Eadgils

's "Det svenska rikets uppkomst" (1925) (in Swedish). For presentations of the archaeological findings, see e.g. Elisabeth Klingmark's "Gamla Uppsala, Svenska kulturminnen 59", Riksantikvarieämbetet (in Swedish), or [http://www.raa.se/cms/extern/se_och_besoka/sevardheter/ottarshogen.html this English language presentation by the Swedish National Heritage Board] ] "Beowulf" and Old Norse sources present him as the son of Ohthere and as belonging to the ruling Yngling (Scylfing) clan. These sources also deal with his war against Onela, which he won with foreign assistance: in "Beowulf" he gained the throne of Sweden by defeating his uncle Onela with Geatish help, and in two Scandinavian sources ("Skáldskaparmál" and "Skjöldunga saga"), he is also helped to defeat Onela in the Battle on the Ice of Lake Vänern, but with Danish help. However, Scandinavian sources mostly deal with his interaction with the legendary Danish king Hrólfr Kraki (Hroðulf), and Eadgils is mostly presented in a negative light as a rich and greedy king.

Name

The Norse forms are based an older (Proto-Norse) *"Aþagīslaz" (where *"aþa" is short for *"aþala" meaning "noble, foremost" (German 'adel') and *"gīslaz" means "arrow shaft" [cite web|url=http://www.sofi.se/images/NA/pdf/urnord.pdf |title=Lexikon över urnordiska personnamn |last=Peterson |first=Lena |year=2007 |publisher=Swedish Institute for Language and Folklore |pages=p. 23 and 6, respectively(Lexicon of nordic personal names before the 8th century)] ). However, the Anglo-Saxon form is not etymologically identical. The A-S form would have been *"Ædgils", but "Eadgils" (Proto-Norse *"Auða-gīslaz", *"auða-" meaning "wealth") was the only corresponding name used by the Anglo-Saxons [Nerman (1925:104)] . The name Aðils was so exceedingly rare even in Scandinavia that among almost 6000 Scandinavian runic inscriptions, it is only attested in three runestones (U 35, DR 221 and Br Olsen;215) [ [http://www.nordiska.uu.se/forskn/samnord.htm Samnordisk runtextdatabas] sv icon] .

"Beowulf"

The Anglo-Saxon epic poem "Beowulf", which was composed sometime between the 8th century and the 11th century, is beside the Norwegian skaldic poem "Ynglingatal" (9th century) the oldest source that mentions Eadgils.

It is implied in "Beowulf" that the Swedish king Ohthere died and was succeeded by his younger brother Onela, because Ohthere's two sons, Eadgils and Eanmund had to seek refuge with Heardred, Hygelac's son and successor as king of the Geats [Lines 2380-2391] . This caused Onela to attack the Geats, and Heardred was killed. Onela returned home and Beowulf succeeded Heardred as the king of Geatland. In the following lines, Onela is referred to as the "Scylfings helmet" and the "son of Ongenþeow", whereas Eadgils and Eanmund are referred to as the "sons of Ohtere":

This event also appears in the Scandinavian sources "Skáldskaparmál" and "Skjöldunga saga", which will be treated below.

Norwegian and Icelandic sources

The allusive manner in which Eadgils and his relatives are referred to in "Beowulf" suggests that the scop expected his audience to have sufficient background knowledge about Eadgils, Ohthere and Eanmund to understand the references. Likewise, in the roughly contemporary Norwegian "Ynglingatal", Eadgils (Aðils) is called "Onela's enemy" (Ála [Ála is the genitive case of Áli, the Old Norse form of the name Onela (see [http://www.sofi.se/GetDoc?meta_id=1464 Peterson, Lena: "Lexikon över urnordiska personnamn", PDF] )] dólgr), which likewise suggests that the conflict was familiar to the skald and his audience.

The tradition of Eadgils and Onela resurfaces in several Old Norse works in prose and poetry, and another matter also appears: the animosity between Eadgils and Hrólfr Kraki, who corresponds to Hroðulf in "Beowulf".

"Ynglingatal"

The skaldic poem "Ynglingatal" is a poetic recital of the line of the Yngling clan. They are also called "Skilfingar" in the poem (in stanza 19), a name that appears in its Anglo-Saxon form "Scylfingas" in "Beowulf" when referring to Eadgils' clan. It is presented as composed by Þjóðólfr of Hvinir by Snorri Sturluson in the "Ynglinga saga".

