Ivar Vidfamne
Encyclopedia
Ivar Vidfamne was a Danish and Swedish king hailing from Scania. He may have died c. 700. According to the Heimskringla
and the Hervarar saga
, Ivar was also the king of Norway
, Denmark
, Saxony
and parts of England
.
by defeating Ingjald
Illråde. He is then said to have conquered all of Scandinavia and parts of England
. Because of his harsh rule, many Swedes fled west and populated Värmland
under its king Olof Trätälja
. His last campaign was in North Eastern Europe
where he died, defeated by Odin
in disguise. (Another source claims he took his life by drowning
himself in the Gulf of Finland
.)
According to both Ynglinga saga
and Sögubrot, his homeland was Scania, but according to the Ynglinga saga
, he had to flee Scania when his uncle Guðröðr of Scania
had slain his father Halfdan the Valiant
. The Ynglinga saga
, Historia Norvegiæ
, Hervarar saga
and Upplendinga Konungum tell that Ivar conquered Sweden
after Ingjald
's suicide, and later returned to take Denmark.
According to Hversu Noregr byggdist
and Njal's Saga
, he was the son of Halfdan the Valiant
(also given as his father in the Ynglinga saga
and the Hervarar saga
), son of Harald the Old
, son of Valdar
, son of Roar (Hroðgar
) of the house of Skjöldung (Scylding
). According to Hversu, Njal's saga, the Lay of Hyndla and Sögubrot, Ivar had a daughter named Auðr the Deep-Minded
.
Sögubrot relates that when Ivar was the king of Sweden, he gave his daughter Auðr the Deep-Minded
to king Hrœrekr slöngvanbaugi of Zealand, in spite of the fact that she wanted to marry Hrœrek's brother Helgi the Sharp
. Hrœrekr and Auðr had the son Harald Wartooth
. Ivar made Hrœrekr kill his brother Helgi, and after this, he attacked and killed Hrœrekr. However, Auðr arrived with the Zealand army and chased her father Ivar back to Sweden. The following year, Auðr went to Gardariki with her son Harald and many powerful men and married its king Raðbarðr. This was the opportunity for Ivar to conquer Zealand.
The Hervarar saga does not mention any daughter named Auðr. Instead it mentions an Alfhild. Ivar gave her to Valdar
whom Ivar made subking of Denmark
.
However, when Ivar learnt that Auðr had married without his permission, he marshalled a great leidang
from Denmark and Sweden and went to Gardariki. He was very old at the time. However, when they had arrived at the borders of Raðbarð's kingdom, Karelia
(Karjálabotnar), he threw himself overboard. Harald then returned to Scania to become its ruler. In the Lay of Hyndla, Ivar, Auðr, Hrœrekr and Harald appear. Raðbarðr also appears, but there is no information about his relationship with them.
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...
and the 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...
, Ivar was also the king of 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...
, 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...
, Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
and parts of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Ivar in the Sagas
He began as king of Scania and conquered SwedenSweden
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....
by defeating Ingjald
Ingjald
Ingjald illråde or Ingjaldr hinn illráði was a legendary Swedish king of the House of Ynglings. Ingjald may have ruled in the 7th century, and he was the son of the former king Anund....
Illråde. He is then said to have conquered all of Scandinavia and parts of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Because of his harsh rule, many Swedes fled west and populated Värmland
Värmland
' is a historical province or landskap in the west of middle Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Dalsland, Dalarna, Västmanland and Närke. It is also bounded by Norway in the west. Latin name versions are Vermelandia and Wermelandia. Although the province's land originally was Götaland, the...
under its king Olof Trätälja
Olof Trätälja
Olaf Tree Feller was the son of the Swedish king Ingjald Ill-ruler of the House of Yngling according to Ynglingatal.-Heimskringla:...
