Dan (king)
Encyclopedia
Dan is the name of one or more legendary kings of the Danes
in medieval Scandinavian texts.
) written about 1170 introduces a primeval King Ypper of Uppsala
whose three sons were Dan, who afterwards ruled Denmark, Nori
, who afterwards ruled Norway
, and Østen, who afterwards ruled the Swedes
. Dan apparently first ruled in Zealand for the Chronicle states that it was when Dan had saved his people from an attack by the Emperor Augustus
that the Jutes
and the men of Fyn
and Scania also accepted him as king, whence the resultant expanded country of Denmark was named after him. Dan's wife was named Dana and his son was named Ro.
), fathered a mortal son named Jarl 'noble' later known as Ríg-Jarl. Ríg-Jarl had eleven sons, the youngest of which bore the name Kon the Young (Old Norse Konr Ungr), this name understood to be the origin of the title konungr 'king', though the etymology is in fact untenable. One day, as he was hunting and snaring birds in the forest, a crow spoke to him and suggested he would gain more by going after men, and praised the wealth of "Dan and Danp". The poem breaks off incomplete at that point.
's Latin
epitome of the lost Skjöldungasaga made in 1597:
This tradition is close to that of the Rígsthula.
This Dan married Olof the daughter of Wermund
and so became brother-in-law to the Offa of Angel
mentioned in the Old English poem Beowulf
. Dan ruled first in Jutland
but then conquered Zealand from King Aleif creating the kingdom of Denmark.
's Ynglinga saga
relates of King Dygvi of Sweden:
Here Ríg is father of Danp the father of Dan. The title Mikilláti can be translated 'Magnificent' or 'Proud'.
Snorri does not relate here whether this Dan is also descended from King Fridfrodi or Peace-Fróði
whom Snorri presented as ruling in Zealand as a contemporary of Fjölnir
son of Frey six generations before King Dygvi. Snorri writes further:
This peaceful Fróði seems a duplicate of the earlier Fróði.
In his preface to the Heimskringla
(which includes the Ynglinga saga), Snorri writes:
Sven Aagesen
mentions Danu Elatus 'the Proud' presumably, Dan Mikilláti, and makes him the successor to Uffi, that is to Offa
son of Wermund
, so agreeing with the Skjöldungasaga. He said that this Dan was so powerful a king that he had another king as his page and two nobles to hold his horse.
in his Gesta Danorum
presents three different Danish monarchs named Dan, either splitting up a single monarch into many, or properly keeping separate what others have confused.
Saxo begins his history with two brothers named Dan and Angul
, sons of one Humbli, who were made rulers by the consent of the people because of their bravery. They were not however called "kings", as that usage was not then common.
Angul is the eponym of the region of Angul
and from his people eventually came the English who gave their name to England. Dan fathered two sons, Humblus
and Lotherus
, by his wife Grytha.
Neither one is otherwise known, though a king named Humli is a leader of Huns in the Old Norse Battle of the Goths and Huns. Lotherus might have some relation to the Norse god Lóðurr
or to the exiled king Heremod
mentioned in Beowulf or to both. According to Saxo, Lotherus is father of the famous hero Skioldus
.
The second king called Dan
appears much later in Book 4, as the son of Uffi son of Vermund, (that is Offa of Angel
son of Wermund
). But Saxo passes over him in a few lines as a warlike king who scorned his subjects and wasted his wealth, much degenerated from his ancestors.
He is followed by King Huglek, then Fróði the Active, who is then followed by the third Dan
. Apparently this Dan is the son of Fróði the Active, though Saxo does not specifically give the parentage of any of these kings. Of this Dan, Saxo relates only an anecdote that when Dan was twelve years old, tired of the arrogance of Saxon ambassadors who demanded tribute on pain of war, he bridged the river Elbe
with ships, crossed over, and won a great victory.
This Dan is father of Fridlef father of Frothi, in whom one recognizes Fridleif and his son Fróði mentioned often in Norse sources, the latter being, at least by parentage, the Peace-Fróði whom Snorri introduced in the early in the Ynglinga saga.
The Song of Eric
deals with Eric, the first king of Geatland
(fyrsti konunger i Götalandinu vidha). He sent a troop of Geat
s southward to a country named Vetala, where no one had yet cultivated the land. In their company was a wise man who was to uphold the law. Finally, a king named Humli
set his son Dan to rule the settlers, and after Dan, Vetala was named Denmark
.
The song was first published in a Latin translation in Johannes Magnus
' Historia de omnibus gothorum sueonumque regibus (1554). He states that the original song was widely sung in Sweden at the time.
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
in medieval Scandinavian texts.
The Lejre Chronicle
The Chronicle of Lejre (Chronicon LethrenseChronicon Lethrense
Chronicon Lethrense is a small Danish medieval work from the 12th century, written in Latin.-Themes:...