Although its age has been debated, most scholars hold to date from the 9th century [ [http://www.vxu.se/hum/publ/humanetten/nummer15/art0406.html Hägerdal, Hans: Ynglingatal. Nya perspektiv på en kanske gammal text] ] . It survives in two versions: one is found in the Norwegian historical work "Historia Norvegiæ" in Latin, and the other one in Snorri Sturluson's "Ynglinga saga", a part of his "Heimskringla". It presents Aðils (Eadgils) as the successor of Óttarr (Ohthere) and the predecessor of Eysteinn. The stanza on Aðils refers to his accidental death when he fell from his horse:

This is a reference to the Battle on the Ice of Lake Vänern, during which Eadgils slew Onela and which also appears in the "Skjöldunga saga". There is also second stanza, where Eadgils is riding his horse Slöngvir, apparently a combination famous enough to be mentioned.

Eadgils' horse Slöngvir also appears in Snorri's later work, the "Ynglinga saga".

Snorri also presents the story of Aðils and Hrólfr Kraki (Hroðulf) in order to explain why gold was known by the kenning "Kraki's seed". Snorri relates that Aðils was in war with a Norwegian king named Áli (Onela), and they fought in the Battle on the Ice of Lake Vänern. Aðils was married to Yrsa, the mother of Hrólfr and so sent an embassy to Hrólfr asking him for help against Áli. He would receive three valuable gifts in recompense. Hrólfr was involved in a war against the Saxons and could not come in person but sent his twelve berserkers, including Böðvarr Bjarki. Áli died in the war, and Aðils took Áli's helmet "Battle-boar" and his horse Raven. The berserkers demanded three pounds of gold each in pay, and they demanded to choose the gifts that Aðils had promised Hrólfr, that is the two pieces of armour that nothing could pierce: the helmet battle-boar and the mailcoat "Finn's heritage". They also wanted the famous ring Svíagris. Aðils considered the pay outrageous and refused.

When Hrólfr heard that Aðils refused to pay, he set off to Uppsala. They brought the ships to the river Fyris and rode directly to the Swedish king's hall at Uppsala with his twelve berserkers. Yrsa welcomed them and led them to their lodgings. Fires were prepared for them and they were given drinks. However, so much wood was heaped on the fires that the clothes started to burn away from their clothes. Hrólfr and his men had enough and threw the courtiers on the fire. Yrsa arrived and gave them a horn full of gold, the ring Svíagris and asked them to flee. As they rode over the Fyrisvellir, they saw Aðils and his men pursuing them. The fleeing men threw the gold on the plain so that the pursuers would stop to collect it. Aðils, however, continued the chase on his horse Slöngvir. Hrólfr then threw Svíagris and saw how Aðils stooped down to pick up the ring with his spear. Hrólfr exclaimed that he had seen the mightiest man in Sweden bend his back.

"Ynglinga saga"

The "Ynglinga saga" was written c. 1225 by Snorri Sturluson and he used "Skjöldunga saga" as a source when he told the story of Aðils [Nerman (1925:103)] . Snorri relates that Aðils succeeded his father Óttar (Ohthere) and betook himself to pillage the Saxons, whose king was Geirþjófr and queen Alof the Great. The king and consort were not at home, and so Aðils and his men plundered their residence at ease driving cattle and captives down to the ships. One of the captives was a remarkably beautiful girl named Yrsa, and Snorri writes that everyone was soon impressed with the well-mannered, pretty and intelligent girl. Most impressed was Aðils who made her his queen.

Some years later, Helgi (Halga), who ruled in Lejre, attacked Sweden and captured Yrsa. As he did not know that Yrsa was his own daughter, he raped her, and took her back to Lejre, where she bore him the son Hrólfr kraki. When the boy was three years of age, Yrsa's mother, queen Alof of Saxony, came to visit her and told her that her husband Helgi was her own father. Horrified, Yrsa returned to Aðils, leaving her son behind, and stayed in Sweden for the rest of her life. When Hrólfr was eight years old, Helgi died during a war expedition and Hrólf was proclaimed king.

Aðils waged a war against king Áli (Onela of Oppland, and they fought in the Battle on the Ice of Lake Vänern. Áli died in this battle. Snorri writes that there was a long account of this battle in the "Skjöldunga Saga", which also contained an account of how Hrólf came to Uppsala and sowed gold on the Fyrisvellir.Snorri also relates that Aðils loved good horses and had the best horses in his days (interestingly, the contemporary Gothic scholar Jordanes noted that the Swedes were famed for their good horses). One horse was named "Slöngvi" and another one "Raven", which he had taken from Áli. From this horse he had bred a horse also named "Raven" which he sent to king Godgest of Hålogaland, but Godgest could not manage it and fell from it and died, in Omd on the island of Andøya. Aðils himself died in a similar way at the Dísablót. Aðils was riding around the Disa shrine when Raven stumbled and fell, and the king was thrown forward and hit his skull on a stone. The Swedes called him a great king and buried him at Uppsala. He was succeeded by Eysteinn.

