The Saga of Hrólf Kraki: Difference between revisions

* [[Baleful Polymorph]]: Prince Bjorn, son of a king in Norway, is cursed by his sorcerous [[Wicked Stepmother]] to transform into a bear.

* [[The Berserker]]: Bödvar Bjarki in the battle of Hleidragard. "He stormed on as if he was insane."

* [[Catch and Return]]: The retainers in Hrolf’s hall provoke the newcomer Bödvar Bjarki by throwing bones at him. It doesn’t end well for them.

* [[Child by Rape]]: Queen Oluf gets pregnant with Yrsa after being raped by Helgi.

* [[Cinderella Circumstances]]: Yrsa is raised as a servant, without knowing that Queen Oluf is her mother.

* [[Cool Sword]]: Bödvar Bjarki's sword willed to him from his father is a supreme weapon, but it has also many magic limitations: If drawn, it can only be put back into the scabbard after having killed a man, and Bödvar is not allowed to put it under his head when sleeping, to whet it more than three times in his life, and to use it at all during certain intervals.

* [[Does Not Know His Own Strength]]: When the superhumanly strong Elk-Frodi is called out for maiming or killing other kids, he argues that it's not his fault that they are so frail.

* [[Depending on the Writer]]: ''Hrolfs saga'' makes it a point that Hrolf is physically unimpressive. This is the exact opposite of Hrolf’s description in ''Gesta Danorum'', where he is unusually tall and strong. ''Gesta Danorum'' has also the scene when Vögg (Wigg) wonders at Hrolf’s size – only he wonders at Hrolf being so big, while in ''Hrolfs saga'' he wonders that he is so ''short''.

* [[Named Weapon]]: Hrolf’s sword Skofnung, and Gullinhjalti ('Goldenhilt') which he gives to Hjalti.

* [[Only the Chosen May Wield]]: Bödvar Bjarki's father Bjorn leaves his three sons three weapons struck into a wall of rock. When the sons later arrive to retrieve the weapons, everyone of them can only take the one weapon intended for him: Elk-Frodi a short-sword, Thorir Dogfoot a battle-axe; only Bödvar can pull out the most precious weapon, a longsword.

* [[Retcon]]: ''Hrólfs saga'' describes a situation where Hrolf has twelve "champions" and twelve "berserkers" in his service, but a few decades prior, ''Snorra Edda'' was clear that Hrolf's twelve champions ''were'' Hrolf's twelve berserkers. An oversight of the author when making that change has left a slight [[Continuity Snarl]] in the expedition to Sweden, when the saga first says that Hrolf takes both the berserkers ''and'' the champions with him, but a little later it becomes clear that only the 'champions' are there.

* [[Same Sex Triplets]]: Elk-Frodi, Thorir Dogfoot, and Bodvar Bjarki.