|
Örvar-Oddr
Örvar-Oddr ( , "Arrow-Odd" or "Arrow's Point") is a legendary hero about whom an anonymous Icelander wrote a '' fornaldarsaga'' in the latter part of the 13th century. ''Örvar-Odds saga'', the Saga of Örvar-Odd, became very popular and contains old legends and songs. He also appears in '' Hervarar saga'' and, concerning the battle on Samsø, in ''Gesta Danorum''. Plot summary Prophecy Oddr was the son of GrÃmr Loðinkinni and the grandson of Ketill Hængr (both of whom have their own sagas) of HÃ¥logaland. When he was an infant, a völva predicted that he would be killed by his own horse, Faxi, at the place where he was born, at the age of three hundred (which may signify 360, as the unit in question is probably the "long hundred" commonly used in medieval Germanic languages, denoting 120 rather than 100). In order to thwart the prediction, he killed his horse, buried it deep in the ground and left his home intending never to return again. As he was leaving, his father g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sworn Brotherhood
Blood brother can refer to two or more people not related by birth who have sworn loyalty to each other. This is in modern times usually done in a ceremony, known as a blood oath, where each person makes a small cut, usually on a finger, hand, or the forearm, and then the two cuts are pressed together and bound, the symbolism being that each person's blood now flows in the other participant's veins Veins () are blood vessels in the circulatory system of humans and most other animals that carry blood towards the heart. Most veins carry deoxygenated blood from the tissues back to the heart; exceptions are those of the pulmonary and fetal c .... The act carries a risk due to blood-borne diseases. The process usually provides a participant with a heightened symbolic sense of attachment with the other participant. Cultures Germanic The Norsemen entering the pact of foster brotherhood () involved a rite in which they let their blood flow while they ducked underneath an arch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lyngbakr
Lyngbakr ( Icelandic, ''lyngi'' " heather" + ''bak'' "back") is the name of a massive whale-like sea monster reported in the '' Örvar-Odds'' saga to have existed in the Greenland Sea. According to the saga, Lyngbakr would bait seafarers by posing as a heather-covered island, and when a crew landed on his back, he sank into the sea, drowning the crew. Örvar-Odds saga As Örvar-Oddr and his crew were sailing southwesterly through the Greenland Sea in vengeance against the troll Ögmundr Floki, slayer of Eythjof, the deck officer Vignir knew this area would be dangerous, and made Oddr agree to sail the ship beginning the next day, to which Oddr requested Vignir advise him. As they sailed, they spotted two rocks which rose out of the water. The presence of these rocks puzzled Oddr. Later, they passed by a large island covered in heather. Curious, Oddr made up his mind to turn back and send five men to check out the island, but as they approached where the island had been before, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hafgufa
( "sea" + "steam"; "sea-reek"; "sea-steamer") is a sea creature, purported to inhabit Iceland's waters (Greenland Sea) and southward toward Helluland. Although it was thought to be a sea monster, research suggests that the stories originated from a specialized feeding technique among whales known as trap-feeding. The hafgufa is mentioned in the mid-13th century Norwegian tract called the '' Konungs skuggsjá'' ("King's Mirror"). Later recensions of '' Örvar-Odds'' saga feature ''hafgufa'' and '' lyngbakr'' as similar but distinct creatures. According to Norwegian didactic work, this creature uses its own vomit-like chumming-bait to gather prey-fish. In the ''Fornaldarsaga'', the hafgufa is reputed to consume even whales or ships and men, though Oddr's ship merely sailed through its jaws above water, which appeared to be nothing more than rocks. Nomenclature This creature's name appears as in Old Norse in the 13th century Norwegian work. In the '' Snorra Edda'', the ''hafgufa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HÃ¥logaland
Hålogaland was the northernmost of the Norwegian provinces in the medieval Norse sagas. In the early Viking Age, before Harald Fairhair, Hålogaland was a kingdom extending between the Namdalen valley in Trøndelag county and the Lyngen fjord in Troms county. Etymology and history Ancient Norwegians said that was named after a royal named Hǫlgi. The Norse form of the name was '. The first element of the word is the genitive plural of ', a 'person from Hålogaland'. The last element is ', as in 'land' or 'region'. The meaning of the demonym ' is unknown. Thorstein Vikingson's Saga, 1, describes it as a compound of Hial, "Hel" or "spirit," and "loge", "fire" – although this is largely discredited. The Gothic historian Jordanes in his work ' (also known as ''Getica''), written in Constantinople , mentions a people "Adogit" living in the far North. This could be an old form of ' and a possible reference to the petty kingdom of Hålogaland. Alex Woolf links the name ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fornaldarsaga
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) There are some exceptions, such as '' Yngvars saga vÃðförla'', which takes place in the 11th century. The sagas were probably all written in Iceland, from about the middle of the 13th century to about 1400, although it is possible that some may be of a later date, Einar Ól. Sveinsson, "Fornaldarsögur", in ''Kulturhistorisk leksikon for nordisk middelalder fra vikingtid til reformasjonstid, bd. 4'' (Copenhagen, 1959) such as '' Hrólfs saga kraka''. Description of the sagas In terms of form, ''fornaldarsögur'' are similar to various other saga-genres, but tend towards fairly linear, episodic narratives. Like sagas in other genres, many quote verse, but in the ''fornaldarsögur'' that verse is almost invariably in the metre of Edda ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samsø
