Hroðgar,
Hrothgar,
Hróarr,
Hroar,
Roar,
Roas or
Ro was a
legendary Danish king, living
in the early 6th century.
A Danish king Hroðgar appears in the
Anglo-Saxon epic
Beowulf and
Widsith, and also in
Norse sagas, Norse poems, and medieval Danish
chronicles. In both Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian tradition, Hroðgar
is a
Scylding, the son of
Healfdene, the brother of
Halga, and the uncle of
Hroðulf. Moreover, in both traditions, the
mentioned characters were the contemporaries of the Swedish king
Eadgils; and both traditions also mention a
feud with men named
Froda and
Ingeld. The consensus view is that Anglo-Saxon and
Scandinavian traditions describe the same person.
Names
Hroðgar,
Healfdene, and other names used above
are Anglo-Saxon forms. In non-Anglo-Saxon sources, the names of all
these characters appear in more or less corresponding
Old Icelandic,
Old
Danish, or Latinized versions. Hroðgar's name would in
Proto-Norse have been *
Hrōþigaizaz
(famous
spear, i.e.
Roger). It should be noted, however, that the
corresponding Old Norse name
Hróarr and its variations are
not derived from *
Hrōþigaizaz, but from the very close
names *
Hrōþiwarjaz (famous defender) or
*
Hrōþiharjaz (famous warrior). However, these two names
which resulted in
Hróarr in Scandinavia, did not have any
corresponding Anglo-Saxon form, and so
Hroðgar was their
closest equivalent.
Anglo-Saxon poems
Hroðgar appears in two
Anglo-Saxon poems,
Beowulf and
Widsith.
Beowulf gives the fuller
account of Hroðgar and how the
Geatish hero
Beowulf visited him to free his
people of the trollish creature
Grendel.
Widsith only mentions Hroðgar,
Heorot, his nephew
Hroðulf and their enemy
Ingeld, but can complete
Beowulf in some
cases where
Beowulf does not give enough information. This
is notably the case concerning the ending of his feud with
Ingeld.
Beowulf
In the
epic poem Beowulf, Hroðgar is mentioned as the builder of
the great hall Heorot, and ruler of Denmark
when the
Geatish hero Beowulf arrives to defeat the monster
Grendel.
When Hroðgar is first introduced in
Beowulf, it is
explained that he was the second of four children of King
Healfdene: he had an older brother,
Heorogar, who was king before him; a younger
brother
Halga; and a sister, who was married
to the king of Sweden. The sister is not named in the manuscript
and most scholars agree this is a scribal error, but suggested
names are Signy and
Yrsa.
The poem further tells that Hroðgar was "given victory in war" and
so his kinsmen eagerly followed him. He is both honest and
generous: "He broke no oaths, dealt out rings, treasures at his
table". When Beowulf leads his men to Denmark, he speaks of Hroðgar
to both a coast-guard and to Hroðgar's herald: he calls Hroðgar a
"famed king", "famed warrior", and "protector of the
Scyldings" (the ruling
clan), and describes him as "old and good." The
poet emphasizes that the Danes "did not find fault" with Hroðgar,
"for that was a good King". When Beowulf defeats Grendel, Hroðgar
rewards Beowulf and his men with great treasures, showing his
gratitude and open-handedness. The poet says that Hroðgar is so
generous that "no man could fault him, who wished to speak the
truth."
Hroðgar was married to a woman named
Wealhþeow, who was a
Helming, probably defining her as a relative of
Helm, the ruler of the
Wulfings. When
Hroðgar welcomes Beowulf, he recalls his friendship with Beowulf's
family. He met Beowulf's father
Ecgþeow
"when I first ruled the Danes" after the death of Heorogar; he
laments Heorogar's fall ("He was better than I!") and recalls how
he settled Ecgþeow's
blood feud with the
Wulfings. Hroðgar thanks God for Beowulf's
arrival and victory over Grendel, and swears to love Beowulf like a
son.
The poem introduces
Hroðulf (
Hrólfr Kraki in Scandinavian sources) as
Hroðgar's supporter and right-hand man; and we learn that Hroðulf
is Hroðgar's nephew and that "each was true to the other". The
common piece of information that Hroðgar's younger brother
Halga is Hroðulf's father comes from Scandinavian
sources (see below), where Halga was unaware that
Yrsa was his own daughter and either raped or seduced
her. Yrsa herself was tragically also the result of Halga raping a
woman.
