Raum the Old
Encyclopedia
Raum the Old is a legendary king in Norway in the 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 in Thorsteins saga Víkingssonar. He was said to have been ugly, as was his daughter, Bryngerd, who was married to King Álf. Indeed, in Old Norse
Old Norse
Old 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....

, raumr means a big and ugly person.

Raum and his sons

In Heversu Noregr byggdist, Raum is one of the three sons of Nór
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...

, the legendary first king of Norway, and succeeds his father as a ruler and ancestor of rulers over southwestern Norway.

Raum attended a Yule feast given by Bergfin (Bergfinn) son of Thrym
Thrym
In Norse mythology, Þrymr was king of the jotnar. In one legend, he stole Mjollnir, Thor's hammer, to extort the gods into giving him Freyja as his wife...

 (Þrymr) the Giant of Vermland and bedded Bergfin's sister Bergdís (Bergdísr). Bergdís subsequently bore three sons: Björn (Bjǫrn 'bear'), Brand (Brandr 'sword'), and Álf (Álfr 'elf'). Álf was fostered by Bergfin himself and so became known as Finnálf (Finnálfr). Björn was kept by his mother and his name was expanded to Jötunbjörn (Jǫtunbjǫrn 'Giant-bear'). Brand was sent to his father Raum who dedicated him to the gods (whatever that means exactly), and so he was afterwards known as Gudbrand (Guðbrandr 'God-sword').

Later Raum married Hild the daughter of Gudröd the Old (Guðrǫðr inn gamli) the son of King Sölvi (Sǫlvi) who first ruled the land now called Sóleyjar (the modern region of Solør
Solør
Solør is a Norwegian traditional district consisting of the valley between Elverum in the north and Kongsvinger in the south. It is part of the county of Hedmark, and includes the municipalities Våler, Åsnes and Grue.-Glomma valley :...

 comprising the municipalities of Grue
Grue, Norway
Grue is a municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Solør. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Kirkenær ....

, Åsnes
Åsnes
Åsnes is a municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Solør. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Flisa, which is also the largest town in the municipality with around 2,100 people.-Name:...

, and Våler
Våler
Vaaler or Våler is:*Våler, Hedmark, a municipality in the county of Hedmark, Norway**Åsnes og Våler, a former municipality in Hedmark, split in 1854*Våler, Østfold, a municipality in the county of Østfold, Norway...

).

However 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....

 says that Sölvi the Old who first cleared Sóleyar lived much later, making this Sölvi to be the father of a second Sölvi, the father of Halfdan Goldtooth (Hálfdanr Gulltanni), the father of Sólveig or Sölva who married Ólaf Woodcutter
Olof Trätälja
Olaf Tree Feller was the son of the Swedish king Ingjald Ill-ruler of the House of Yngling according to Ynglingatal.-Heimskringla:...

 (Ólafr Trételgja). But Af Upplendinga Konungum claims that Olaf's wife Sölva was the sister of King Sölvi the Old.

By his wife Hild, Raum became father of four legitimate sons: Gudröd, Hauk (Haukr) or Höd (Hǫðr), Hadding (Haddingr), and Hring (Hringr).

Descendants of Gudbrand

Gudbrand inherited the valley Gudbrandsdal
Gudbrandsdal
The Gudbrandsdalen is a valley and traditional district in the Norwegian county of Oppland. The valley is oriented in a north-westerly direction from Lillehammer at Mjøsa, extending 230 km toward Romsdal...

 from his father Raum. King Gudbrand was father of King Audleif (Auðleifr), father of King Gudmund (Guðmundr), father of Gudbrand who rejected the title of king but called himself Jarl instead, and yet was the most powerful Jarl in the northern lands. Jarl Gudbrand's son was Jarl Geirmund (Geirmundr), father of Jarl Hródgeir (Hróðgeirr), father of Gudbrand who rejected the title of Jarl and called himself hersir 'lord' as did his descendants.

Descendants of Jötunbjörn

Jötunbjörn the Old inherited Raums Dale from his father King Raum. (Raums Dale is the modern district of Romsdal
Romsdal
Romsdal is the name of a traditional district in the Norwegian county Møre og Romsdal, located between Nordmøre and Sunnmøre. The district of Romsdal comprises Aukra, Fræna, Midsund, Molde, Nesset, Rauma, Sandøy, and Vestnes. It is named for the valley of Romsdalen, which covers part of Rauma.The...

 in the county of Møre og Romsdal
Møre og Romsdal
is a county in the northernmost part of Western Norway. It borders the counties of Sør-Trøndelag, Oppland and Sogn og Fjordane. The county administration is located in Molde, while Ålesund is the largest city.-The name:...

