The original version is attributed to Tjodolf of Hvin who was the skald of a Norwegian petty king named Ragnvald and who was a cousin of Harald Fairhair. The reason was that the Norwegian kings claimed descendance from the Norse gods through the royal dynasty of Sweden, a dynasty which apparently shed glory on the Norwegian kings.
It appears in two versions of which the most well known is the Ynglinga saga in Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla. The second version, Historia Norwegiae, is written in latin and contains essentially the same information.
The authenticity of this poem has been doubted by some modern scholars who belive it to be a 12th century propaganda work fabricated to enhance the legitimacy of the Norwegian kings.
Other scholars have, however, pointed out that the names that appear in Ynglingatal have dialectal Swedish forms of Old Norse and that it names locations and burial sites that were actually used at the time of the events described.
Whether Ynglingal is a learned invention or is based on an authentic Swedish and/or Norwegian tradition will probably remain a matter of dispute.
The authenticity of this poem has been doubted by some modern scholars who belive it to be a 12th century propaganda work fabricated to enhance the legitimacy of the Norwegian kings.
Other scholars have, however, pointed out that the names that appear in Ynglingatal have dialectal Swedish forms of Old Norse and that it names locations and burial sites that were actually used at the time of the events described.
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