Wealhþeow has borne Hroðgar two sons,
Hreðric and
Hroðmund, and Hroðulf is to be regent if
Hroðgar dies before his sons are grown. (Since Hroðgar is an old
man at this time—he tells Beowulf he has been king for "fifty
winters"—and Wealhþeow's two sons are not yet grown, it seems
likely that Wealhþeow is much younger than Hroðgar, and may not be
his first wife.)
Hroðgar is plunged into gloom and near-despair after
Grendel's mother attacks the hall and kills
Hroðgar's best friend and closest advisor; but when Beowulf advises
him not to despair, and that "it is better to avenge our friends
than to mourn overmuch", Hroðgar leaps to his feet and thanks God
for Beowulf's wise words, and leads the Danes and Geats out to
attack the small lake (
mere) where Grendel's
mother lives.
After Beowulf defeats Grendel's mother, Hroðgar rewards him again,
and then preaches a sermon in which he warns Beowulf to beware of
arrogance and forgetfulness of God.
Beowulf takes his leave of Hroðgar to return home, and Hroðgar
embraces him and weeps that they will not meet again (because
Hroðgar is a very old man). This is Hroðgar's last appearance in
the poem.
When Beowulf reports on his adventure to his lord
Hygelac, he mentions that Hroðgar also had a
daughter,
Freawaru; it is not clear whether
Freawaru was also the daughter of Wealhþeow or was born of an
earlier marriage. Since the Danes were in conflict with the
Heaðobards, whose king
Froda had been killed in a war with the Danes, Hroðgar
sent Freawaru to marry Froda's son
Ingeld, in
an unsuccessful attempt to end the feud.
Beowulf predicts to Hygelac that Ingeld will turn against his
father-in-law Hroðgar. Earlier in the poem, the poet tells us that
the hall Heorot was eventually destroyed by fire, see quote
(Gummere's translation):
- Sele hlīfade
- hēah and horn-gēap: heaðo-wylma bād,
- lāðan līges; ne wæs hit lenge þā gēn
- þæt se ecg-hete āðum-swerian
- æfter wæl-nīðe wæcnan scolde.
|
- ....there towered the hall,
- high, gabled wide, the hot surge waiting
- of furious flame. Nor far was that day
- when father and son-in-law stood in feud
- for warfare and hatred that woke again.
|
|
It is tempting to interpret the new war with Ingeld as leading to
the burning of the hall of Heorot, but the poem separates the two
events (by a
ne wæs hit lenge þā meaning "nor far way was
that day when", in Gummere's translation). According to
Widsith (see below), Hroðgar and Hroðulf defeat Ingeld,
and if Scandinavian tradition (see the more detailed discussion
below) is to be trusted Hroðgar himself is killed by a relative, or
by the king of Sweden, but he is avenged by his younger brother
Halga. Halga dies in a Viking expedition; Hroðulf succeeds him and
rises in fame, and according to Hroðulf's own saga and other
sources, Hroðulf's cousin and/or brother-in-law
Heoroweard slays Hroðulf (is this the event
referred to as the burning of Heorot?). Heoroweard himself dies in
that battle, and according to two sources, this happens only a few
hours later, as an act of vengeance by a man loyal to Hroðulf,
called Wigg. This is the kin-slaying end of the Scylding
dynasty.
Widsith
Whereas
Beowulf never dwells on the outcome of the battle
with Ingeld, the possibly older poem
Widsith refers to Hroðgar and Hroðulf defeating
Ingeld at
Heorot:
- Hroþwulf ond Hroðgar heoldon lengest
- sibbe ætsomne suhtorfædran,
- siþþan hy forwræcon wicinga cynn
- ond Ingeldes ord forbigdan,
- forheowan æt Heorote Heaðobeardna þrym.
|
- Hroðulf and Hroðgar held the
longest
- peace together, uncle and nephew,
- since they repulsed the Viking-kin
- hewn at Heorot Heaðobard's army.
