''Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka'' (''The Saga of Half & His Heroes'') or ''Hálfssaga'' 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 ...

composed in the early 14th century,The article ''Half'' in ''Nordisk familjebok'' (1909).
/ref> based on a legend that has also been preserved in the Scandinavian medieval ballad '' Stolt Herr Alf''.Mitchell, Stephen A. (1991). ''Heroic Sagas and Ballads'', In the series ''Myth and Poetics''. Cornell University Press. . pp. 177, 183 It is about Halfr (

Proto-Norse Proto-Norse (also called Ancient Nordic; Danish and ; ; ; ) was an Indo-European language spoken in Scandinavia that is thought to have evolved as a northern dialect of Proto-Germanic in the first centuries CE. It is the earliest stage of a c ...

: ''Haþuwolafr'', meaning "battle-wulf") who was one of

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 ...

's most famous legendary sea-kings. His champions had to submit to harsh rules. When Half had spent 18 years of free-booting, he returned to

Hordaland Hordaland () was a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland was the third largest county, after Akershus and Oslo, by population. The county government was the Hordaland County Munici ...

, where Half's stepfather Asmund had ruled in his stead. Asmund invited Halfr and half of his warband to a banquet and swore Halfr his loyalty. However, Asmund put them to the sword or burnt them to death inside his hall. Only two warriors survived and managed to escape, Utsten and Hrok the Black. Utsten and Hrok united with Sölve of Njardey and they avenged Half and the slain warriors. Then they appointed Half's son Hjor to be the king of Hordaland. It is known for its great diversity in content, ranging from

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

to heroic poetry. Some of the poetry is of considerable age suggesting a long time of oral transmission prior to its being put to paper. One of his champions is also mentioned in ''

Hyndluljóð ''Hyndluljóð'' (Old Norse: 'The Lay of Hyndla') is an Old Norse poem often considered a part of the ''Poetic Edda''. It is preserved in its entirety only in ''Flateyjarbók'', but some stanzas are also quoted in the ''Prose Edda'', where they ...

'' (''Instein'').

Notes

External links

The saga in English translation by Tunstall, at NorthvegrThe saga in English translation by Tunstall, at Northvegr
14th-century literature Legendary sagas {{saga-stub