The Waking of Angantyr
Encyclopedia
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 which is sometimes included in editions of 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...
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The poem is about the shieldmaiden
Shieldmaiden
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...
Hervor
Hervor
Hervor is the name of two female characters in the cycle of the magic sword Tyrfing, presented in Hervarar saga with parts found in the Poetic Edda. The first Hervor was the daughter of Angantyr...
and her visiting her father 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....
's ghost at his 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...
. She does so in order to make him give her heirloom, the cursed sword Tyrfing
Tyrfing
Tyrfing or Tirfing was a magic sword in Norse mythology, which figures in a poem from the Poetic Edda called Hervararkviða, and in Hervarar saga...
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The French poet Leconte de Lisle
Charles-Marie-René Leconte de Lisle
Charles Marie René Leconte de Lisle was a French poet of the Parnassian movement.-Life:Leconte de Lisle was born on the island of Réunion. His father, an army surgeon, who brought him up with great severity, sent him to travel in the East Indies with a view to preparing him for a commercial life...
adapted the Hervararkviða as he wrote a poem entitled L’Épée d’Angantyr ("Angantyr's sword").