Легендарлы Дания королі Хротгар

Legendary Danish king

Hrothgar ( ; ) was a semi legendary Danish king living around the early sixth century AD. Hrothgar appears in the Anglo Saxon epics Beowulf and Widsith, in Norse sagas and poems, and in medieval Danish chronicles. In both Anglo Saxon and Scandinavian tradition, Hrothgar is a Scylding, the son of Halfdan, the brother of Halga, and the uncle of Hrólfr Kraki. Moreover, in both traditions, the mentioned characters were the contemporaries of the Swedish king Eadgils; and both traditions also mention a feud with men named Fróði and Ingeld. The consensus view is that Anglo Saxon and Scandinavian traditions describe the same person.

Hrothgar, also rendered Hrōðgār, is an Old English form attested in Beowulf and Widsith, the earliest sources to mention the character. In non English sources, the name appears in more or less corresponding Old Icelandic, Old Danish, and Latinized versions. He appears as Hróarr, Hroar, etc., in sagas and poetry, and as Ro or Roe in the Danish Latin chronicles. The form Hrōðgār is thought to have derived from the proto Norse *Hrōþigaizaz "famous spear", i. e. Roger. The corresponding Old Norse name Hróarr and its variations are derived from *Hrōþigaizaz, and from the very close names *Hrōþiwarjaz "famous defender" or *Hrōþiharjaz "famous warrior".

Hrothgar appears in two Anglo Saxon poems, Beowulf and Widsith. Beowulf gives the fuller account of Hrothgar and how the Geatish hero Beowulf visited him to free his people from the trollish creature Grendel. Widsith only mentions Hrothgar, Heorot, his nephew Hroðulf and their enemy Ingeld, but can complete Beowulf in some cases where Beowulf does not give enough information. This is notably the case concerning the ending of his feud with Ingeld.

In the Scandinavian sources, consisting of Norse sagas, Icelandic poems and Danish chronicles, Hrothgar also appears as a Danish king of the Scylding dynasty. He remains the son of Healfdene and the elder brother of Halga. Moreover, he is still the uncle of Hroðulf. The Scandinavian sources also agree with Beowulf by making Hrothgar contemporary with the Swedish king Eadgils. These agreements with Beowulf are remarkable considering that these sources were composed from oral tradition 700 to 800 years after the events described, and 300 to 400 years later than Beowulf and Widsith. There are also notable differences. The Heaðobards Ingeld and Froda also appear in Scandinavian tradition, but their tribe, the Heaðobards, had long been forgotten, and instead the tribal feud was rendered as a family feud. Their relationship as father and son had also been reversed in some sources, and so either Ingeld or Froda is given as the brother of Healfdene. Ingeld or Froda murdered Healfdene, but was himself killed in revenge by Hrothgar and Halga. Moreover, in Scandinavian tradition, Hrothgar is a minor character in comparison to his nephew Hroðulf. Such differences indicate that Beowulf and Scandinavian sources represent separate traditions. The names of Hrothgar and others appear in the form they had in Old Icelandic or Latinized Old Danish at the time the stories were put to paper, and not in their Old English or more "authentic" Proto Norse forms. Among these sources, it is the most famous one, the Hrólfr Kraki's saga, which is most different from Beowulf, and a notable difference is that Hrothgar leaves the rule of Denmark to his younger brother Halga and moves to Northumbria. The focus is consequently on the Hrólfr Kraki's saga when a scholar questions the comparison of Hrothgar and other characters from Beowulf with counterparts in Scandinavian tradition. Scandinavian sources have added some information that appear in Beowulf studies, without having any founding in the work itself, such as the information that Halga was, or probably was, Hroðulf's father. Another example is the existence of a woman named Yrsa, who, however, has been transposed to a role she never had in any source texts, that of Hrothgar's sister.

In Icelandic sources, Hrothgar, Halga and Hroðulf appear under the Old Icelandic forms of their names; that is, as Hróarr, Helgi and Hrólfr, the last one with the epithet Kraki. In the case of the Skjöldunga saga ("Saga of the Scyldings") only a Latin summary has survived, and so their names are Latinized. The Icelandic sources can be divided into two groups: the Hrólfr Kraki's saga on the one hand, and the Skjöldunga saga and Bjarkarímur on the other. Both groups tell a version of Hrothgar and Halga's feud with Froda (Fróði) and Ingeld (Ingjaldr). However, whereas the Hrólfr Kraki's saga make Froda the brother of Healfdene, the Skjöldunga saga and Bjarkarímur make Ingeld the brother of Healfdene. Hrólfr Kraki's saga also disagrees with all the other works by moving Hrothgar from the throne of Denmark to Northumbria.