) written about 1170 introduces a primeval King Ypper of Uppsala
Uppsala
- Economy :Today Uppsala is well established in medical research and recognized for its leading position in biotechnology.*Abbott Medical Optics *GE Healthcare*Pfizer *Phadia, an offshoot of Pharmacia*Fresenius*Q-Med...
whose three sons were Dan, who afterwards ruled Denmark, Nori
Nór
Nór or Nori is firstly a mercantile title and secondly a Norse man's name. It is stated in Norse sources that Nór was the founder of Norway, from whom the land supposedly got its name...
, who afterwards ruled Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, and Østen, who afterwards ruled the Swedes
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. Dan apparently first ruled in Zealand for the Chronicle states that it was when Dan had saved his people from an attack by the Emperor Augustus
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
that the Jutes
Jutes
The Jutes, Iuti, or Iutæ were a Germanic people who, according to Bede, were one of the three most powerful Germanic peoples of their time, the other two being the Saxons and the Angles...
and the men of Fyn
FYN
Proto-oncogene tyrosine-protein kinase Fyn is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the FYN gene.This gene is a member of the protein-tyrosine kinase oncogene family. It encodes a membrane-associated tyrosine kinase that has been implicated in the control of cell growth...
and Scania also accepted him as king, whence the resultant expanded country of Denmark was named after him. Dan's wife was named Dana and his son was named Ro.
The Rígsthula
The Eddic poem Rígsthula, tells how the god Ríg (said to be HeimdallHeimdall
In Norse mythology, Heimdallr is a god who possesses the resounding horn Gjallarhorn, owns the golden-maned horse Gulltoppr, has gold teeth, and is the son of Nine Mothers...
), fathered a mortal son named Jarl 'noble' later known as Ríg-Jarl. Ríg-Jarl had eleven sons, the youngest of which bore the name Kon the Young (Old Norse Konr Ungr), this name understood to be the origin of the title konungr 'king', though the etymology is in fact untenable. One day, as he was hunting and snaring birds in the forest, a crow spoke to him and suggested he would gain more by going after men, and praised the wealth of "Dan and Danp". The poem breaks off incomplete at that point.
The Skjöldungasaga
According to Arngrímur JónssonArngrímur Jónsson
Arngrímur Jónsson the Learned was an Icelandic scholar and an apologist. His father was Jón Jónsson, who died in 1591...
's Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
epitome of the lost Skjöldungasaga made in 1597:
Ríg (Rigus) was a man not the least among the great ones of his time. He married the daughter of a certain Danp [Old Norse Danpr], lord of Danpsted, whose name was Dana; and later, having won the royal title for his province, left as his heir his son by Dana, called Dan or Danum, all of whose subjects were called Danes.
This tradition is close to that of the Rígsthula.
This Dan married Olof the daughter of Wermund
Wermund
Wermund or Garmund is an ancestor of the Mercian royal family, a son of Wihtlaeg and father of Offa. Mythology claims him to be a grandson of Woden, but the Danish histories written by Saxo Grammaticus disagree with this concept....
and so became brother-in-law to the Offa of Angel
Offa of Angel
Offa was the 4th-great-grandfather of Creoda of Mercia, and was reputed to be a great-grandson of Woden, English god of war and poetry and creator of Middle-Earth, the realm of man. Offa was the son of Wermund, and the father of Angeltheow...
mentioned in the Old English poem Beowulf
Beowulf
Beowulf , but modern scholars agree in naming it after the hero whose life is its subject." of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature.It survives in a single...
. Dan ruled first in Jutland
Jutland
Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...
but then conquered Zealand from King Aleif creating the kingdom of Denmark.
Ynglinga saga
Snorri SturlusonSnorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was twice elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing...
's Ynglinga saga
Ynglinga saga
Ynglinga saga is a legendary saga, originally written in Old Norse by the Icelandic poet Snorri Sturluson about 1225. It was first translated into English and published in 1844....
relates of King Dygvi of Sweden:
Dygvi's mother was Drótt, a daughter of King Danp, the son of Ríg, who was first called konungr ['king'] in the Danish tongue [(Old NorseOld NorseOld Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
)]. His descendants always afterwards considered the title of konungr the title of highest dignity. Dygvi was the first of his family to be called konungr, for his predecessors had been called dróttinn ['chieftain'], and their wives dróttning, and their court drótt ['war band']. Each of their race was called Yngvi, or Ynguni, and the whole race together Ynglingar. Queen Drótt was a sister of King Dan Mikilláti, from whom Denmark took its name.
Here Ríg is father of Danp the father of Dan. The title Mikilláti can be translated 'Magnificent' or 'Proud'.
