Heidrek
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Heidrek or Heiðrekr (
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 ...
: ) is one of the main characters in the cycle about the
magic sword In mythology, legend or fiction, a magic sword is a sword with magical powers or other supernatural qualities. Renowned swords appear in the folklore of every nation that used swords.Josepha Sherman, ''Once upon a Galaxy'' p 113 In some tra ...
Tyrfing Tyrfing, Tirfing or Tyrving (the name is of uncertain origin, possibly connected to the Terwingi) was a magic sword in Norse mythology, which features in the Tyrfing Cycle, which includes a poem from the ''Poetic Edda'' called ''Hervararkvià ...
. He appears in the '' Hervarar saga'', and probably also in ''
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 ...
'',line 115, as ''Heathoric'' together with his sons Angantyr (''Incgentheow'') and Hlöð (''Hlith''), and Hlöð's mother
Sifka Sifka or ''Sifeca'' is a Hun princess in Norse mythology, the mother of the warrior Hlöd by Heidrek, King of the Geats. She was the daughter of Humli, King of the Huns. After the Geatish Heidrek murdered the Gothic king Harald and his son Half ...
(''Sifeca''). The etymology is , meaning "honour", and , meaning "ruler, king".


Youth

Heidrek was the son of king Höfund and his wife Hervor, a shieldmaiden. Like his mother in her youth, he was ill-natured and violent. To amend this, he was raised by the wise
Geatish king 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 ...
Gizur, but this did not improve his disposition. One day, when his parents were having a banquet, Heidrek arrived uninvited and late at night, he started a quarrel which ended in manslaughter. His father, King Höfund, banished Heidrek from his kingdom, although Hervor did her utmost to soften Höfund's feelings against his son.


His father's advice

However, before Heidrek left, his father gave him some words of advice: :"Never help a man who has betrayed his master. :Never give peace to a man who has murdered his friend. :Don't allow your wife to visit her family frequently, even though she insists on doing so. :Never tell your loved one about your secret thoughts. :If you're in a hurry, never ride your best horse. :Never punish the son of a better man. :Never break a promise about peace. :Never have many
thrall A thrall ( non, þræll, is, þræll, fo, trælur, no, trell, træl, da, træl, sv, träl) was a slave or serf in Scandinavian lands during the Viking Age. The corresponding term in Old English was . The status of slave (, ) contrasts with ...
s in your company." Heidrek immediately decided never to follow his father's advice.


Departing

Hervor secretly gave her son the sword
Tyrfing Tyrfing, Tirfing or Tyrving (the name is of uncertain origin, possibly connected to the Terwingi) was a magic sword in Norse mythology, which features in the Tyrfing Cycle, which includes a poem from the ''Poetic Edda'' called ''Hervararkvià ...
as she bade him farewell, and his brother Angantyr kept him company for a while. When they had walked for some time, Heidrek wanted to have a look at the sword. Since he had unsheathed it, the curse the dwarves had put on the sword made him kill his brother.


Adventures

After a while, Heidrek met a patrol moving a prisoner who was to be executed because he had murdered his master. He remembered his father's advice and resolved to buy the criminal. Then he continued his journey and met a patrol moving a scoundrel who had killed his comrade. Likewise, Heidrek bought the man's life in order to disobey his father. Soon, Heidrek arrived in
Reidgotaland Reidgotaland, Reidgothland, Reidgotland, Hreidgotaland or Hreiðgotaland was a land mentioned in Germanic heroic legend (mentioned in the Scandinavian sagas as well as the Anglo-Saxon Widsith) usually interpreted as the land of the Goths. Etymol ...
, entered the
Goth A Goth is a member of the Goths, a group of East Germanic tribes. Two major political entities of the Goths were: *Visigoths, prominent in Spanish history *Ostrogoths, prominent in Italian history Goth or Goths may also refer to: * Goth (surname) ...
ic king Harald's service, and disposed of two rebellious jarls for him. This earned him half the Gothic kingdom and the king's daughter, Helga. Heidrek and Helga had a son who was named Angantyr after Heidrek's brother and grandfather. During the same time old King Harald had a son who was named Halfdan. Unfortunately, Reidgotaland was struck with bad crops and starvation. The
goðar Gothi or (plural , fem. ; Old Norse language, Old Norse: ) was a position of political and social prominence in the Icelandic Commonwealth. The term originally had a religious significance, referring to a pagan leader responsible for a religio ...
(heathen priests) determined that they must sacrifice the most noble young man of the kingdom to
Odin Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered Æsir, god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, v ...
in order to restore good crops. Immediately, people started to quarrel about which of the princes was the most noble, and so they asked king Höfund of
Glæsisvellir Glæsisvellir (Glittering Plains) was a location in Jotunheim in Norse mythology. It is mentioned in sources such as '' Bósa saga ok Herrauds'' and '' Hervarar saga''. Legend In Glæsisvellir could be found a location called Ódáinsakr, or Údà ...
. King Höfund decided that it was Angantyr (his own grandson) who was the most noble prince. Höfund also told Heidrek to ask King Harald that in recompense for sacrificing his own son, he should receive half the Gothic army as his own. King Harald agreed to this. However, when Höfund called for a thing in order to sacrifice Angantyr, Heidrek objected and said that Odin would be happy if instead of Angantyr, he received King Harald and his son Halfdan. Then, Heidrek made a coup d'état with his half of the Gothic army, using
Tyrfing Tyrfing, Tirfing or Tyrving (the name is of uncertain origin, possibly connected to the Terwingi) was a magic sword in Norse mythology, which features in the Tyrfing Cycle, which includes a poem from the ''Poetic Edda'' called ''Hervararkvià ...
to kill King Harald and his son. When his wife Helga heard the news, she committed suicide by hanging herself.


