NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Heidrek

Heidrek or Heiðrekr was one of the main characters in the cycle about the magic sword Tyrfing. He appears in the Hervarar saga. The Tyrfing Cycle is a collection of legends united by the magic sword Tyrfing. ... Hervarar saga ok Heidhreks is a fornaldarsaga from the 13th century using material from an older saga. ... The Waking of Angantyr or the Incantation of Hervor is a poem in the Poetic Edda, which is also found in the Hervarar saga. ... For other uses see Tyrfing (disambiguation) Tyrfing or Tirfing was a magic sword which figures in a poem from the Elder Edda called The Waking of AngantÃ½r, and in Hervarar saga. ... In Norse mythology, Dvalin was a ruler of the dwarves and one of the most powerful dwarves, known primarily for having invented runes. ... In Norse mythology, Durin was the first of the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves. ... Svafrlami (in the H and U version of the Hervarar saga. ... Arngrim was a berserker, who figures in Hervarar saga, Gesta Danorum, Lay of Hyndla, a number of Faroese ballads and Orvar-Odds saga in Norse mythology. ... Hjorvard and Hjalmar propose to Ingeborg Angantyr was the name of three characters from the same line in Norse mythology, and who appear in Hervarar saga, the Poetic Edda (the Waking of Angantyr and the Battle of the Goths and Huns) and in Gesta Danorum. ... Hjalmar proposes to Ingeborg Hjalmar was a Swedish hero who figures in the Hervarar saga and in Orvar-Odds saga. ... Orvar-Odd (i. ... Hervor was a shieldmaiden in the cycle of the magic sword Tyrfing, presented in Hervarar saga and of which parts are found in the Edda. ... Gizur, Gizurr or Gissur was a wise King of the Geats. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Angantyr was the name of three characters from the same line in Norse mythology, and who appear in Hervarar saga, the Poetic Edda (the Waking of Angantyr and the Battle of the Goths and Huns), in Gesta Danorum and Faroese ballads. ... BolmsÃ¶ is an island located in lake Bolmen near VÃ¤xjÃ¶ in SmÃ¥land. ... Gamla Uppsala is an area rich in archaeological remains seen from the grave field whose larger mounds (left part) are close to the royal mounds. ... SamsÃ¸ is an island in the North Sea bay of Kattegat 15 kilometers off the Jutland Peninsula. ... GlÃ¦sisvellir (glittering plains) was a location in Jotunheim in Norse mythology. ... Reidgotaland, Hreidgotaland or Hreiðgotaland was a land in Scandinavian mythology. ... Arheimar was the capital of the Goths according to the Hervarar saga. ... Mirkwood was the name of the Maeotian marshes which separated the Goths from the Huns in the Hervarar saga. ... The term magic sword refers to any kind of mythological or fictional sword imbued with magical power to increase its strength or grant it other supernatural qualities. ... For other uses see Tyrfing (disambiguation) Tyrfing or Tirfing was a magic sword which figures in a poem from the Elder Edda called The Waking of AngantÃ½r, and in Hervarar saga. ... Hervarar saga ok Heidhreks is a fornaldarsaga from the 13th century using material from an older saga. ...

Youth

Heidrek was the son of king Höfund and his wife, the shieldmaiden Hervor. Like his mother in her youth, he was ill-natured and violent. In order to mend this, he was raised by the wise Geatish king Gizur, but this did not improve his disposition. One day, when his parents had a banquet, Heidrek arrived uninvited and late at night, he started a quarrel which ended in manslaughter. His father, king Höfund, banished Heidrek from his kingdom, although Hervor did her utmost to milden Höfunds feelings against his son. A skjaldmö (Shieldmaiden) was a virgin who had chosen to fight as a warrior, in Scandinavian mythology. ... Hervor was a shieldmaiden in the cycle of the magic sword Tyrfing, presented in Hervarar saga and of which parts are found in the Edda. ... Geatish kings existed since the provinces of Götaland/Gautland/Geatland are considered to have been more or less independent with their own petty kings. ... Gizur, Gizurr or Gissur was a wise King of the Geats. ...

His father's advice

Heidrek immediately decided never to follow his father's advice. For other uses of the word thrall, see Thrall (disambiguation) Thrall (Thræl for men, Thír for women) was the Scandinavian name for slave during the Viking Age. ...

Departing

Hervor secretely gave her son the sword Tyrfing as she bid him farewell, and his brother Angantyr kept him company for a while. When they had walked for some time, Heidrek wanted to have a look at the sword. Since he had unsheathed it, the curse the Dwarves had put on the sword made him kill his brother. For other uses see Tyrfing (disambiguation) Tyrfing or Tirfing was a magic sword which figures in a poem from the Elder Edda called The Waking of AngantÃ½r, and in Hervarar saga. ... This page is about a mythological race. ...

Adventures

After a while, Heidrek met a patroll moving a prisoner who was to be executed as he had murdered his master. He remembered his father's advice and resolved to buy the criminal. Then he continued his journey and met a patroll moving a scoundrel who had killed his comrade. Likewise, Heidrek bought the man's life in order to disobey his father.