"Hrólfr Kraki's saga"

"Hrólfr Kraki's saga" is believed to have been written in the period c. 1230 - c. 1450 [ [http://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=13133 Literary Encyclopedia entry] ] . Helgi and Yrsa lived happily together as husband and wife, not knowing that Yrsa was Helgi's daughter. Yrsa's mother queen Oluf travelled to Denmark to tell her daughter the truth. Yrsa was shocked and although Helgi wanted their relationship to remain as it was, Yrsa insisted on leaving him to live alone. She was later taken by the Swedish king Aðils as his queen, which made Helgi even more unhappy. Helgi went to Uppsala to fetch her, but was killed by Aðils in battle. In Lejre, he was succeeded by his son Hrólfr Kraki.

After some time, Böðvarr Bjarki encouraged Hrólfr to go Uppsala to claim the gold that Aðils had taken from Helgi after the battle. Hrólfr departed with 120 men and his twelve beserkers and during a rest they were tested by a farmer called Hrani (Odin in disguise) who advised Hrólfr to send back all his troops but his twelve beserkers, as numbers would not help him against Aðils.

They were at first well received, but in his hall, Aðils did his best to stop Hrólfr with pit traps and hidden warriors who attacked the Danes. Finally Aðils entertained them but put them to a test where they had to endure immense heat by a fire. Hrólfr and his beserkers finally had enough and threw the courtiers, who were feeding the fire, into the fire and lept at Aðils. The Swedish king disappeared through a hollow tree trunk that stood in his hall.

Yrsa admonished Aðils for wanting to kill her son, and went to meet the Danes. She gave them a man named Vöggr to entertain them. This Vöggr remarked that Hrólfr had the thin face of a pole ladder, a "Kraki". Happy with his new cognomen Hrólfr gave Vöggr a golden ring, and Vöggr swore to avenge Hrólfr if anyone should kill him. Hrólfr and his company were then attacked by a troll in the shape of a boar in the service of Aðils, but Hrólfr's dog Gram killed it.

They then found out that Aðils had set the hall on fire, and so they broke out of the hall, only to find themselves surrounded by heavily armed warriors in the street. After a fight, king Aðils retreated to summon reinforcements.

Yrsa then provided her son with a silver drinking horn filled with gold and jewels and a famous ring, Svíagris. Then she gave Hrólf and his men twelve of the Swedish king's best horses, and all the armour and provisions they needed.

Hrólfr took a fond farewell of his mother and departed over the Fyrisvellir. When they saw Aðils and his warriors in pursuit, they spread the gold behind themselves. Aðils saw his precious Svíagris on the ground and stooped to pick it up with his spear, whereupon Hrólf cut his back with his sword and screamed in triumph that he had bent the back of the most powerful man in Sweden.

Danish sources

"Chronicon Lethrense" and "Annales Lundenses"

The "Chronicon Lethrense" (and the included "Annales Lundenses") tell that when the Danish kings Helghe (Halga) and Ro (Hroðgar) were dead, the Swedish king Hakon/Athisl ["Hakon" according to "Chronicon Lethrense" proper, "Athisl" according to the included "Annals of Lund"] forced the Daner to accept a dog as king. The dog king was succeeded by Rolf Krage (Hrólfr Kraki).

"Gesta Danorum"

The "Gesta Danorum" (book 2), by Saxo Grammaticus, tells that Helgo (Halga) repelled a Swedish invasion, killed the Swedish king Hothbrodd, and made the Swedes pay tribute. However, he committed suicide due to shame for his incestuous relationship with Urse (Yrsa), and his son Roluo (Hrólfr Kraki) succeeded him.

The new king of Sweden, Athislus, thought that the tribute to the Daner might be smaller if he married the Danish king's mother and so took Urse for a queen. However, after some time, Urse was so upset with the Swedish king's greediness that she thought out a ruse to run away from the king and at the same time liberate him of his wealth. She encited Athislus to rebell against Roluo, and arranged so that Roluo would be invited and promised a wealth in gifts.

At the banquet Roluo was at first not recognised by his mother, but when their fondness was commented on by Athisl, the Swedish king and Roluo made a wager where Roluo would prove his endurance. Roluo was placed in front of a fire that exposed him to such heat that finally a maiden could suffer the sight no more and extinguished the fire. Roluo was greatly recompensed by Athisl for his endurance.

When the banquet had lasted for three days, Urse and Roluo escaped from Uppsala, early in the morning in carriages where they had put all the Swedish king's treasure. In order to lessen their burden, and to occupy any pursuing warriors they spread gold in their path (later in the work, this is referred to as "sowing the Fyrisvellir"), although there was a rumour that she only spread gilded copper. When Athislus, who was pursuing the escapers saw that a precious ring was lying on the ground, he bent down to pick it up. Roluo was pleased to see the king of Sweden bent down, and escaped in the ships with his mother.