King of the Goths

Heidrek used his army to subjugate the Gothic kingdom and ruled with brutal force. He defeated
Humli Humli is a legendary king of the Huns who appears in the Hervarar Saga. He is the Grandfather of Hlod, illegitimate son of Heidrek, King of the Goths. Role in the saga After Heideric's death, Humli tells his grandson to go to his father's funer ...
, the king of the
Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...
, and captured his daughter
Sifka Sifka or ''Sifeca'' is a Hun princess in Norse mythology, the mother of the warrior Hlöd by Heidrek, King of the Geats. She was the daughter of Humli, King of the Huns. After the Geatish Heidrek murdered the Gothic king Harald and his son Half ...
, whom he raped. When she became pregnant, she was sent back to her father's kingdom, where she bore a son who was named Hlöd. Heidrek married Olof, the daughter of
Ã…ke Ã…ke is a masculine Swedish given name, possibly derived from the medieval Germanic name ''Anicho'', derived from ''ano'' meaning "ancestor". In Sweden, May 8 is the Name day for Ã…ke. There are variant spellings, including the Danish/Norwegian ...
, the King of the
Saxons The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
. She often asked to go home to visit her family, and since Heidrek remembered his father's advice, he always gladly consented. This would turn out to be an unwise strategy, because one day he made the journey to Saxony in order to see his wife among her family. He found her in the arms of a blond
thrall A thrall ( non, þræll, is, þræll, fo, trælur, no, trell, træl, da, træl, sv, träl) was a slave or serf in Scandinavian lands during the Viking Age. The corresponding term in Old English was . The status of slave (, ) contrasts with ...
and immediately divorced her. Instead, he married a girl from
Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
who was named Sifka, like the Hunnic princess. One day, they were visiting king Rollaug of Gardariki. To oppose a fourth word of advice given by his father, he told Sifka a secret and asked her to swear an oath never to tell anyone. The secret was that he had accidentally killed King Rollaug's son in a hunting accident. Naturally, Sifka immediately ran to King Rollaug and told him the secret, which caused King Rollaug to capture Heidrek and to kill all of his retinue. The two men who bound him were none other than the two culprits he had saved from the gallows. When king Rollaug was about to burn Heidrek alive, someone broke the news that the prince was still alive and that Heidrek was innocent. Rollaug apologized and in recompense for Heidrek's losses he gave him his own daughter, Hergerd. Heidrek and Hergerd had a daughter who was named Hervor, the shieldmaiden, after his mother who had just died. This was the beginning of a time of peace for Heidrek. During a voyage, Heidrek camped at the
Carpathians The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The ...
(''Harvaða fjöllum'', cf. Grimm's law). He was accompanied by eight mounted thralls, and while Heidrek slept, the thralls broke into his tent, took
Tyrfing Tyrfing, Tirfing or Tyrving (the name is of uncertain origin, possibly connected to the Terwingi) was a magic sword in Norse mythology, which features in the Tyrfing Cycle, which includes a poem from the ''Poetic Edda'' called ''Hervararkvià ...
and slew Heidrek. This was the last one of Tyrfing's three evil deeds. Heidrek's son Angantyr caught the thralls, killed them and reclaimed the magic sword, but the curse had ceased.


References


Sources

Henrikson, Alf (1998). ''Stora mytologiska uppslagsboken''. Tolkien, Christopher (1960) The Saga of King Heidrek the Wise: Translated from the Icelandic with Introduction, Notes and Appendices. Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd. ASIN: B000V9BAO0. An on-line PDF copy is available from th
Viking Society for Northern Research
{{Tyrfing Heroes in Norse myths and legends Gothic warriors Gothic kings Tyrfing cycle