Soon, Heidrek arrived in Reidgotaland, entered the Gothic king Harald's service and disposed him of two rebellious jarls. This rendered him half the Gothic kingdom and the king's daughter, Helga. Heidrek and Helga had a son who was named Angantyr after Heidrek's brother and grand-father. During the same time old king Harald had a son who was named Halfdan. Reidgotaland, Hreidgotaland or Hreiðgotaland was a land in Scandinavian mythology. ... Invasion of the Goths: a late 19th century painting by O. Fritsche portrays the Goths as cavalrymen. ... Jarl is the Scandinavian language cognate of Earl. ... Angantyr was the name of three characters from the same line in Norse mythology, and who appear in Hervarar saga, the Poetic Edda (the Waking of Angantyr and the Battle of the Goths and Huns), in Gesta Danorum and Faroese ballads. ... Old Norse persons with the name Halfdan (half dane) (Old Norse sources) or Healfdene (Beowulf) or Haldan (Danish Latin sources) was probably kings. ...

Unfortunately, Reidgotaland was struck with bad crops and starvation. The Godis (pagan priests) determined that they had to sacrifice the most noble young man of the kingdom to Odin in order to return the good crops. Immediately, people started to quarrel about which one of the princes was the most noble, and so they asked king Höfund of Glæsisvellir. King Höfund decided that it was Angantyr (his own grand-son) who was the most noble prince. Höfund also told Heidrek to ask king Harald that in recompense for sacrificing his own son, he was to receive half the Gothic army as his own. King Harald accepted. The term gothi (goði), in Norse mythology, refers to the person who administered the Blóts. ... Odin is considered to be the supreme god of late Germanic and Norse mythology. ... GlÃ¦sisvellir (glittering plains) was a location in Jotunheim in Norse mythology. ...

However, when Höfund called for a Ting (council) in order to sacrifice Angantyr, Heidrek objected and said that Odin would be happy if he instead of Angantyr, received king Harald and his son Halfdan. Then, Heidrek made a coup d'état with his half of the Gothic army, using Tyrfing to kill king Harald and his son. When his wife Helga learnt of the news, she committed suicide by hanging herself. A ting, also þing or thing, was the governing assembly in Germanic societies, made up of the free men of the community. ... For other uses see Tyrfing (disambiguation) Tyrfing or Tirfing was a magic sword which figures in a poem from the Elder Edda called The Waking of AngantÃ½r, and in Hervarar saga. ...

King of the Goths

Heidrek used his army to subjugate the Gothic kingdom and ruled with brutal force. He defeated Humle, the king of the Huns, and captured his daughter Sifka whom he raped. When she was pregnant, she was sent back to her father's kingdom where she bore a son who was named Hlöd. Many historians consider the Huns (meaning person in Mongolian language) the first Mongolian and Turkic people mentioned in European history. ...

Heidrek married Olof, the daughter of Åke the King of the Saxons. She often asked to go home and visit her family, and since Heidrek remembered his father's advice, he always gladly consented. This would turn out to be an unwise strategy, because one day he made the journey to Saxony in order to see his wife among her family. He found her in the arms of a blond thrall and immediately divorced her. The Saxons were a large and powerful Germanic people located in what is now northwestern Germany and a small section of the eastern Netherlands. ... For other uses of the word thrall, see Thrall (disambiguation) Thrall (Thræl for men, Thír for women) was the Scandinavian name for slave during the Viking Age. ...

Instead, he married a girl from Finland who was named Sifka, like the Hunnic princess. One day, they were visiting king Rollaug of Gardariki. In order to oppose a fourth word of advice given by his father, he told Sifka a secret and asked her to swear an oath never to tell anyone. The secret was that he had accidentally killed King Rollaug's son, in a hunting accident. Gardariki (compare Icl. ...

Naturally, Sifka immediately ran to King Rollaug and told him about the news, which caused King Rollaug to capture Heidrek and to kill all of his retinue. The two men who bound him were no others but the two culprits he had saved from the gallows.

When king Rollaug was about to burn Heidrek alive, someone broke the news that the prince was still alive and that Heidrek was innocent. Rollaug apologized and in recompense for Heidrek's losses he gave him his own daughter, Hergerd.

Heidrek and Hergerd had a daughter who was named Hervor after her grand-mother, the shieldmaiden, who had just died. This was the beginning of a time of pieceful reign from Heidrek's side.

During a voyage, Heidrek camped at the Carpathians (Harvaða fjöllum, cf. Grimm's law). He was accompanied by eight mounted thralls, and when Heidrek slept at night, the thralls broke into his tent and took Tyrfing and slew Heidrek. This is about the terrestrial mountain range. ... Grimms law (also known as the [First] Germanic Sound Shift; German: Erste Deutsche (Germanische) Lautverschiebung) was the first non-trivial systematic sound change ever to be discovered; its formulation was a turning-point in the development of linguistics, enabling the introduction of rigorous methodology in historical linguistic research. ... For other uses see Tyrfing (disambiguation) Tyrfing or Tirfing was a magic sword which figures in a poem from the Elder Edda called The Waking of AngantÃ½r, and in Hervarar saga. ...