. His last campaign was in North Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
where he died, defeated by Odin
Odin
Odin is a major god in Norse mythology and the ruler of Asgard. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxon "Wōden" and the Old High German "Wotan", the name is descended from Proto-Germanic "*Wodanaz" or "*Wōđanaz"....
in disguise. (Another source claims he took his life by drowning
Drowning
Drowning is death from asphyxia due to suffocation caused by water entering the lungs and preventing the absorption of oxygen leading to cerebral hypoxia....
himself in the Gulf of Finland
Gulf of Finland
The Gulf of Finland is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland and Estonia all the way to Saint Petersburg in Russia, where the river Neva drains into it. Other major cities around the gulf include Helsinki and Tallinn...
.)
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....
and Sögubrot, his homeland was Scania, but according to the 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....
, he had to flee Scania when his uncle Guðröðr of Scania
Guðröðr of Scania
Guðröðr was a legendary 7th century Scanian king who according to the Ynglinga saga was the brother of Halfdan the Valiant, Ivar Vidfamne's father....
had slain his father Halfdan the Valiant
Halfdan the Valiant
Halfdan the Valiant was the legendary father of Ivar Vidfamne according to Hervarar saga, the Ynglinga saga, Njal's Saga and Hversu Noregr byggdist. The genealogical work Hversu Noregr byggdist gives his father as Harald the Old, his grandfather as Valdar and his great-grandfather as Hróarr...
. The 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....
, Historia Norvegiæ
Historia Norvegiæ
Historia Norwegiæ is a short Latin history of Norway written by an anonymous monk. The only extant manuscript, in the private possession of the Earl of Dalhousie and kept at Brechin Castle, Scotland, is fragmentary; what we have of the Historia is found on folios 1r-12r...
, 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...
and Upplendinga Konungum tell that Ivar conquered Sweden
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....
after Ingjald
Ingjald
Ingjald illråde or Ingjaldr hinn illráði was a legendary Swedish king of the House of Ynglings. Ingjald may have ruled in the 7th century, and he was the son of the former king Anund....
's suicide, and later returned to take Denmark.
According to Hversu Noregr byggdist
Hversu Noregr byggdist
Hversu Noregr byggðist is an account of the origin of various legendary Norwegian lineages, which survives only in the Flatey Book. It traces the descendants of the primeval Finnish ruler Fornjót down to Nór, who is here the eponym and first great king of Norway, and then gives details of the...
and Njal's Saga
Njál's saga
Njáls saga is one of the sagas of Icelanders. The most prominent characters are the friends Njáll Þorgeirsson, a lawyer and a sage, and Gunnarr Hámundarson, a formidable warrior...
, he was the son of Halfdan the Valiant
Halfdan the Valiant
Halfdan the Valiant was the legendary father of Ivar Vidfamne according to Hervarar saga, the Ynglinga saga, Njal's Saga and Hversu Noregr byggdist. The genealogical work Hversu Noregr byggdist gives his father as Harald the Old, his grandfather as Valdar and his great-grandfather as Hróarr...
(also given as his father in the 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....
and the 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...
), son of Harald the Old
Harald the Old
Harald the Old only appears by name in Hversu Noregr byggdist, but his father, sons and their descendants played a central role in the politics of Scandinavian legends.-Hversu Noregr byggdist:...
, son of Valdar
Valdar
Valdar was the name of one or several legendary Danish kings.-Hervarar saga:The Hervarar saga tells that Ivar Vidfamne made Valdar the viceroy of Denmark and gave him his daughter Alfhild. When Valdar died, his son Randver became the king of Denmark, while his son Harald Wartooth became the king of...
, son of Roar (Hroðgar
Hroðgar
Hroðgar, King Hroþgar, "Hrothgar", Hróarr, Hroar, Roar, Roas or Ro was a legendary Danish king, living in the early 6th century....
) of the house of Skjöldung (Scylding
Scylding
Old English Scylding and Old Norse Skjöldung , meaning in both languages "People of Scyld/Skjöld" refers to members of a legendary royal family of Danes and sometimes to their people. The name is explained in many text by the descent of this family from an eponymous king Scyld/Skjöld...