- and Ingeld to the spear-point made
bow,
|
|
This piece suggests that the conflict between the Scyldings Hroðgar
and Hroðulf on one side, and the Heaðobards Froda and Ingeld on the
other, was well-known in Anglo-Saxon England. This conflict also
appears in Scandinavian sources, but in the Norse tradition the
Heaðobards had apparently been forgotten and the conflict is
instead rendered as a family feud (see
Gesta Danorum,
Hrólf Kraki's
saga and
Skjöldunga
saga, below, for more information). The Norse sources also
deal with the defeat of Ingeld and/or Froda.
Scandinavian sources
In the Scandinavian sources, consisting of Norse sagas, Icelandic poems and Danish chronicles, Hroðgar also appears as a Danish king of the Scylding dynasty. He remains the son of Healfdene and the elder brother of Halga. Moreover, he is still the uncle of Hroðulf. The Scandinavian sources also agree with Beowulf by making Hroðgar contemporary with the Swedish king Eadgils. These agreements with Beowulf are remarkable considering the fact that these sources were composed from oral tradition 700 to 800 years after the events described, and 300 to 400 years later than Beowulf and Widsith.
There are also notable differences. The
Heaðobards Ingeld and
Froda also appear in Scandinavian tradition,
but their tribe, the
Heaðobards, had
long been forgotten, and instead the tribal feud was rendered as a
family feud. Their relationship as father and son had also been
reversed in some sources, and so either Ingeld or Froda is given as
the brother of Healfdene. Ingeld or Froda murdered Healfdene, but
was himself killed in revenge by Hroðgar and Halga. Moreover, in
Scandinavian tradition, Hroðgar is a minor character in comparison
to his nephew Hroðulf. Such differences indicate that
Beowulf and Scandinavian sources represent separate
traditions.
The names of Hroðgar and others appear in the form they had in
Old Icelandic or Latinized
Old Danish at the time the stories were put to
paper, and not in their
Old English, or
more "authentic"
Proto-Norse
forms.
It has been the matter of some debate whether the hero
Beowulf could have the same origin as
Hroðulf's
berserker Böðvarr Bjarki, who appears in
Scandinavian sources.
Among
these sources, it is the most famous one, the Hrólfr Kraki's saga which is
most different from Beowulf, and a notable difference is
that Hroðgar leaves the rule of Denmark to his younger brother
Halga and moves to Northumbria
. The focus is consequently on the
Hrólfr
Kraki's saga when a scholar questions the comparison of
Hroðgar and other characters from
Beowulf with
counterparts in Scandinavian tradition. Scandinavian sources have
added some information that appear in
Beowulf studies,
without having any founding in the work itself, such as the
information that Halga was, or probably was, Hroðulf's father.
Another example is the existence of a woman named
Yrsa, who, however, has been transposed to a role she
never had in any source texts, that of Hroðgar's sister.
Norse sagas and poems
In Icelandic sources, Hroðgar, Halga and Hroðulf appear under the
Old Icelandic forms of their names;
that is, as
Hróarr,
Helgi and
Hrólfr,
the last one with the epithet
Kraki. In the case of the
Skjöldunga saga ("Saga of the Scyldings") only a Latin
summary has survived, and so their names are Latinized. The
Icelandic sources can be divided into two groups: the
Hrólfr
Kraki's saga on the one hand, and the
Skjöldunga saga
and
Bjarkarímur on the other. Both groups tell a version
of Hroðgar and Halga's feud with Froda (Fróði) and Ingeld
(Ingjaldr). However, whereas the
Hrólfr Kraki's saga make
Froda the brother of Healfdene, the
Skjöldunga saga and
Bjarkarímur make Ingeld the brother of Healfdene.
Hrólfr
Kraki's saga also disagrees with all the other works by moving
Hroðgar from the throne of Denmark to Northumbria.
Hrólfr Kraki's saga
Hrólfr Kraki's saga
relates that Halfdan has three children,
Hróarr,
Helgi, and the daughter Signý, who is married to Sævil Jarl.
Halfdan has a brother named
Fróði
and both of them rule a kingdom, but Halfdan is good-natured and
friendly, whereas Fróði is savage. Fróði attacks and kills Halfdan
and makes himself the king of a united Denmark. He then sets out to
neutralize his nephews Hróarr and Helgi. However, the two brothers
survive on an island, protected by a man called Vivil; and after
some adventure they avenge their father by killing Fróði.
Hróarr is presented as "meek and blithe", and he is completely
removed from ruling the kingdom, leaving the rule to his brother
Helgi.