Samsø (Anglicized: "Samso" or "Samsoe") is a Denmark, Danish island in the Kattegat off the Jutland Peninsula. Samsø is located in Samsø municipality. The community has 3,724 inhabitants (2017) (January 2010:4,010) called ''Samsings'' and is 114 km² in area. Due to its central location, the island was used during the Viking, Viking Age as a meeting place. The etymology of the island's name is unknown. In 1997, Samsø won a government competition to become a model renewable energy community. Now 100% of its electricity comes from wind power and biomass. Etymology The name Samsø is of unknown origin. The name is known from 1075 as ''Samse''. This word is a simplex and the addition of -, Danish language, Danish for 'island', is thus a later compounding, known in toponymy as ''epexegesis''. Geography The beach and village of are popular with visitors. The island is served by a bus service which runs around the island, including the two ferry terminals in and Ballen. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 and is an essential source for the nation's early history. It is also one of the oldest known written documents about the history of Estonia and Latvia. Consisting of sixteen books written in Latin on the invitation of Archbishop Absalon, describes Danish history and to some degree Scandinavian history in general, from prehistory to the late 12th century. In addition, offers singular reflections on European affairs in the High Middle Ages from a unique Scandinavian perspective, supplementing what has been handed down by historians from Western and Southern Europe. Books The sixteen books, in prose with an occasional excursion into poetry, can be categorized into two parts: Books 1–9, which deal with Norse mythology and semi-legendary Danish histor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 Atlantic coast of North America. As some writers refer to all land beyond Greenland as Vinland; Helluland is sometimes considered a part of Vinland. Etymology The name Helluland was given by Leif Erikson during his voyage to Vinland according to the Greenland Saga and means "Land of Flat Rocks/Stones" in Old Norse. According to the sagas Helluland was said to be the first of three lands in North America visited by Eriksson. He decided against trying to settle there because he found the land inhospitable. He continued south to '' Markland'' (probably Labrador) and ''Vinland'' (possibly Newfoundland). The Saga of Erik the Red, 1880 translation into English by J. Sephton from the original Icelandic 'EirÃks saga rauða'. "They sailed away from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the west almost by the Morocco–Spain border. The Mediterranean Sea covers an area of about , representing 0.7% of the global ocean surface, but its connection to the Atlantic via the Strait of Gibraltar—the narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates the Iberian Peninsula in Europe from Morocco in Africa—is only wide. Geological evidence indicates that around 5.9 million years ago, the Mediterranean was cut off from the Atlantic and was partly or completely desiccated over a period of some 600,000 years during the Messinian salinity crisis before being refilled by the Zanclean flood about 5.3 million years ago. The sea was an important rout ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Angantyr
Angantyr was the name of three male characters from the same line in Norse mythology, and who appear in '' Hervarar saga'', ''Gesta Danorum'', and Faroese ballads. The last generation named Angantyr also appears to be mentioned as ''Incgentheow'' in ''Widsith'', line 115, together with his father Heiðrekr (''Heathoric''), half-brother Hlöð (''Hlith'') and Hlöð's mother Sifka (''Sifeca''). Angantyr the Berserker Angantyr's father Arngrim had given him the magic sword Tyrfing, which cut through anything as if through cloth, and which killed a man every time it was unsheathed. He was the tallest of the twelve sons of the berserker Arngrim, and he and his eleven brothers spread fear and destruction through the North. One Yule, they were back home on Bolmsö when the next eldest son Hjörvard, swore that he would win Ingeborg, the daughter of Yngve, the king of Sweden. The twelve brothers departed for Uppsala and Hjorvard proposed to Ingeborg. However then Hjalmar, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gamla Uppsala
Gamla Uppsala (, ''Old Uppsala'') is a parish and a village outside Uppsala in Sweden. It had 17,973 inhabitants in 2016. As early as the 3rd century AD and the 4th century AD and onwards, it was an important religious, economic and political centre.Hadenius, Stig; Nilsson, Torbjörn & Åselius, Gunnar. (1996). ''Sveriges historia''. Centraltryckeriet, Borås. p. 83: Early written sources show that already during prehistory, Gamla Uppsala was widely famous in Northern Europe as the residence of Swedish kings of the legendary Yngling dynasty.The article ''Gamla Uppsala'', subsection ''Historia'', in ''Nationalencyklopedin'' (1992): In fact, the oldest Scandinavian sources, such as ''Ynglingatal'', the ''Westrogothic law'' and the ''Gutasaga'' talk of the King of the Swedes (Germanic tribe), Swedes (Suiones) as the "King at Uppsala".: It was the main centre of the Swedes.: During the Middle Ages, it was the largest village of Uppland, the eastern part of which probably origin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
