Hervor
Encyclopedia
Tyrfing Cycle
The Tyrfing Cycle is a collection of Norse legends, unified by the shared element of the magic sword Tyrfing. Two of the legends are found in the Poetic Edda, and the Hervarar saga can be seen as a compilation of these legends.-The forging and the curse:...
, presented in Hervarar saga
Hervarar saga
Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks is a legendary saga from the 13th century combining matter from several older sagas. It is a valuable saga for several different reasons beside its literary qualities. It contains traditions of wars between Goths and Huns, from the 4th century, and the last part is used as...
with parts found in the Poetic Edda
Poetic Edda
The Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems primarily preserved in the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. Along with Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, the Poetic Edda is the most important extant source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends, and from the early 19th century...
. The first Hervor was the daughter of Angantyr
Angantyr
Angantyr was the name of three characters from the same line in Norse mythology, and who appear in Hervarar saga, in Gesta Danorum and Faroese ballads....
. The second Hervor was the daughter of Heidrek
Heidrek
Heidrek or Heiðrekr was one of the main characters in the cycle about the magic sword Tyrfing. He appears in the Hervarar saga, and probably also in Widsith, line 115, as Heathoric together with his sons Angantyr and Hlöð , and Hlöð's mother Sifka...
, the son of the first Hervor.
Additionally, Hervor is the name of a valkyrie
Valkyrie
In Norse mythology, a valkyrie is one of a host of female figures who decides who dies in battle. Selecting among half of those who die in battle , the valkyries bring their chosen to the afterlife hall of the slain, Valhalla, ruled over by the god Odin...
married by Völund in the Poetic Edda poem Völundarkviða
Völundarkviða
Völundarkviða is one of the mythological poems of the Poetic Edda...
, see Hervör alvitr
Hervör alvitr
In Norse mythology, Hervör alvitr is a valkyrie. Hervör alvitr is attested in the Poetic Edda poem Völundarkviða as the sister of the valkyrie Hlaðguðr svanhvít , and as the seven year wife of the smith Völundr.-References:* Orchard, Andy...
.
Childhood
Hervor was born after her father AngantyrAngantyr
Angantyr was the name of three characters from the same line in Norse mythology, and who appear in Hervarar saga, in Gesta Danorum and Faroese ballads....
's death (he died during a duel against the Swedish hero Hjalmar
Hjálmar
- Current :*Þorsteinn Einarsson - Guitar and vocals*Sigurður Halldór Guðmundsson - Keyboards and vocals*Guðmundur Kristinn Jónsson - Guitar* Valdimar Kolbeinn Sigurjónsson - Bass* Helgi Svavar Helgason - Percussion- Former :...
), and she grew up as a slave.
She dressed like a man, fought, killed and pillaged under her male surname Hjörvard.
When she learnt of her father's identity she decided to live as her father and to find Tyrfing, the magic sword.
Summoning the dead
One day, she arrived with her fleet to MunarvágrMunarvágr
Munarvágr was a location on the southern shore of Samsø, which is mentioned in the legendary sagas Hervarar saga and Ragnar Lodbrok's saga....
on Samsø
Samsø
Samsø is a Danish island in the Kattegat off the Jutland Peninsula. Samsø is located in Samsø municipality. The community has 4,300 inhabitants called Samsingers and is 114 km² in area. Due to its central location, the island was used during the Viking Age as a meeting place...
(Samsey), but she was the only one who dared to embark on the haunted island. The remainder of her crew feared the nightly activities around the barrow
Tumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...
s on the island. As she approached the barrows she saw a fire shining above them, and she approached the largest one. She then talked with a loud voice summoning her father Angantyr to reveal himself. She said that as his daughter she was entitled to her rightful inheritance, Tyrfing. Then, she also summoned her eleven uncles and she did so with such a loud voice and such harsh words that finally, her father's voice was heard and he asked not to pursue her quest. She did not give in but continued to ask for her rightful inheritance.
