Скандинав аңыздағы трагедиялық қаһарман – Ирса

Tragic heroine of early Scandinavian literature
a figure of the Scandinavian literature

Yrsa, Yrse, Yrs or Urse (fl. 6th century) was a tragic heroine of early Scandinavian legend. She appears in several versions relating to her husband, the Swedish king Eadgils, and/or to her father and rapist/lover/husband Halga (the younger brother of King Hrothgar who received aid from Beowulf) and their son Hrólfr Kraki. The common claim in Beowulf studies that Hrólfr Kraki probably was the son of Halga is taken from the Yrsa tradition. Several translators (e. g. Burton Raffel) and scholars have emended her name from a corrupt line (62) in the manuscript of Beowulf, although this is guesswork.

The name Yrsa is not known from other Norse sources and may be derived from Latin Ursus ("bear"). It has been suggested that if she had any historic antecedent, she may have been Frankish and captured by Helgi in one of his raids. Scholars have noted chronological inconsistencies, in the traditions on Yrsa, in studies on whether there is a historical background. When Aðils was old enough to marry, Yrsa would already have been rather old, and they would have married for political reasons. According to a theory, she would have been the sister of Helgi, and before marrying Aðils, she would have been the wife of his brother Áli. In this way an emended line in Beowulf (1. 62) would be explained.

In Hrólfr Kraki's saga, Helgi (i. e. Halga) went to the Saxons wanting to woo their warlike Queen Oluf. She was, however, not interested and humiliated Helgi by shaving his head and covering him with tar, while he was asleep, and sending him back to his ship. Some time later, Helgi returned and through a ruse, he kidnapped the queen for a while during which time he made her pregnant. Having returned to her kingdom, the queen bore a child, a girl which she named Yrsa after her dog. Yrsa was sent to live as a shepherd, until she was 12 years old, when she met her father Helgi who fell in love with her, not knowing it was his daughter. Oluf kept quiet about the parentage and saw it as her revenge that Helgi would wed his own daughter. Helgi and Yrsa had the son Hrólfr Kraki (Hroðulf). Learning that Helgi and Yrsa lived happily together, Queen Oluf travelled to Denmark to tell her daughter the truth. Yrsa was shocked and although Helgi wanted their relationship to remain as it was, Yrsa insisted on leaving him to live alone. She was later taken by the Swedish king Aðils (Eadgils) as his queen, which made Helgi even unhappier. Missing Yrsa, Helgi went to Uppsala to fetch her, but was killed by Aðils in battle. Yrsa was naturally upset that the man who was closest to her was killed by her husband, and promised Aðils that his berserkers would all be slain if she could help it. She was no happier in the king's company and she was not interested in making up with him either. Later, when a young Swedish warrior named Svipdag arrived to test his skills, she greatly supported him in his fights with the berserkers who eventually were all slain. Svipdag chose not to remain with King Eadils and instead he sought service with Yrsa's son Hrólfr who had succeeded Helgi as the king of Denmark. After some time, when Aðils owed Hrólfr not only the gold he had taken from Helgi during the battle, but also tribute for his help fighting king Áli (i. e. Onela of Beowulf) in the Battle on the Ice of Lake Vänern, Hrólfr arrived at Uppsala to gather his tribute. Aðils did his best to stop Hrólfr through different ruses, but had to go away to gather reinforcements. While the Swedish king was gone, Yrsa provided her son with more gold than was due to him. Then she gave Hrólfr and his men twelve of the Swedish king's best horses (Aðils was famous for his well bred horses), and all the armour and provisions they needed. Hrólfr took a fond farewell of his mother and departed over the Fyrisvellir. When they saw Aðils and his warriors in pursuit, they spread the gold behind themselves. Aðils saw his precious Svíagris on the ground and stooped to pick it up with his spear, whereupon Hrólfr cut his back with his sword and screamed in triumph that he had bent the back of the most powerful man in Sweden. Later, Hrólfr was killed by his brother in law Hjörvarðr (i. e. the Heoroweard of Beowulf) through treason and when the battle was over Hrólfr's sister the half elven Skuld ruled Denmark. Yrsa exacted revenge by sending a large Swedish army led by Vogg who captured Skuld before she could summon her army. Skuld was tortured to death and Hrólfr's daughters took over the rule of Denmark. This account resembles that of the Gesta Danorum, but is more elaborate. A notable difference is that Yrsa is no longer Danish but Saxon, and that Yrsa stayed in Sweden, when her son Hroðulf fled Eadgils with the gold.