). According to Hversu, Njal's saga, the Lay of Hyndla and Sögubrot, Ivar had a daughter named Auðr the Deep-Minded
Auðr the Deep-Minded
Auðr the Deep-Minded was a Norse princess, the daughter of Ivar Vidfamne, and the mother of Harald Wartooth, who appears in Sögubrot, Hversu Noregr byggdist and in the Lay of Hyndla...
.
Sögubrot relates that when Ivar was the king of Sweden, he gave his daughter Auðr the Deep-Minded
Auðr the Deep-Minded
Auðr the Deep-Minded was a Norse princess, the daughter of Ivar Vidfamne, and the mother of Harald Wartooth, who appears in Sögubrot, Hversu Noregr byggdist and in the Lay of Hyndla...
to king Hrœrekr slöngvanbaugi of Zealand, in spite of the fact that she wanted to marry Hrœrek's brother Helgi the Sharp
Helgi the Sharp
Helgi the Sharp may refer to:* Helgi the Sharp * Helgi the Sharp...
. Hrœrekr and Auðr had the son Harald Wartooth
Harald Wartooth
Harald Wartooth or Harold Hiltertooth was a legendary king of Sweden, Denmark, Norway and the historical northern German province of Wendland, in the 8th and 9th century...
. Ivar made Hrœrekr kill his brother Helgi, and after this, he attacked and killed Hrœrekr. However, Auðr arrived with the Zealand army and chased her father Ivar back to Sweden. The following year, Auðr went to Gardariki with her son Harald and many powerful men and married its king Raðbarðr. This was the opportunity for Ivar to conquer Zealand.
The Hervarar saga does not mention any daughter named Auðr. Instead it mentions an Alfhild. Ivar gave her to Valdar
Valdar
Valdar was the name of one or several legendary Danish kings.-Hervarar saga:The Hervarar saga tells that Ivar Vidfamne made Valdar the viceroy of Denmark and gave him his daughter Alfhild. When Valdar died, his son Randver became the king of Denmark, while his son Harald Wartooth became the king of...
whom Ivar made subking of 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...
.
However, when Ivar learnt that Auðr had married without his permission, he marshalled a great leidang
Leidang
The institution known as leiðangr , leidang , leding, , ledung , expeditio or sometimes lething , was a public levy of free farmers typical for medieval Scandinavians. It was a form of conscription to organise coastal fleets for seasonal excursions and in defence of the realm...
from Denmark and Sweden and went to Gardariki. He was very old at the time. However, when they had arrived at the borders of Raðbarð's kingdom, Karelia
Karelia
Karelia , the land of the Karelian peoples, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Finland, Russia, and Sweden...
(Karjálabotnar), he threw himself overboard. Harald then returned to Scania to become its ruler. In the Lay of Hyndla, Ivar, Auðr, Hrœrekr and Harald appear. Raðbarðr also appears, but there is no information about his relationship with them.
See also
- Ivar the BonelessIvar the BonelessIvar Ragnarsson nicknamed the Boneless , was a Viking leader and by reputation also a berserker. By the late 11th century he was known as a son of the powerful Ragnar Lodbrok, ruler of an area probably comprising parts of modern-day Denmark and Sweden.-Invader:In the autumn of AD 865, with his...
, proposed by Kirsten Møller in Vikingeætten to be the same person as Ivar Vidfamne
Primary sources
- Hervarar sagaHervarar sagaHervarar 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...
- Lay of Hyndla
- Sögubrot
- Upplendinga Konungum
- Ynglinga sagaYnglinga sagaYnglinga 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....
- Njal's SagaNjál's sagaNjáls saga is one of the sagas of Icelanders. The most prominent characters are the friends Njáll Þorgeirsson, a lawyer and a sage, and Gunnarr Hámundarson, a formidable warrior...