. Jötunbjörn was father of King Raum, father of Hrossbjörn (Hrossbjǫrn), father of Orm Broken-shell (Ormr Skjelamoli), father of Knatti who had two sons: Thórolf (Þórolfr) and Ketil Raum (Ketill Raumr). A variant of this genealogy appears at the beginning of the Vatnsdæla saga in which Ketil the Large is the direct son of Orm Broken-shell with no mention of either Knatti or of Ketil's brother Thórolf. Also nothing is said of Jötunbjörn's ancestry, only that he was from the north of Norway.
The Hversu then relates that Thórolf was father of Helgi, the father of Bersi, the father of Thormód (Þormóðr), the father of Thórlaug (Þórlaugr) who was the mother of Tungu-Odd (Tungu-Oddr). In the Landnámabók (1:15) it is said that two brothers whose ancestry is not given settled the Akraness in Iceland between Kalman's river (Kalmansár) and Char river (Aurridaár). One was Thormod who settled the land to the south of Reymir, and dwelt at Holm; he was the father of Bersi and Geirlaug, the mother of Tungu-Odd (Tungu-Oddr). The other was named Ketil. Further information appears in the Landnámabók (1.20). Tungu-Odd is a major character in Hænsna-Thóris saga (Hen-Thórir's saga). Geirlaug rather than Thorlaug is the name of Tungu-Odd's mother in all accounts except for that of the Hversu.

Descendants of Finnálf the Old

According to the Hversu, Finnalf inherited the land of East Dale (Eystri-Dal, probably the modern Dal
Dalsland
Dalsland is a Swedish traditional province, or landskap, situated in Götaland in southern Sweden. Lying to the west of Lake Vänern, it is bordered by Värmland to the north, Västergötland to the southeast, Bohuslän to the west, and Norway to the northwest....

) and all the land north of Lake Vænir (modern Lake Vänern
Vänern
Vänern is the largest lake in Sweden, the largest lake in the EU and the third largest lake in Europe after Ladoga and Onega in Russia. It is located in the provinces of Västergötland, Dalsland, and Värmland in the southwest of the country.- History :...

) from the Gaut Elf river (the modern Göta älv
Göta älv
The Göta is a river that drains lake Vänern into the Kattegat at the city of Gothenburg on the western coast of Sweden. It is located in Götaland, with the river itself being a site of early Geatish settlement. The length is 93 km. Often the combination of Göta älv and Klarälven is mentioned...

 river) north to the Raum Elf river (the modern Glomma
Glomma
The Glomma or Glåma is the longest and largest river in Norway. The long river has a drainage basin that covers a full 13% of Norway's area, all in the southern part of Norway.-Geography:...

 river), and that the land was then called Álfheim.

Finnálf married Svanhild (Svanhildr) who was called Gold-feather (Gullfjǫðr) and was the daughter of Day (Dagr) son of Dayspring (Dellingr) by Sun (Sól) daughter of Mundilfari
Mundilfari
In Norse mythology Mundilfari or Mundilfäri is the father of Sól, associated with the Sun, and Máni, associated with the Moon. Mundilfari is attested in the Poetic Edda poem Vafþrúðnismál stanza 23, and in chapter 11 of the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning...

. Dag as a personification of day and the sun-goddess Sól are mentioned elsewhere, but only the Hversu mentions their daughter. Svanhild bore Finnálf a son named Svan the Red (Svanr inn rauðr) who was father of Sæfari, father of Úlf (Úlfr), father of Álf, father of Ingimund (Ingimundr) and Eystein (Eysteinn).

According to the eddic poem Hyndluljód (stanza 12), Óttar, whose genealogy is the subject of this poem, was son of Innstein (Innsteinn), son of Álf the Old, son of Úlf, son of Sæfari, son of Svan the Red. So the Innstein of the Hyndluljód and Eystein of the Hversu are presumably identical.

Descendants of Gudröd

Gudröd, Raum's eldest legitimate son, inherited the largest portion of his father's lands. Gudröd's son was Eystein the Wicked (Eysteinn illráði) who conquered part of Trondheim
Trøndelag
Trøndelag is the name of a geographical region in the central part of Norway, consisting of the two counties Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag. The region is, together with Møre og Romsdal, part of a larger...

 and set his son Önund over it. When Önund was killed in a revolt, Eystein made his dog, Saur
Saur
The Dog king is a Scandinavian tradition which appears in several Scandinavian sources: Chronicon Lethrense, Annals of Lund, Gesta Danorum , Heimskringla , Hversu Noregr byggðist and probably also in Skáldatal.The Chronicon Lethrense and Annals of Lund tell that on the death of the 6th century...

