Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar or The Saga of Thorstein, Viking's Son 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 takes place in the 7th century. It is about the father of

Frithjof Friðþjófur (variations: Fritiof, Frithiof, Fritjof, Frithjof, and Fridtjof) is a Scandinavian masculine given name derived from , . Bearers of the name include: Iceland *The hero of Frithiof's Saga, an Icelandic saga finalized around 1300 No ...

the Bold. It begins in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

and

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 ...

(with locations such as Ulleråker), but continues into exotic places such as

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It is not one of the more famous sagas, but it is still considered to be an entertaining story. It is a prequel to '' Friðþjófs saga ins frœkna'', ''The Saga of Fridthjof the Bold''. It has been compared to the runestone Sö 54 in Bjudby,

Södermanland Södermanland ( ), locally Sörmland, sometimes referred to under its Latinisation of names, Latinized form Sudermannia or Sudermania, is a Provinces of Sweden, historical province (or ) on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Österg� ...

, as it also mentions a prominent family, and besides the father ''Víkingr'' it names three sons with the same names as in the saga, and there are also close correspondences with the other names.

Plot

In Sweden,

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

sires nine sons by a second wife. Thorsten (Thorstein, or Thor's Stone) is the oldest son of Viking. Viking befriends his worthy foe Njorfe, King of Upplands, in Norway, who also has nine sons. The two groups of sons are highly competitive against each other. In a brutal ball game, they beat and maim each other, breaking each other's arms. A son of Viking, near death, slays a son of Njorfe. Viking scolds this son and sends him to an island in Lake

Vänern Vänern ( , , ) is the largest lake in Sweden, the largest lake in the European Union and the third-largest lake in Europe after Ladoga and Onega in Russia. It is located in the provinces of Västergötland, Dalsland, and Värmland in the sou ...

. Two more sons go with him, including Thorsten. Viking tells Thorsten to wait quietly on the island until the danger is over. Njorfe's sons want revenge. They use magic to conjure a frost that freezes the lake and travel across it to attack the three sons of Viking. Two of Viking's sons survive: Thorsten and Thorer. Two of Njorfe's sons survive, including his eldest son, Jokul, a sorcerer. Njorfe's sons use magic to discover that Thorsten and Thorer are alive. Viking sends his two sons to the court of Halfdan for safety. Jokul invades

Sogn Sogn is a traditional district in Western Norway (''Vestlandet''). It is located in the county of Vestland, surrounding the Sognefjord, the largest/longest fjord in Norway. The district of Sogn consists of the municipalities of Aurland, Balestra ...

, kills the king, banishes the heir Beli, and places a curse on the king's daughter Ingeborg, causing her to take the shape of a hideous

troll A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human bei ...

. Jokul stirs a tempest which shipwrecks Thorsten twice. Ingeborg (as a troll, under the name Skellinefja) rescues Thorsten and asks him to promise to marry her. With her help, Thorsten returns Beli to the throne of Sogn, and the curse leaves Ingeborg. Thorsten unites with Ingeborg. Fridthiof is their son. Thorsten, Beli, and Angantyr retrieve Viking's stolen magic ship ''Ellida''. Thorsten fights Sote, a ghost pirate in a barrow mound, to get the

magic ring A magic ring is a mythical, folkloric or fictional piece of jewelry, usually a Ring (jewellery), finger ring, that is purported to have Magic (supernatural), supernatural properties or powers. It appears frequently in fantasy and fairy tales. M ...

(forged by Voland). Thorsten, Beli, and Angantyr conquer the Orkney Islands.H.A. Guerber. 1986. ''The Norsemen Myths & Legends''. Avenal Books Thorsten and his son Frithiof inherit the magic sword Angurvadel and the magic ship ''Ellida'' from Viking. Descendants of Thorstein appear in '' Friðþjófs saga ins frœkna'', and in the Starkad section of '' Gautreks saga''.

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References

;editions * ;translations *https://web.archive.org/web/20100617003125/http://www.northvegr.org/sagas%20annd%20epics/legendary%20heroic%20and%20imaginative%20sagas/viking%20tales%20of%20the%20north/001_01.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Thorsteins saga Vikingssonar Works set in the 7th century Legendary sagas Vikings

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See also

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