''Sögubrot af nokkurum fornkonungum í Dana- ok Svíaveldi'' ("Fragment of a Saga about Certain Ancient Kings in Denmark and Sweden", often abbreviated to ''Sögubrot'' or ''Sögubrot af fornkonungum'') is a fragmentary

Old Icelandic Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their ...

text dealing with some legendary Swedish and Danish kings. It is thought to be a part of a younger

redaction Redaction or sanitization is the process of removing sensitive information from a document so that it may be distributed to a broader audience. It is intended to allow the selective disclosure of information. Typically, the result is a document ...

of the lost ''

Skjöldunga saga The ''Skjöldunga saga'' (or, in another standardised Old Norse spelling, ''Skjǫldunga saga'') was an Old Norse legendary saga. Dating from c. 1180 – 1200, the saga was lost in its original form. The saga focused on the Danish dynasty of Sc ...

''. While the older ''Skjöldunga saga'' is believed to have been written at the end of the twelfth century, the younger redaction preserved partly in ''Sögubrot'' is believed to have been written around 1250 by

Óláfr Þórðarson Óláfr Þórðarson (Old Norse: ; Modern Icelandic: ; – 1259) was an Icelandic skald and scholar. He is usually called Óláfr hvítaskáld (O.N.: ; M.I.: ; "Olaf the white skald") in contrast to a contemporary skald called Óláfr Leggsson ...

(aka Olaf Whiteskald). The older ''Skjöldunga saga'' is believed to have been concise and objective, and is therefore considered part of the genre of

Kings' sagas Kings' sagas (, , ) are Old Norse sagas which principally tell of the lives of semi-legendary and legendary (mythological, fictional) Nordic kings, also known as saga kings. They were composed during the twelfth through the fourteenth centuries, ...

, whereas the younger redaction from ''Sögubrot'' was lengthier and more entertaining, and is therefore considered 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 ...

.Annette Lassen (3 June 2016).
A fragment of the younger redaction of the lost Skjöldunga saga
. The Arnamagnæan Institute, University of Copenhagen

Manuscript

''Sögubrot'' survives in a single manuscript, called AM 1 e β I fol., which dates from around 1300. The manuscript consists of six trimmed and damaged leaves from a larger codex, which originally would have included the rest of the younger redaction as well as the '' Knýtlinga saga'' (manuscript AM 20 b I fol., which features a fragment of the ''Knýtlinga saga'', was from the same codex). Two leaves from the middle of the fragment are missing, leading to a lacuna in the story during the reign of

Harald Wartooth Harald Wartooth or ''Harold Hiltertooth'' (Old Norse: ''Haraldr hilditǫnn''; Modern Swedish and Danish: Harald Hildetand; Modern Norwegian: ''Harald Hildetann'')Röreksson was a semi- legendary king of Denmark who is mentioned in several tradit ...

. The headings are

rubric A rubric is a word or section of text that is traditionally written or printed in red ink for emphasis. The word derives from the Latin , meaning red ochre or red chalk, and originates in medieval illuminated manuscripts from the 13th century or ...

ated.

Content

The fragment begins in the middle of the story of Ívarr víðfaðmi, a king of Sweden who wins the realm of

Zealand Zealand ( ) is the largest and most populous islands of Denmark, island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size) at 7,031 km2 (2715 sq. mi.). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 Januar ...

through trickery by playing the co-rulers of Zealand, Helgi and Hrærekr, against each other. Ívarr then commits suicide under strange circumstances while on an invasion of the realm of Ráðbarðr, who had married his daughter Auðr the Deep-Minded without his permission. The fragment then recounts the early life of

but breaks off; it resumes with the arrival of Sigurd Hring, Harald's old age, and the colossal Battle of Brávellir. It breaks off again towards the end of Sigurd's life.

References

External links

The text in the original language
(snerpa.is)
Guðni Jónsson’s edition
(heimskringla.no)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sogubrot Af Nokkrum Fornkonungum Legendary sagas Kings' sagas