This was the last one of Tyrfing's three evil deeds. Heidrek's son Angantyr caught the thralls, killed them and reclaimed the magic sword, but the curse had ceased.

Sources

Categories: Norse mythology | Viking Age | Goths Norse gods Divided between the Ã†sir and the Vanir, and sometimes including Jotun, the dividing line between these groups is less than clear. ... The Ã†sir (pron. ... Vanir is the name of what is usually considered one of the two pantheons of gods in Norse mythology, the other and more well known being the Æsir. ... The giants seize Freya. ... An elf is a mythical creature of Germanic mythology which survived in northern European folklore. ... In Norse mythology, the dwarves (Old Norse: dvergar) are highly significant entities associated with stones, the underground and forging. ... Sinding Valkyrie, a modern statue located in Copenhagen, presents an active image of a valkyrie. ... In Norse mythology, Einherjar (or Einheriar) referred to the spirits of warriors who had died bravely in battle. ... The Norns The Norns of Norse mythology are three old crones by the names of Urd (that which has become), Verdandi (that which is becoming) and Skuld (should). ... Odin is considered to be the supreme god of late Germanic and Norse mythology. ... Thors battle against the giants, by Marten Eskil Winge, 1872 Thor, ÃžÃ³rr (ON), Ãžunor (OE), Donar or Donner (German) is the red-haired and bearded god of thunder and lightning in Germanic and Norse Mythology, the son of Odin and Jord. ... Freyr is a very important god in Old Norse religion; not so much in Norse mythology as one might suppose, for there he actually appears in only one surviving story, but very much in the cult. ... This article uses English names. ... This picture, from an 18th century Icelandic manuscript, shows Loki with his invention - the fishing net. ... Baldr. ... Tyr sacrifices his arm Tyr (Old Norse: TÃ½r) is the god of warfare and battle in Norse mythology, portrayed as a one-handed man. ... Yggdrasil For other uses of the term Yggdrasil, see Yggdrasil (disambiguation) In Norse Mythology, Yggdrasil (pron. ... Ginnungagap (seeming emptiness) was the vast chasm that existed between Niflheim and Muspelheim before creation in Norse mythology. ... In Norse mythology, Ragnarok (fate of the gods1) is the battle at the end of the world. ... The Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems from the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. ... The Younger Edda, known also as the Prose Edda or Snorris Edda is an Icelandic manual of poetics which also contains many mythological stories. ... The Norse sagas or Viking sagas (Icelandic: sÃ¶gur), are stories about ancient Scandinavian and Germanic history, about early Viking voyages, about migration to Iceland, and of feuds between Icelandic families. ... The Volsung Cycle is the name of a series of Germanic legends based on the same matter as Niebelungenlied, and which were recorded in medieval Iceland. ... The Tyrfing Cycle is a collection of legends united by the magic sword Tyrfing. ... A rune stone Rune stones are standing stones with runic inscriptions dating from the Iron Age (Viking Age) and early Middle Ages. ... This is the approximate extent of Old Norse and related languages in the early 10th century. ... The orthography of the Old Norse language since the introduction of the Latin alphabet in Iceland is a thorny subject. ... Norse mythology provides a rich and diverse source which many later writers have borrowed from or built upon. ... The Viking Age is the name of the period between 793 A.D and 1066 A.D in Scandinavia. ... The skald was a member of a group of courtly poets, whose poetry is associated with the courts of Scandinavian and Icelandic leaders during the Viking age, who composed and performed renditions of aspects of what we now characterise as Old Norse poetry. ... This article is about kenning as a poetic notion. ... The BlÃ³t was the pagan Germanic sacrifice to Norse gods and Elves. ... Seid (Old Norse: seiÃ°r, sometimes anglicized as seidhr, seidh, seidr, seithr or seith) was a form of shamanism practised by pre-Christian Norse and arguably other Germanic cultures and continued in modern times by people who practice the reconstructionist beliefs of ÃsatrÃº or heathenry. ... Numbers are significant in Norse mythology although not to the extent which they are in some traditions e. ... Diagram of the Nine Worlds Yggdrasil (Beneath its roots are the nine worlds of the universe, plus three magic wells) Hvergelmir Mímisbrunnr Urdarbrunnr Highest level Álfheim (The world of the elves) Asgard (The world of the Aesir, originally called Godheim) Valhalla Vanaheim (The world of the Vanir) Middle level... Places Asgard Bifrost Bridge Bilskirnir Breidablik Elivagar Fyris Wolds Gandvik Ginnungagap Helgardh Hlidskjalf Hvergelmir Jotunheim Leipter River Kormet Midgard Muspelheim Nastrond Nidavellir Niflheim Ormet Reidgotaland Slidr River Svartalfheim Utgard Valhalla Vanaheim Vimur Yggdrasil Events Fimbulwinter Ragnarok Artifacts Balmung Brisingamen Draupnir Dromi Skithblathnir Gram Gungnir Tyrfing Well of Urd Humans Adils...

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