Örvar-Oddr
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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 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 ...
, in ''
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 essentia ...
''.


Plot summary


Prophecy

Oddr was the son of Grímr Loðinkinni and the grandson of Ketill Hængr (both of whom have their own sagas) of
Hålogaland 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 Lyng ...
. When he was an infant, a
völva In Germanic paganism, a seeress is a woman said to have the ability to foretell future events and perform sorcery. They are also referred to with many other names meaning "prophetess", "staff bearer" and "sorceress", and they are frequently calle ...
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 The long hundred, also known as the great hundred or twelfty, is the number 120 (in base-10 Hindu-Arabic numerals) that was referred to as ''hund,'' ''hund-teontig,'' ''hundrað'', ''hundrath'', or ''hundred'' in Germanic languages prior to the ...
" commonly used in medieval
Germanic languages The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, North America, Oceania, and Southern Africa. The most widely spoke ...
, 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 gave him some magic arrows (''Gusisnautar'') which soon earned him the
cognomen A ''cognomen'' (; : ''cognomina''; from ''co-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditar ...
''arrow''. After a voyage to
Finnmark Finnmark (; ; ; ; ) is a counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. By land, it borders Troms county to the west, Finland's Lapland (Finland), Lapland region to the south, and Russia's Murmansk Oblast to the east, and by water, the Norweg ...
,
Bjarmaland Bjarmaland (also spelled ''Bjarmland'' and ''Bjarmia'') was a territory mentioned in sagas from the Viking Age and in geographical accounts until the 16th century. The term is usually understood to have referred to the southern shores of the Whit ...
, Holmgård,
Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
and Jotunheim, he fought successfully against several Vikings.


Hjalmar and Angantyr

However, when he encountered the Swedish champion Hjalmar, he met his match. The fight was even and the two warriors not only became friends, but entered sworn brotherhood. The two heroes fought many battles together (for more see Hjalmar), until after the famous battle of
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 ...
against the sons of Arngrim, Örvar-Oddr had to bring the dead Hjalmar (killed by Angantyr) to
Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...
and his betrothed Ingeborg, the daughter of the Swedish king. Örvar-Oddr travelled in the South fighting against the corsairs of the
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 ...
, he was baptised in
Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...
, was shipwrecked and arrived alone in the
Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...
.


Ögmundr Flóki

Oddr sought vengeance against Ögmundr Flóki ("Ogmund Tussock" or Ögmundr 'tuft'; aka Ögmundr Eyþjófsbani or "Eythjof's-killer") for the murder of his blood-brother Þórðr stafnglamr (Thord Prow-Gleam). He and his crew headed toward a
fjord In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...
in Helluland ("Slabland"), where Ögmundr was to be found, according to Oddr's half-giant son, Vignir. During their voyage, they encounter two huge sea-creatures that resembled islands: There had been five men sent to disembark on what they thought was an island, but the Heather-Back (''lyngbakr'') plunged into sea, and those men perished. However, the group had safely sailed through the jaws of the Sea-Reek (''hafgufa''), the other monster that Ögmundr had sent by magic to intercept the party.


Barkman

Oddr becomes Barkman (''naefrmaðr'', 'birch bark man'), a sort of wildman dressed in bark. He arrived in Hunaland and meets King Herrauðr, where his true identity was soon revealed due to his heroic actions. After defeating the king of Bjalkaland ("pelt country"), who used to pay tribute to the king of Hunaland, he married the Herrauðr' daughter Silkisif and became the next king.


Death

After all this, Oddr became homesick and went back home. Walking over the grave of Faxi, he mocked the old prophecy, but tripped over the skull of a horse from which a snake appeared. The snake bit him and he died.