Claiming her inheritance
Finally, the grave opened and in its centre a fire was shining. There she saw her father, and he warned her not to ask for the sword. It would bring death to their whole clanNorse clans
The Scandinavian clan or ætt was a social group based on common descent or on the formal acceptance into the group at a þing.-History:...
if she used it. Still, she persisted. Finally the sword was cast out of the grave, and she eagerly gripped it, bid farewell to her dead kinsmen and walked to the shore.
However, when she arrived at the shore, the ships were gone. Her crew had been scared away by the fires and the thunder from the barrows.
Career
Eventually, she managed to leave the island and arrived at the court of Gudmund of GlæsisvellirGlæsisvellir
Glæsisvellir was a location in Jotunheim in Norse mythology. It is mentioned in sources, such as Bósa saga ok Herrauds and Hervarar saga. -Legend:...
. She still dressed herself as a man and called herself Hjörvard. Cunningly, she helped the king to win playing tafl. However, she also slew a courtier who tried to unsheathe Tyrfing after she had left it on a chair. Then, she resumed her Viking activities, and travelled far and wide.
Settling down
After a while she grew tired of the adventures and returned to her foster-father Bjartmar. At Bjartmar's residence, she betook herself to sewing and embroidering like other girls, and was considered to be a beautiful and good-mannered girl.King Gudmund's son Höfund, then arrived to ask for her hand, and she said yes. The old king Gudmund arranged a grand wedding, and entrusted the kingdom in the hands of the young couple. They lived happily and had two sons who were given the names Angantyr and Heidrek
Heidrek
Heidrek or Heiðrekr was one of the main characters in the cycle about the magic sword Tyrfing. He appears in the Hervarar saga, and probably also in Widsith, line 115, as Heathoric together with his sons Angantyr and Hlöð , and Hlöð's mother Sifka...
.
The sword Tyrfing would continue its ill work, and Heidrek slew his brother Angantyr with the sword. For the continued adventures of Tyrfing, see Heidrek
Heidrek
Heidrek or Heiðrekr was one of the main characters in the cycle about the magic sword Tyrfing. He appears in the Hervarar saga, and probably also in Widsith, line 115, as Heathoric together with his sons Angantyr and Hlöð , and Hlöð's mother Sifka...
.
Hervor, Daughter of Heidrek
Heidrek had a daughter who he named Hervor. She was a shieldmaidenShieldmaiden
A shieldmaiden was a woman who had chosen to fight as a warrior in Scandinavian folklore and mythology. They are often mentioned in sagas such as Hervarar saga and in Gesta Danorum. Shieldmaidens also appear in stories of other Germanic nations: Goths, Cimbri, and Marcomanni. The mythical Valkyries...
and was the commander of a Gothic fort facing Myrkviðr
Myrkviðr
In Germanic mythology, Myrkviðr or, in anglicized form, Mirkwood, is the name of several forests....
, and she would fall in battle against the Huns
Huns
The Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...
(see Hlöd
Hlöd
Hlod or Hlöd was the illegitimate son of Heidrek, the king of the Goths.He appears in the Hervarar saga and probably also as Hlith in Widsith, line 115, together with his father Heiðrekr , half-brother Angantyr , and his mother Sifka .-Claiming his inheritance:Hlöd had grown up with his grandfather...
, Hlöðskviða
Hlöðskviða
Hlöðskviða or The Battle of the Goths and Huns is sometimes counted among the Eddic Poems. It has been preserved as separate stanzas interspersed among the text in Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks . It is generally agreed that it was originally a poetic whole...
). When Ormar reported Hervor's death to king Angantyr, he said:
|
Whole Whole may refer to:*Holism, the idea that all the properties of a given system cannot be determined or explained by the sum of its component parts alone* in music, a whole step, or Major second... forest, Goths The Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe.... all blotched Huns The Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,... felled her — |
When King Angantyr heard this, he grinned and was slow to speak, but at last he said:
- Óbróðurliga vartu leikin, in ágæta systir.
- "Unbrotherly the bloody game they played with you, excellent sister."
Sources
- Herikson, Alf. (1998), Stora mytologiska uppslagsboken.