Instead he joins Norðri, the king of Northumberland
, where he marries Ögn, the king's daughter.
As recompense for Hróarr's share of the Danish kingdom, Helgi gives
him a golden ring.
Sævil Jarl's son Hrókr (Hróarr and Helgi's nephew) becomes jealous
that he has not inherited anything from his grandfather Halfdan; he
goes to his uncle Helgi to claim his inheritance. Helgi refuses to
give him a third of Denmark, and so instead he goes to Northumbria
to claim the golden ring. He asks Hróarr if he at least could have
a look at the ring, whereupon he takes the ring and throws it into
the water. Hróarr naturally becomes angry, and cuts off Hrókr's
feet and sends him back to his ships. Hrókr cannot live with this,
and so he returns with a large army and slays Hróarr. Helgi avenges
his brother by also cutting off Hrókr's arms. Hróarr's son Agnar
retrieves the ring by diving in the water, which gives him great
glory. Agnar is said to have become greater than his father, and
much talked of in the old sagas.
Helgi attacks Sweden to retrieve Yrsa, his daughter and lover, but
is killed by Aðils, the king of Sweden. He is succeeded by Hrólfr
Kraki, his son by Yrsa.
Although it agrees with all the other Scandinavian sources in
telling the story of Halga's incestuous relationship with his
daughter Yrsa, it disagrees with all of them and with
Beowulf by removing Hroðgar altogether as the king of
Denmark.
Instead, his place is taken by his brother
Halga, and Hroðgar is sent to Northumberland, where he marries Ögn, the daughter of a positively
fictive king Norðri who is named after Northumberland
(Norðimbraland). Opinion is divided on whether
there is any connection between Hroðgar's wife
Wealhþeow in
Beowulf and his wife
Ögn in
Hrólfr Kraki's saga; it has been suggested that Ögn
shows that Wealhþeow and her family (the Helmings) were
Anglo-Saxon. Another difference is the fact that Hroðgar's sons
Hreðric and Hroðmund
do not appear in the Scandinavian tradition, but correspond to
Agnar, in
Hrólfr Kraki's saga.
Skjöldunga saga and Bjarkarímur
The
Skjöldunga saga
and
Bjarkarímur tell a
similar version to that of the
Hrólfr Kraki's saga, but
with several striking differences.
Ingeld
(Ingjaldus) of
Beowulf reappears, but it is Ingeld who is
the father of Froda (Frodo), and unlike in
Hrólf Kraki's
saga, Ingeld takes Froda's place as the half-brother of
Healfdene (Haldan).
The sources relate that Haldan has a half-brother named Ingjaldus
and a queen Sigrith with whom he has three children: the sons
Roas and Helgo and the daughter Signy.
Ingjaldus is jealous of his half-brother Haldan and so he attacks
and kills him, and then marries Sigrith. Ingjaldus and Sigrith then
have two sons named Rærecus and Frodo.
Their half-sister
Signy stays with her mother until she is married to Sævil, the
jarl of Zealand
.
Ingjaldus, who is worried that his nephews will want revenge, tries
to find them and kill them, but Roas and Helgo survive by hiding on
an island near
Skåne. When they are old
enough, they avenge their father by killing Ingjaldus.
The two brothers both become kings of Denmark, and Roas marries the
daughter of the king of England. When Helgo's son Rolfo (whom Helgo
begat with his own daughter Yrsa) is eight years old, Helgo dies
and Rolfo succeeds him. Not much later, Roas is killed by his
half-brothers Rærecus and Frodo, whereupon Rolfo becomes the sole
king of Denmark.
This version agrees with all other versions of the legend of
Hroðgar (Roas) and Halga (Helgo) by making them sons of Healfdene
(Haldan) and by presenting Hroðgar as the uncle of Hroðulf (Rolfo).
It agrees with
Beowulf and
Hrólfr Kraki's saga by
mentioning that they had a sister, and by dealing with their feud
with
Froda (Frodo) and
Ingeld (Ingjaldus), although there is a role reversal
by making Ingeld the father of Froda instead of the other way
round. It agrees with the other Scandinavian versions by treating
Halga's incestuous relationship with his own daughter Yrsa.