Snorri does not relate here whether this Dan is also descended from King Fridfrodi or Peace-Fróði
Fróði
Fróði is the name of a number of legendary Danish kings in various texts including Beowulf, Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda and his Ynglinga saga, Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum, and the Grottasöngr. A Danish king by this name also appears as a minor character in the Middle High German epic Die...
whom Snorri presented as ruling in Zealand as a contemporary of Fjölnir
Fjölnir
In Norse mythology, Fjölnir, Fjölner, Fjolner or Fjolne was a Swedish king of the House of Yngling, at Gamla Uppsala. Fjölnir appears in a semi-mythological context as the son of Freyr and his consort Gerðr...
son of Frey six generations before King Dygvi. Snorri writes further:
In the time when the kings we have been speaking of were in Uppsala, Denmark had been ruled over by Dan Mikilláti, who lived to a very great age; then by his son, Fróði Mikilláti, or the Peace-loving, who was succeeded by his sons HalfdanHalfdanHalfdan was a late 5th and early 6th century legendary Danish king of the Scylding lineage, the son of king named Fróði in many accounts, noted mainly as the father to the two kings who succeeded him in the rule of Denmark, kings named Hroðgar and Halga in the Old English poem Beowulf and named...
and Fridleif, who were great warriors.
This peaceful Fróði seems a duplicate of the earlier Fróði.
In his preface to the Heimskringla
Heimskringla
Heimskringla is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorri Sturluson ca. 1230...
(which includes the Ynglinga saga), Snorri writes:
The Age of Cairns began properly in Denmark after Dan Mikilláti had raised for himself a burial cairn, and ordered that he should be buried in it on his death, with his royal ornaments and armour, his horse and saddle-furniture, and other valuable goods; and many of his descendants followed his example. But the burning of the dead continued, long after that time, to be the custom of the Swedes and Northmen.
Sven Aagesen
The 12th century historianHistorian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
Sven Aagesen
Svend Aagesen
Svend Aggesen is most famous, in Denmark at least, as the author of one of the first attempts to write a coherent history of Denmark covering the period 300AD-1185AD...
mentions Danu Elatus 'the Proud' presumably, Dan Mikilláti, and makes him the successor to Uffi, that is to Offa
Offa of Angel
Offa was the 4th-great-grandfather of Creoda of Mercia, and was reputed to be a great-grandson of Woden, English god of war and poetry and creator of Middle-Earth, the realm of man. Offa was the son of Wermund, and the father of Angeltheow...
son of Wermund
Wermund
Wermund or Garmund is an ancestor of the Mercian royal family, a son of Wihtlaeg and father of Offa. Mythology claims him to be a grandson of Woden, but the Danish histories written by Saxo Grammaticus disagree with this concept....
, so agreeing with the Skjöldungasaga. He said that this Dan was so powerful a king that he had another king as his page and two nobles to hold his horse.
The Gesta Danorum
Saxo GrammaticusSaxo Grammaticus
Saxo Grammaticus also known as Saxo cognomine Longus was a Danish historian, thought to have been a secular clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, foremost advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark. He is the author of the first full history of Denmark.- Life :The Jutland Chronicle gives...
in his Gesta Danorum
Gesta Danorum
Gesta Danorum is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th century author Saxo Grammaticus . It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark and is an essential source for the nation's early history...
presents three different Danish monarchs named Dan, either splitting up a single monarch into many, or properly keeping separate what others have confused.
Saxo begins his history with two brothers named Dan and Angul
Dan I of Denmark
Dan I was the progenitor of the Danish royal house according to Saxo Grammaticus's Gesta Danorum. He held the lordship along with his brother Angul, the progenitor of the English.See also: Dan -References:...
, sons of one Humbli, who were made rulers by the consent of the people because of their bravery. They were not however called "kings", as that usage was not then common.
Angul is the eponym of the region of Angul
Angeln
Modern Angeln, also known as Anglia , is a small peninsula in Southern Schleswig in the northern Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, protruding into the Bay of Kiel...
and from his people eventually came the English who gave their name to England. Dan fathered two sons, Humblus
Humblus
Humblus was one of the earliest kings of Denmark according to Saxo Grammaticus's Gesta Danorum.The standing on stones in connection with the choosing a king is a motive known from other Scandinavian sources...
and Lotherus
Lotherus
Lotherus was one of the earliest kings of Denmark according to Saxo Grammaticus's Gesta Danorum.See also: Heremod-References:...
, by his wife Grytha.