Roluo later defeated Athislus and gave Sweden to young man named Hiartuar (Heoroweard), who also married Roluo's sister Skulde. When Athislus learnt that Hiartuar and Skulde had killed Roluo, he celebrated the occasion, but he drank so much that he killed himself.

Archaeology

in the 6th century.

Snorri's account that Adils had the best horses of his days, and Jordanes' account that the Swedes of the 6th century were famed for their horses find support in archaeology. This time was the beginning of the Vendel Age, a time characterised by the appearance of stirrups and a powerful mounted warrior elite in Sweden, which rich graves in for instance Valsgärde and Vendel.

Notes

Bibliography and external links

* English translations of the Old Norse "Hrólfs saga kraka ok kappa hans" :
** "The Saga of Hrolf Kraki and his Champions". Trans. Peter Tunstall (2003). Available at [http://freespace.virgin.net/o.e/egd/Hrolf.html Norse saga: The Saga of Hrolf Kraki] and [http://www.northvegr.org/lore/oldheathen/034.php Northvegr: The Saga of Hrolf Kraki] .
** "The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki". Trans. Jesse L. Byock (1998). London: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-043593-X. Selection from this translation are available at [http://www.viking.ucla.edu/hrolf/maincontents.html The Viking Site: Excerpts from "The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki"] .
** "King Hrolf and his champions" included in "Eirik the Red: And Other Icelandic Sagas". Trans. Gwyn Jones (1961). Oxford: Oxford World's Classics, Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-283530-0.
* Original texts:
** [http://www.heimskringla.no/original/fornaldersagaene/hrolfsagakraka.php Hrólfs saga kraka ok kappa hans in Old Norse from heimskringla.no]
** [http://server.fhp.uoregon.edu/IRE/Document.ire/Norse/html/0201i.html University of Oregon: Norse: Fornaldarsögur norðurlanda: Hrólfs saga kraka ok kappa hans]
** [http://saga.library.cornell.edu/saganet/?MIval=/ManuscriptSagasB&language=english&STitle=Hr%F3lfs%20saga%20kraka Sagnanet: Hrólfs saga kraka]
* Anderson, Poul (1973). "Hrolf Kraki's Saga". New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-23562-2. New York: Del Rey Books. ISBN 0-345-25846-0. Reprinted 1988 by Baen Books, ISBN 0-671-65426-8.
* [http://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=13133 Literary Encyclopedia entry]
*Birger Nerman, 1925, "Det svenska rikets uppkomst" (in Swedish)
*"Beowulf":
* [http://www.engl.virginia.edu/OE/Beowulf.Readings/Beowulf.Readings.html Beowulf read aloud in Old English]
** " [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/981 Modern English translation] " by Francis Barton Gummere
** " [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/16328 Modern English translation] " by John Lesslie Hall
** [http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/Literature.RinglBeowulf Ringler, Dick. "Beowulf: A New Translation For Oral Delivery"] , May 2005. Searchable text with full audio available, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries.
** [http://alliteration.net/beoIndex.htm Several different Modern English translations]
*"Chronicon Lethrense" and "Annales Lundense":
** [http://www.oe.eclipse.co.uk/nom/lejre.html "Chronicon Lethrense" and "Annales Lundense" in translation by Peter Tunstall]
** [http://www.northvegr.org/lore/oldheathen/048.php The same translation at Northvegr]
* [http://omacl.org/DanishHistory/book2.html Book 2 of "Gesta Danorum" at the Online and Medieval & Classical library]
* [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/14878 "The Relation of the Hrolfs Saga Kraka and the Bjarkarimur to Beowulf" by Olson, 1916, at Project Gutenberg]
* [http://www.northvegr.org/lore/heim/001_06.php the "Ynglinga saga" in translation by Samuel Laing, 1844, at Northvegr]
* [http://www.northvegr.org/lore/poetic2/042.php The "Gróttasöngr" in Thorpe's translation]
*Skáldskaparmál:
** [http://www.heimskringla.no/original/snorre/index.php Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda in the original language]
** [http://www.cybersamurai.net/Mythology/nordic_gods/LegendsSagas/Edda/ProseEdda/ContentsEnglish.htm#skaldse CyberSamurai Encyclopedia of Norse Mythology: Prose Edda - Skáldskaparmál (English)]
** [http://www.cybersamurai.net/Mythology/nordic_gods/LegendsSagas/Edda/ProseEdda/ContentsIcelandic.htm#skaldse CyberSamurai Encyclopedia of Norse Mythology: Prose Edda - Skáldskaparmál (Old Norse)]
*Krag, C. Ynglingatal og Ynglingesaga: en studie i historiske kilder (Oslo 1991).
*Sundquist, O. "Freyr"s offspring. Rulers and religion in ancient Svea society". (2004)