Moreover, it agrees with all other versions, except for
Hrólfr
Kraki's saga, by presenting Hroðgar as a king of Denmark,
although it agrees with
Hrólfr Kraki's saga by marrying
Hroðgar to an Anglo-Saxon woman. Another agreement with
Hrólfr
Kraki's saga is the information that their sister was married
to a Sævil Jarl, and that they had to hide on an island fleeing
their kin-slaying uncle, before they could kill him and avenge
their father.
Hversu Noregr byggdist
The
Old Norse genealogy work
Hversu Noregr byggdist tells
that
Hróarr had a son named
Valdar, the father of
Harald the Old, the father of
Halfdan the Valiant, the father of
Ivar Vidfamne, who was the maternal
grandfather of
Harald Wartooth.
Harald
fell at the Battle of the Brávellir
against his nephew Sigurd
Ring, a king of Sweden and the father of Ragnar Lodbrok.
This account is not about presenting the life of Hroðgar, but in
presenting how
Harald Fairhair was
descended from kings and heroes in Scandinavian legend. The only
reason for assuming that
Hróarr is the same as Hroðgar,
the Scylding, is the fact that only Hroðgar would be a personage of
old so famous so as not to need any further identification than his
name. However, the
Skjöldunga
saga tells that a Valdar disputed that
Rörek, the cousin of
Halga
succeeded Hroðulf (Hrólfr Kraki) as the king of the
Daner.
After the war, Rörek took Zealand, while
Valdar took Skåne. If based on the
same tradition as
Hversu Noregr byggdist, Valdar had the
right to claim the throne being the son of the former king
Hroðgar.
Danish medieval chronicles
In the
Chronicon
Lethrense,
Annales
Lundenses and
Gesta
Danorum (12th century works of Danish history, written in
Latin), King Hroðgar is mentioned by the
Old
Danish form of the name
Ro or
Roe. His father
Healfdene appears as
Haldan or
Haldanus, while his brother
Halga
appears as
Helghe or
Helgo.
Hroðulf appears with an epithet as
Roluo
Krage or
Rolf Krage. Their Swedish enemy, King
Eadgils, appears as
Athislus or
Athisl (the
Chronicon Lethrense calls him
Hakon.)
The only Danish work that retains traditions of the feud with
Ingeld and Froda is the
Gesta Danorum.
Chronicon Lethrense and Annales
Lundenses
The
Chronicon Lethrense
and the included
Annales
Lundenses report that
Ro and Helghe were
the sons of Haldan, who died of old age. The two brothers shared
the rule, Ro taking the land and Helghe the water.
They also tell that Ro
founded and gave his name to the market town of Roskilde
and that he
was buried in Lejre
.
However, before Ro's nephew Rolf Krage (Hroðulf), who was Helghe's
son by his own daughter
Yrse, could ascend the
throne, the rule of Denmark was given to a dog, on the orders of
the Swedish king Hakon/Athisl (that is,
Eadgils).
The
Chronicon Lethrense and the
Annales Lundenses
agree with
Beowulf in presenting Hroðgar (Ro) and his
brother Halga (Helghe) as the sons of Healfdene (Haldan). They do
not, however, contain a character description as
Beowulf
does; nor do they mention his spouse or his children. However, they
introduce a sharing of power between Hroðgar and Halga where Halga
only had power over the fleet. It is interesting to note that
Hroðgar is reported as founding the town of Roskilde, which
coincides with the information in
Beowulf that he built
Heorot. The information that Hroðulf (Rolf) was the result of an
incestuous relationship between Halga and his daughter Yrse only
appears in Scandinavian tradition. Like
Beowulf, the
Annales Lundenses makes Hroðgar the contemporary of
Eadgils (Athisl), whereas the
Chronicon
Lethrense calls the Swedish king
Hakon.
Gesta Danorum
The
Gesta Danorum (book 2),
by
Saxo Grammaticus, contains
roughly the same information as
Beowulf, the
Chronicon
Lethrense and the
Annales Lundenses: that is, that
Ro was the son of Haldanus and the brother of
Helgo, and the uncle of his successor Roluo Krage (Hroðulf).
It is
only said about Ro that he was "short and spare", that he founded
the town of Roskilde, and that when their father Haldanus died of old
age, he shared the rule of the kingdom with his brother Helgo, Ro
taking the land and Helgo the water.