The Skjöldunga saga relates that Helgo (Halga) was the king of Denmark together with his brother Roas (Hroðgar). Helgo raped Olava, the queen of the Saxons, and she bore a daughter named Yrsa. The girl later married king Adillus (Eadgils), the king of Sweden. Yrsa and Adillus had the daughter Scullda. Some years later, Helgo attacked Sweden and captured Yrsa. He raped Yrsa, his own daughter, and took her back to Denmark, where she bore the son Rolfo (Hroðulf). After a few years, Yrsa's mother, Queen Olava, came to visit her and told her that Helgo was her own father. In horror, Yrsa returned to Adillus, leaving her son behind. Helgo died when Rolfo was eight years old, and Rolfo succeeded him, and ruled together with his uncle Roas. Not much later, Roas was killed by his half brothers Rærecus and Frodo (Froda), whereupon Rolfo became the sole king of Denmark. In Sweden, Yrsa and Adillus married their Scullda to the king of Öland, Hiørvardus (also called Hiorvardus and Hevardus, and who corresponds to Heoroweard in Beowulf). As her half brother Rolfo was not consulted about this marriage, he was infuriated and he attacked Öland and made Hiørvardus and his kingdom tributary to Denmark. Adillus requested Rolfo's aid against the Norwegian king Ale (Onela). Rolfo sent his berserkers, but when the war had been won, Adillus refused to pay. Rolfo came to Uppsala and after some adventures he could flee with Adillus' gold, helped by his mother Yrsa, and he "sowed" it on the Fyrisvellir. This account differs from Hrólf Kraki's saga in the respect that Yrsa was first peacefully married to Eadgils, and later captured by Halga, who raped her and made her pregnant with Hroðulf. In Hrólfr Kraki's saga, she was first captured by Halga who had Hroðulf with him. Learning that Halga was her father, she returned to Saxland from where Eadgils kidnapped her. In Hrólfr Kraki's saga, Helgi dies when more or less trying to save her from Eagdils, while the Skjöldunga saga presents her marriage with Eadgils as a happier one, and Halga died in a different war expedition.

The Skjöldunga saga and slept with Thore, the daughter of one of Ro's farmers. This resulted in Yrse. Much later, he met Yrse, and without knowing that she was his daughter, he made her pregnant with Rolf Krage. Lastly, he found out that Yrse was his own daughter, went east and killed himself. Ro is the same personage as Hroðgar, who received Beowulf at Heorot. His co king Helghe is the same as Hroðgar's brother Halga, and Rolf Krage is the same personage as Hroðgar's nephew Hroðulf. However, in Beowulf, it is never explained in what way they were uncle and nephew.

The Gesta Danorum (Book 2) reports that Helgo was the brother of the Danish King Ro, but whereas Ro was king of the Danish lands, Helgo had inherited the sea. One day during his sea roving, arrived at Thurø, where he found and raped the young girl Thora, who became pregnant with Urse. When Helgo, after many years, returned to Thurø, Thora avenged her lost virginity by sending Urse to Helgo who, unknowingly, raped his own daughter. This resulted in Roluo Kraki. During a Swedish invasion, Ro was killed by Hothbrodd, the King of Sweden. Helgo avenged his brother's death and made the Swedes pay tribute. However, he then chose to commit suicide due to his shame for his incestuous relationship with Urse, and their son Roluo Kraki succeeded him. Athislus, the new King of Sweden, thought that the tribute to the Daner might be smaller if he married the Danish king's mother, and so took Urse for his queen. However, after some time, Urse was so upset with the Swedish king's greediness that she thought out a ruse to run away from the king and at the same time liberate him of his wealth. She incited Athislus to rebel against Roluo, and arranged so that Roluo would be invited and promised a wealth in gifts. When the banquet had lasted for three days, Urse and Roluo escaped from Uppsala, early in the morning in carriages where they had put all the Swedish king's treasure. In order to lessen their burden, and to occupy any pursuing warriors they spread gold in their path, although there was a rumour that she only spread gilded copper. When Athislus, who was pursuing the escapers saw that a precious ring was lying on the ground, he bent down to pick it up. Roluo was pleased to see the King of Sweden bent down, and escaped in the ships with his mother. This account is more elaborate than that of Chronicon Lethrense and Annales Lundenses. Helgo is the same personage as Helghe/Halga. His brother the Danish King Ro is the same as Hroðgar, Roluo is the same as Hroðulf/Rolf Krage, and the Swedish King Athislus is the same as Eadgils, the Swedish king of Beowulf. Yrse is here called Urse, and the story of her son fleeing the Swedish king with all his treasure is also found in the following accounts. It is noteworthy that all the Danish sources, Chronicon Lethrense, Annales Lundenses and Gesta Danorum differ on where Halga found Yrsa, but make her Danish. The Icelandic sources that follow make her a Saxon, on the other hand, and not Danish.

A personage named Yrsa is voiced by Leslie Harter Zemeckis (Robert Zemeckis' wife) in the 2007 animated version of Beowulf. Her only role in the movie is to be courted by the Geatish warrior Hondscio.