, king of the territory. The tale is also told more fully as a deed of long ago in the Saga of Hakon the Good in 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...

where Eystein (no parentage given) is said to be King of the Uplands in Norway, part of the modern county of Oppland
Oppland
is a county in Norway, bordering Sør-Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The county administration is in Lillehammer. Oppland is, together with Hedmark, one of the only two landlocked counties of Norway....

. See Snær
Snær
Snær Snærr, East Norse Sniō, Latin Nix, Nivis) 'snow', in Norse mythology seemingly a personification of snow, appearing in extant text as an euhemerized legendary Scandinavian king.-Icelandic tradition:...

for another use of the dog king motif.

Descendants of Höd

Höd ruled over Hadeland
Hadeland
Hadeland is a traditional district in the south-eastern part of Norway. It is located around the southern part of lake Randsfjorden in Oppland county, and consists of the municipalities of Gran, Jevnaker and Lunner. Hadeland occupies the area north of the hills of Nordmarka close to the Norwegian...

 (Haðaland). Höd was father of Höddbrodd (Hǫdbroddr). (The name Höd is identical to that born by the slayer of the god Baldr in other tales. And while the Höd of the Hversu is said to be father of a son named Höddbrodd, in Saxo Grammaticus
Saxo 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...

' 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...

(Book 3) Høtherus, the slayer of Balderus, is the son of Hothbrodus or Hothbroddus.)

The Hversu relates that Höddbrodd son of Höd was the father of Hrólf (Hrólf), father of Hrómund Beserk (Hrómundr beserkr), father of three children: Hámund (Hámundr), Haki, and Gunnlöd (Gunnlǫðr).

Hámund was Earl of Hordaland
Hordaland
is a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark and Rogaland. Hordaland is the third largest county after Akershus and Oslo by population. The county administration is located in Bergen...

 and father of Hrók the Black (Hrókr inn svartr) and Hrók the White (Hrókr inn hvítr). Haki was father of Hródgeir (Hróðgeirr), father of Haki Beserk. Gunnlöd was the mother of Ústein (Ústeinn) and Innstein (Innsteinn). In Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka ('The saga of Hálf and his heroes'), the two brothers named Hrók and the brothers Útstein (Útstein) and Instein play prominent roles. This saga nameds the father of Útstein (Útstein) and Instein as a Jarl named Álf the Old of Hordaland, which is one of Hálf's kingdoms.

Hrók the Black was the father of Gunnlöd (Gunnlǫðr) the mother of Hrómund Grip's son, the protagonist of Hrómundar saga Gripssonar ('Saga of Hrómund Grip's son'). Two sons of Hrómund named Björnólf (Bjǫrnólfr) and Hróald (Hróaldr) appear among the first Norse settlers in Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

 in the Landnámabók (1.3) and are mentioned in other sagas.

Descendants of Hadding

The Hversu tells that Hadding son of Raum ruled over Haddingjadal and Telemark
Telemark
is a county in Norway, bordering Vestfold, Buskerud, Hordaland, Rogaland and Aust-Agder. The county administration is in Skien. Until 1919 the county was known as Bratsberg amt.-Location:...

 (Þelamörk). He was father of son also named Hadding, who himself was father of another Hadding, father of Högni the Red. The Hversu then comments cryptically that after him the three Haddings (Haddingjar) took power, that they ruled one after the other, and that Helgi Hadding-prince (Haddingjaskati) was one of them.

The Haddingjar
Haddingjar
The Haddingjar refers on the one hand to legends about two brothers by this name, and on the other hand to possibly related legends based on the Hasdingi, the royal dynasty of the Vandals...

are otherwise known as two of the sons of Arngrim
Arngrim
Arngrim was a berserker, who figures in Hervarar saga, Gesta Danorum, Lay of Hyndla, a number of Faroese ballads and Orvar-Odd's saga in Norse mythology.-Hervarar saga:...

 of which the fullest account is 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...