Ro could not defend his kingdom against the Swedish king
Hothbrodd, who was not happy with warring in the
East but wished to test his strength against the Danes (
Oliver Elton's translation):
Ro was, however, avenged by his brother Helgo, who then promptly
went east and died in shame (because he discovered that he had
fathered Roluo Krake with his own daughter
Urse.) Roluo succeeded his father and uncle to the
Danish throne.
The
Gesta Danorum also agrees with
Beowulf in
presenting Hroðgar (Ro) and Halga (Helgo) as brothers and the sons
of Healfdene (Haldanus). Moroever, like the
Chronicon
Lethrense and the
Annales Lundenses, it presents
Hroðulf (Roluo) as the son of Halga and his own daughter. A
striking difference is that the Swedish king
Eadgils (Athisl) is pushed forward a generation, and
instead Saxo introduces Hroðgar's killer
Hothbrodd as the father of Eadgils, a place that
other sources give to
Ohthere. A similar
piece of information is also found in the
Chronicon
Lethrense and the
Annales Lundenses, where Halga had
to kill a man named Hodbrod to win all of Denmark. However, Saxo
also adds the god
Höðr as the brother
of
Eadgils in order to present a
euhemerized version of the
Baldr myth, later.
The tradition of the feud with the
Heaðobards Ingeld and Froda appears twice in
the
Gesta Danorum. The first time it tells of the feud is
Book 2, where Ingeld (called
Ingild) appears with the son
Agnar. In this version, Ingeld's son was about to marry Hroðulf's
sister Rute, but a fight broke out and Agnar died in a duel with
Böðvarr Bjarki (called
Biarco).
The second time it tells of Froda and Ingeld is in Book 7, but here
Hroðgar is replaced by a
Harald and Halga by a
Haldanus. It is the Scandinavian version of the feud,
similar to the one told in the
Skjöldunga saga,
Bjarkarímur and
Hrólfr Kraki's saga, where the
Heaðobards are forgotten and the feud with Froda and Ingeld has
become a family feud. The main plot is that Ingeld had the sons
Frodo (Froda) and Harald (corresponds to Healfdene). The
relationship between Ingeld and Froda was thus reversed, a reversal
also found in the
Skjöldunga saga and in the
Bjarkarímur. Froda killed his brother and tried to get rid
of his nephews Harald (corresponds to Hroðgar) and Haldanus
(corresponds to Halga). After some adventures, the two brothers
burnt their uncle to death inside his house and avenged their
father.
Comments
With the exception of
Hversu Noregr byggdist, where he is
only a name in a list, three elements are common to all of
accounts: he was the son of a Danish king Healfdene, the brother of
Halga, and he was the uncle of Hroðulf. Apart from that, the
Scandinavian tradition is unanimous in dwelling on the incestuous
relationship between Halga and his daughter Yrsa which resulted in
Hroðulf, a story which was either not presented in
Beowulf
or was not known to the poet. The Danish sources (
Chronicon
Lethrense,
Annales Lundenses,
Gesta Danorum)
all agree with
Beowulf by making Hroðgar the king of
Denmark. The Icelandic (
Skjöldunga saga,
Bjarkarímur,
Hrólf Kraki's saga) all agree with
Beowulf by mentioning that they had a sister, and by
mentioning their feud with Froda and Ingeld, albeit with
alterations. What is unique to the Icelandic versions are the
adventures of Hroðgar and Halga before one of the two brothers
could become king.
The similarities between
Beowulf and the mentioned
Scandinavian sources are by far not the only ones. Other
personalities mentioned in
Beowulf appear in the stories
before and after dealing with Hroðgar, but for more, see
origins for Beowulf and
Hrólf Kraki.
In film
Due to his central position in the Beowulf saga, Hroðgar appears in
a number of dramatic and literary works based on the story. He was
played by
Sven Wollter in
The 13th Warrior (1999),
Oliver Cotton in
Beowulf (a sci-fi/fantasy
adaptation filmed in 1999),
Stellan Skarsgård in
Beowulf & Grendel
(2005).
He also appears in the
2007 animated
version of the saga, and is voiced by
Anthony Hopkins. The role of his character
in the film, where he is portrayed as hedonistic, somewhat
slovenly, and otherwise flawed, is far different from that in the
poem, where he is a well-respected and honorable king.
Additionally, the king of the dwarves in
Christopher Paolini's
Inheritance cycle is named Hrothgar, a nod
to the original character.
