǫgni'' or the ''Saga of Hild'' is a Germanic heroic legend about a never-ending battle which is documented in ''Sörla þáttr'', ''Ragnarsdrápa'', ''Gesta Danorum'', ...

) fights against him but later they become allies. Much of the story is presented in a similar form in the midsection of

Sörla þáttr ''Sörla þáttr eða Heðins saga ok Högna'' is a short narrative from the extended version ''Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta'' found in the ''Flateyjarbók'' manuscript,Lindow (2002:280-281). which was written and compiled by two Christia ...

Translations

* (Saga of Sorli the Strong, pp. 111-140)

Sources and external links

''Helpful Danes and Pagan Irishmen: Saga Fantasies of the Viking Age in the British Isles'', by Elizabeth Ashman Rowe.The saga in Old Norse at «Norrøne Tekster og Kvad».
Legendary sagas {{saga-stub