Analysis

The saga includes several stories, such as the voyage of Ottar from Hålogaland to Bjarmaland, the legend of Hjalmar's foster-brother (originally named ''Söte''), Starkaðr, Ketil Höing,
Odysseus In Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology, Odysseus ( ; , ), also known by the Latin variant Ulysses ( , ; ), is a legendary Greeks, Greek king of Homeric Ithaca, Ithaca and the hero of Homer's Epic poetry, epic poem, the ''Odyssey''. Od ...
and
Polyphemus Polyphemus (; , ; ) is the one-eyed giant son of Poseidon and Thoosa in Greek mythology, one of the Cyclopes described in Homer's ''Odyssey''. His name means "abounding in songs and legends", "many-voiced" or "very famous". Polyphemus first ap ...
, Sigurd Jorsalfare and the Rus' ruler
Oleg of Novgorod Oleg (), Oleh (), or Aleh () is an Slavic peoples, East Slavic given name. The name is very common in Russia, Ukraine, and Belаrus. Origins ''Oleg'' derives from the Old Norse ''Helgi'' (Helge (name), Helge), meaning "holy", "sacred", or "ble ...
(the attack on Bjalkaland). The motif of Örvar-Oddr's mocking the prophecy and death has parallels in the
Primary Chronicle The ''Primary Chronicle'', shortened from the common ''Russian Primary Chronicle'' (, commonly transcribed ''Povest' vremennykh let'' (PVL), ), is a Rus' chronicle, chronicle of Kievan Rus' from about 850 to 1110. It is believed to have been or ...
, which describes the manner of the death of Oleg (also of Varangian origin) in similar terms. Oleg's legendary death from "the skull of a horse" became the subject of one of the best known ballads in the
Russian language Russian is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is ...
, published by
Alexander Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin () was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era.Basker, Michael. Pushkin and Romanticism. In Ferber, Michael, ed., ''A Companion to European Romanticism''. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. He is consid ...
in 1826. Another variant on the same theme is found in the legend of Sir Robert de Shurland on the
Isle of Sheppey The Isle of Sheppey is an island off the northern coast of Kent, England, neighbouring the Thames Estuary, centred from central London. It has an area of . The island forms part of the districts of England, local government district of Borough ...
in Kent, England, recorded in the 17th century, and which in 1837 inspired one of the popular ''
Ingoldsby Legends ''The Ingoldsby Legends'' (full title: ''The Ingoldsby Legends, or Mirth and Marvels'') is a collection of myths, legends, ghost stories and poems written supposedly by Thomas Ingoldsby of Tappington Manor, actually a pen-name of an English cl ...
'' of
Richard Barham Richard Harris Barham (6 December 1788 – 17 June 1845) was an English cleric of the Church of England, a novelist and a humorous poet. He was known generally by his pseudonym Thomas Ingoldsby and as the author of ''The Ingoldsby Legends''. ...
. Ögmundr Flóki owned a cloak made from the beards of kings he collected, as did the giant of Mont Saint-Michel, enemy of King Arthur in Brittany.


Örvar-Oddr and Norwegian Rugii

Örvar-Oddr spent his childhood and youth in Berurjóðr near Eikund (Eigersund). In the saga, Örvar-Oddr responds to the question of the priestess about who raised him in such folly that he refuses to worship the highest god and leader of the Aesir, Odin: "I was raised by Ingjaldr in my childhood, who ruled Eikund and inhabited Jadar." * Eikundasund, Eykundasund. In: Johann Samuel Ersch, Johann Gottfried Gruber (Eds.): General Encyclopedia of Sciences and Arts. Section 1: A–G. Part 32: Ei–Eisen. F. A. Brockhaus, Leipzig 1839, p. 209
resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.degdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de
. At the beginning of the 19th century, historians, literary scholars, and geographers believed that Oddr's fate was connected to the Norwegian Rogaland. In the General Encyclopedia of Sciences and Arts, it is pointed out that in the Örvar-Odds saga, it concerns the island of Eigerøy. The settlement of Berurjóðr (Berglud), the island of Eikund (Eigerøy), and the historical region of Jadar (
Jæren Jæren is a Districts of Norway, traditional district in Rogaland county, Norway. The other districts in Rogaland are Dalane, Ryfylke, and Haugalandet. Jæren is one of the 15 districts that comprise Western Norway. At about , Jæren is the large ...
) are located in the Norwegian province of
Rogaland Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. As of 1 January 2024, it had a population of 49 ...
, which was inhabited by
Rugii The Rugii, Rogi or Rugians (), were one of the smaller Germanic peoples of Late Antiquity who are best known for their short-lived 5th-century kingdom upon the Roman frontier, near present-day Krems an der Donau in Austria. This kingdom, like t ...
in the Middle Ages. Egersund is the bay between the island of Eigerøy and the mainland, which was called "Eikundarsund" in the Middle Ages. The island of Eigerøy was called "Eikund" in the Middle Ages. The name of this island indicates rich deposits of high-quality oak wood used for shipbuilding, as the word "eik" is the Norwegian word for "oak." Eikund and Eikundarsund were some of the oldest geographical names in Norway and are already found in the Óláfs saga helga, written in the 13th century by the Icelandic author
Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of th ...
.


See also

* '' Hrafnistumannasögur''


Explanatory notes


References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * (First English translation) * * * *


External links


Proverbs and proverbial materials in ''Örvar-Odds saga''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orvar-Oddr Tyrfing cycle Legendary sagas Heroes in Norse myths and legends