On television
Hroðgar can be seen in the
Star Trek:
Voyager episode
Heroes and
Demons, when
The Doctor
visits a
Beowulf scenario on the
holodeck to rescue Ensign
Harry Kim.
Notes
- The dating has never been a matter of controversy. It is
inferred from the internal chronology of the sources themselves and
the dating of Hygelac's
raid on Frisia to c. 516.
It is also supported by archaeological excavations of the barrows
of Eadgils and
Ohthere in Sweden. For a discussion, see e.g.
Birger
Nerman'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 this English language presentation by the Swedish
National Heritage Board
- Shippey, T. A.: Wicked Queens and Cousin Strategies
in Beowulf and Elsewhere, Notes and Bibliography. In The Heroic Age
Issue 5 Summer 2001.
- Lexikon över urnnordiska personnamn PDF
- Peterson, Lena: Lexikon över urnordiska
personnamn, PDF
- lines 59-63
- The manuscript (Cotton Vitellius A. xv, the Nowell Codex) reads
hyrde ic þ elan cwen. hyrde ic means "I have
heard". þ is an abbreviation for the word þæt,
"that." elan is meaningless. cwen means "queen."
There is no gap in the manuscript between þ and
elan, but clearly there is information missing: the name
of the sister; a verb, almost certainly the word wæs,
"was"; and the name of the man whose queen she was; it seems
certain that the scribe missed a few words, and elan is a
fragment of the possessive form of a man's name ending in
-ela. The Beowulf manuscript was copied down by
two different scribes (Scribe B took over midway through line
1939); this passage was copied down by Scribe A, who was somewhat
more error-prone than Scribe B.
- In Norse tradition, Hroðgar's sister's name was Signý, but she
was married to Sævil, a mere Danish earl (see the sections on the Skjöldunga saga
and the Hrólfr Kraki's saga). Friderich Kluge (1896)
accordingly suggested that the line be restored as hyrde ic þ
[Sigeneow wæs Sæw]elan cwen, rendering the Norse names in Old
English forms. However, the only certain Swedish (Scylfing) royal
name ending in -ela that has come down to us is Onela, and according to the rules of
alliteration this means that the queen's name must have begun with
a vowel. Sophus
Bugge consequently identified her with the Swedish queen
Yrsa (Sidelights
on Teutonic History During the Migration Period, Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge, 1911; pp. 82 ff). He thus suggested
the line should be emended to read hyrde ic þ[æt Ȳrse wæs
On]elan cwen. Most 20th century translators followed this
suggestion. However, in Norse tradition, Yrsa was the daughter and
lover/rapee of Hroðgar's younger brother Halga, and the mother of
Halga's son Hroðulf, and most modern translators simply leave the
line as it is.
- lines 64-67
- lines 80-81
- lines 862-863
- lines 1020-1062
- line 612
- See Widsith, 21.
- lines 456-490.
- lines 925-956
- lines 1011-1017
- lines 1162-1165
- lines 1168-1191
- line 1769
- lines 1321-1323
- lines 1698-1784
- lines 1870-1880
- lines 2000-2069
- lines 2027-2028
- lines 2067-2069
- lines 80-85
- Modern English translation by Francis
Barton Gummere
- The Hrólfr Kraki's saga and the Skjöldunga
saga.
- In the Gesta Danorum
- I.e. Hrólfr Kraki's saga
- The Chronicon Lethrense/Annales Lundenses,
Gesta Danorum and the Skjöldunga saga
- The Chronicon Lethrense/Annales Lundenses and
the Gesta Danorum
- Although Hrólfr Kraki's saga makes him move to
Northumbria.
- Called Aðils, Athisl, Athislus or
Adillus (although Chronicon Lethrense calls the
Swedish king Hakon).
- It has been reversed in Gesta Danorum, Skjöldunga
saga and Bjarkarímur, but not in
Hrólfr Kraki's saga.
- The Relation of the Hrolfs Saga Kraka and the
Bjarkarimur to Beowulf by Olson, 1916, at Project
Gutenberg
- Nerman (1925:150)
- This is not etymologically correct as the name of the town
Hróiskelda, "Hrói's well", (1050) is derived from the name
Hrói and not Hróarr, see Tunstall's comments on his translation of the
Chronicon Lethrense.
- Hakon according to Chronicon Lethrense
proper, Athisl according to the included Annals of
Lund.
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