Hrólfr Kraki's saga relates that Halfdan has three children, Hróarr, Helgi, and the daughter Signý, who is married to Sævil Jarl. Halfdan has a brother named Fróði and both of them rule a kingdom, but Halfdan is good natured and friendly, whereas Fróði is savage. Fróði attacks and kills Halfdan and makes himself the king of a united Denmark. He then sets out to neutralize his nephews Hróarr and Helgi. However, the two brothers survive on an island, protected by a man called Vivil; and after some adventure they avenge their father by killing Fróði. Hróarr is presented as "meek and blithe", and he is completely removed from ruling the kingdom, leaving the rule to his brother Helgi. Instead he joins Norðri, the king of Northumberland, where he marries Ögn, the king's daughter. As recompense for Hróarr's share of the Danish kingdom, Helgi gives him a golden ring. Sævil Jarl's son Hrókr (Hróarr and Helgi's nephew) becomes jealous that he has not inherited anything from his grandfather Halfdan; he goes to his uncle Helgi to claim his inheritance. Helgi refuses to give him a third of Denmark, and so instead he goes to Northumbria to claim the golden ring. He asks Hróarr if he at least could have a look at the ring, whereupon he takes the ring and throws it into the water. Hróarr naturally becomes angry, and cuts off Hrókr's feet and sends him back to his ships. Hrókr cannot live with this, and so he returns with a large army and slays Hróarr. Helgi avenges his brother by also cutting off Hrókr's arms. Hróarr's son Agnar retrieves the ring by diving in the water, which gives him great glory. Agnar is said to have become greater than his father, and much talked of in the old sagas. Helgi attacks Sweden to retrieve Yrsa, his daughter and lover, but is killed by Aðils, the king of Sweden. He is succeeded by Hrólfr Kraki, his son by Yrsa. Although it agrees with all the other Scandinavian sources in telling the story of Halga's incestuous relationship with his daughter Yrsa, it disagrees with all of them and with Beowulf by removing Hrothgar altogether as the king of Denmark. Instead, his place is taken by his brother Halga, and Hrothgar is sent to Northumberland, where he marries Ögn, the daughter of a positively fictive king Norðri who is named after Northumberland (Norðimbraland). Opinion is divided on whether there is any connection between Hrothgar's wife Wealhþeow in Beowulf and his wife Ögn in Hrólfr Kraki's saga; it has been suggested that Ögn shows that Wealhþeow and her family (the Helmings) were Anglo Saxon. and Bjarkarímur and that he was buried in Lejre. However, before Ro's nephew Rolf Krage (Hroðulf), who was Helghe's son by his own daughter Yrse, could ascend the throne, the rule of Denmark was given to a dog, on the orders of the Swedish king Hakon/Athisl (that is, Eadgils). The Chronicon Lethrense and the Annales Lundenses agree with Beowulf in presenting Hrothgar (Ro) and his brother Halga (Helghe) as the sons of Healfdene (Haldan). They do not, however, contain a character description as Beowulf does; nor do they mention his spouse or his children. However, they introduce a sharing of power between Hrothgar and Halga where Halga only had power over the fleet. Hrothgar is reported as founding the town of Roskilde, which coincides with the information in Beowulf that he built Heorot. The information that Hroðulf (Rolf) was the result of an incestuous relationship between Halga and his daughter Yrse only appears in Scandinavian tradition. Like Beowulf, the Annales Lundenses makes Hrothgar the contemporary of Eadgils (Athisl), whereas the Chronicon Lethrense calls the Swedish king Hakon.

With the exception of Hversu Noregr byggdist, where he is only a name in a list, three elements are common to all of the accounts: he was the son of a Danish king Healfdene, the brother of Halga, and he was the uncle of Hroðulf. Apart from that, the Scandinavian tradition is unanimous in dwelling on the incestuous relationship between Halga and his daughter Yrsa which resulted in Hroðulf, a story which was either not presented in Beowulf or was not known to the poet. The Danish sources (Chronicon Lethrense, Annales Lundenses, Gesta Danorum) all agree with Beowulf by making Hrothgar the king of Denmark. The Icelandic (Skjöldunga saga, Bjarkarímur, Hrólf Kraki's saga) all agree with Beowulf by mentioning that they had a sister, and by mentioning their feud with Froda and Ingeld, albeit with alterations. What is unique to the Icelandic versions are the adventures of Hrothgar and Halga before one of the two brothers could become king. The similarities between Beowulf and the mentioned Scandinavian sources are by far not the only ones. Other personalities mentioned in Beowulf appear in the stories before and after dealing with Hrothgar, but for more, see origins for Beowulf and Hrólf Kraki.