Neither one is otherwise known, though a king named Humli is a leader of Huns in the Old Norse Battle of the Goths and Huns. Lotherus might have some relation to the Norse god Lóðurr
Lóðurr
Lóðurr is a god in Norse mythology. In the Poetic Edda poem Völuspá he is assigned a role in animating the first humans, but apart from that he is hardly ever mentioned, and remains obscure. Scholars have variously identified him with Loki, Vé, Vili and Freyr, but consensus has not been reached on...
or to the exiled king Heremod
Heremod
Heremod is a legendary Danish king and a legendary king of the Angles who would have lived in the 2nd century and known through a short account of his exile in the Old English poem Beowulf and from appearances in some genealogies as the father of Scyld...
mentioned in Beowulf or to both. According to Saxo, Lotherus is father of the famous hero Skioldus
Skjold
-Places:*Skjold, Bergen, a borough in Bergen, Norway*Skjold, Troms, a village in Målselv municipality, Norway*Skjold , a Norwegian army garrison in Målselv, Norway*Skjold, Rogaland, a former municipality, now in Vindafjord municipality, Norway-Other:...
.
The second king called Dan
Dan II of Denmark
Dan II is one of the legendary Danish kings described in Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum.See also: Dan -References:* Davidson, Hilda Ellis and Peter Fisher . Saxo Grammaticus : The History of the Danes : Books I-IX. Bury St Edmunds: St Edmundsbury Press. ISBN 0-85991-502-6. First published...
appears much later in Book 4, as the son of Uffi son of Vermund, (that is Offa of Angel
Offa of Angel
Offa was the 4th-great-grandfather of Creoda of Mercia, and was reputed to be a great-grandson of Woden, English god of war and poetry and creator of Middle-Earth, the realm of man. Offa was the son of Wermund, and the father of Angeltheow...
son of Wermund
Wermund
Wermund or Garmund is an ancestor of the Mercian royal family, a son of Wihtlaeg and father of Offa. Mythology claims him to be a grandson of Woden, but the Danish histories written by Saxo Grammaticus disagree with this concept....
). But Saxo passes over him in a few lines as a warlike king who scorned his subjects and wasted his wealth, much degenerated from his ancestors.
He is followed by King Huglek, then Fróði the Active, who is then followed by the third Dan
Dan III
Dan III is one of the legendary Danish kings described in Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum.See also: Dan -References:* Davidson, Hilda Ellis and Peter Fisher . Saxo Grammaticus : The History of the Danes : Books I-IX. Bury St Edmunds: St Edmundsbury Press. ISBN 0-85991-502-6. First published...
. Apparently this Dan is the son of Fróði the Active, though Saxo does not specifically give the parentage of any of these kings. Of this Dan, Saxo relates only an anecdote that when Dan was twelve years old, tired of the arrogance of Saxon ambassadors who demanded tribute on pain of war, he bridged the river Elbe
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
with ships, crossed over, and won a great victory.
This Dan is father of Fridlef father of Frothi, in whom one recognizes Fridleif and his son Fróði mentioned often in Norse sources, the latter being, at least by parentage, the Peace-Fróði whom Snorri introduced in the early in the Ynglinga saga.
The Song of Eric
It was once seen as a valuable source for Migration Period history, but is now regarded as inauthentic fakelore created during the 16th century.The Song of Eric
Song of Eric
The "Ballad of Eric" is a ballad found in Latin and Swedish about the legendary Gothic king Erik. It was once seen as a valuable source for Migration Period history, but is now regarded as inauthentic fakelore created during the 16th century....
deals with Eric, the first king of Geatland
Götaland
Götaland , Gothia, Gothland, Gothenland, Gautland or Geatland is one of three lands of Sweden and comprises provinces...
(fyrsti konunger i Götalandinu vidha). He sent a troop of Geat
Geat
Geats , and sometimes Goths) were a North Germanic tribe inhabiting what is now Götaland in modern Sweden...
s southward to a country named Vetala, where no one had yet cultivated the land. In their company was a wise man who was to uphold the law. Finally, a king named Humli
Heimdall
In Norse mythology, Heimdallr is a god who possesses the resounding horn Gjallarhorn, owns the golden-maned horse Gulltoppr, has gold teeth, and is the son of Nine Mothers...
set his son Dan to rule the settlers, and after Dan, Vetala was named Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
.
The song was first published in a Latin translation in Johannes Magnus
Johannes Magnus
Johannes Magnus was the last functioning Catholic Archbishop in Sweden, and also a theologian, genealogist, and historian.-Life:Johannes Magnus was born in Linköping, son of the burgess Måns Pedersson and his wife Kristina...
' Historia de omnibus gothorum sueonumque regibus (1554). He states that the original song was widely sung in Sweden at the time.
See also
- Dan I of DenmarkDan I of DenmarkDan I was the progenitor of the Danish royal house according to Saxo Grammaticus's Gesta Danorum. He held the lordship along with his brother Angul, the progenitor of the English.See also: Dan -References:...
- AngulAngul (king)Angul was, according to Gesta Danorum, the ancestor of the Angles in Denmark.His father was king Humbli, probably the same as Heimdall, one of Woden's twelve diar in Sigtuna and Gamla Uppsala in Sweden.-Getica :...