and are certainly not the Haddingjar spoken of by the Hversu. (But some suspect all references to the Haddingjar are garblings of old traditions about the divine twins.) Helgi Haddingjaskati is mentioned in the prose epilogue to the eddic poem Helgavida Hundingsbana II which states that Helgi Hundingsbane
Helgi Hundingsbane
Helgi Hundingsbane is a hero in Norse sagas. Helgi appears in Volsunga saga and in two lays in the Poetic Edda named Helgakviða Hundingsbana I and Helgakviða Hundingsbana II. The Poetic Edda relates that Helgi and his mistress Sigrún were Helgi Hjörvarðsson and Sváva of the Helgakviða...

 and his 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...

 and his lover Sigrún
Sigrún
Sigrún is a valkyrie in Norse mythology. Her story is related in Helgakviða Hundingsbana I and Helgakviða Hundingsbana II, in the Poetic Edda...

 were afterwards reincarnated as Helgi Haddingjaskati and Kára
Kára
In Norse mythology, Kára is a valkyrie. Kára is attested in the prose epilogue of the Poetic Edda poem Helgakviða Hundingsbana II. The epilogue details that "there was a belief in the pagan religion, which we now reckon an old wives' tale, that people could be reincarnated," and that the deceased...

 as told in the Káraljód (Káraljóðr), a poem no longer extant. A version of this tale survives only in Hrómundar saga Gripssonar
Hrómundar saga Gripssonar
Hrómundar saga Gripssonar or The Saga of Hromund Gripsson is a legendary saga from Iceland. The original version has been lost, but its content has been preserved in the rímur of Hrómundr Gripsson published in Fernir forníslenzkar rímnaflokkar...

in which the Haldingjar are two concurrent kings of Sweden and Helgi is their champion. Helgi conquers in part through the magic of his lover, the sorceress Kára, who appears in the form of a swan. When Helgi accidentally kills her, he meets his own doom and the Halding kings flee. Haldingjar seems to a garblings of Haddingjar. The Hversu account probably indicates a version in which both Helgi and the two Haddingjar proper (probably here the sons of Högni the Red) were all three called Haddingjar and ruled in rotation. Also, in the text the name of Helgi's lover actually appears as Cára, which should have been normalized as Kára. But Cára was instead misread and transcribed as Lára in Jónsson and Vilhjálmsson's Fornaldarsögur Norðurlanda and so appears in most later discussion.

Descendants of Hring

Raum's son Hring was the eponym and ruler of Ringerike
Ringerike
oskar er kjempe kulRingerike is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Ringerike...

 (Ringeríki) and also ruled Valdres
Valdres
Valdres is a traditional district in central, southern Norway, situated between Gudbrandsdal and Hallingdal.Administratively, Valdres belongs to Oppland. It consists of the municipalities Nord-Aurdal, Sør-Aurdal, Øystre Slidre, Vestre Slidre, Vang and Etnedal. The main town in the region is...

 (a valley of modern Oppland
Oppland
is a county in Norway, bordering Sør-Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The county administration is in Lillehammer. Oppland is, together with Hedmark, one of the only two landlocked counties of Norway....

). Hring married the daughter of a sea-king named Vifil (Vifill) by whom he was the father of Halfdan the Old (Hálfdan gamli). See Halfdan the Old
Halfdan the Old
Halfdan the Old was an ancient, legendary king from whom descended many of the most notable lineages of legend...

to follow this lineage further.

Alternative spellings

Alternative Anglicizations are: Álf: Alf ; Álfheim: Alfheim ; Bergdís: Bergdis ; Björn: Bjorn ; Björnólf: Bjornolf ; Finnálf: Finnalf ; Gudröd: Gudrod ; Gunnlöd: Gunnlod ; Hálf: Half ; Halfdan: Hálfdan ; Hámund: Hamund ; Hródgeir: Hrodgeir ; Hrossbjörn: Hrossbjorn ; Högni: Hogni ; Höd: Hod, Hodr, Hoder, Hother ; Höddbrodd: Hoddbrodd ; Hróald: Hroald ; Hrók the Black: Rook the Black ; Hrók the White: Rook the White ; Hrólf: Hrolf ; Hrómund: Hromund ; Jötunbjörn: Jotunbjorn ; Kára: Kara ; Ketil Raum: Ketil the Large ; Lára: Lara ; Ólaf: Olaf ; Önund: Onund ; Raumaríki: Raumarike, Raumarik, Raum's-ric ; Sæfari: Saefari ; Sigrún: Sigrun ; Sól: Sol ; Sóleyjar: Soleyjar ; Sölva: Solva ; Sólveig: Solveig ; Sölvi: Solvi ; Thórolf: Thorolf ; Thrym: Thrymr ; Úlf: Ulf ; Útstein: Utstein.
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