The Saga of Hrólf Kraki: Difference between revisions

 

 

 

King Helgi of [[Useful Notes/Denmark|Denmark]], of the famous Skjöldung line, is an accomplished [[Horny Vikings|Viking]] raider. On one of these raids, Helgi rapes Queen Oluf of the Saxons. Years later, on another foray to Saxony, he kidnaps a beautiful shepherd girl, Yrsa. He marries her. Queen Oluf waits until Yrsa is pregnant, then reveals to Helgi that Yrsa is his own daughter.

By design or coincidence, Hrolf Kraki has several similarities to the [[King Arthur]] story: Like Arthur, Hrolf is born from a scandalous relationship as the offspring of a brave but morally defective father whom he never gets to know; and like Arthur, he does not so much excel in heroic feats himself, but lets his trusty band of heroes do the grunt work. Like Arthur, Hrolf has a sorcerous half-sister who is only part human, hates her brother, and eventually is the reason for his destruction. It also goes with the Arthur parallels that Hrolf spends much time in the background while the narrative focuses on the adventures of his famous champions, the most prodigious of whom is the near-invincible Bödvar Bjarki. Other champions that have their own stories are Svipdag the Swede, a former retainer of King Adils, and Hjalti, who grows from Bödvar Bjarki’s wimpy sidekick into a kickass hero in his own right.

 

 

''Hrolf Kraki's Saga'' is also the name of a novel by [[Poul Anderson]], a retelling of ''Hrólfs saga kraka'' augmented by various other sources on King Hrolf, such as Saxo Grammaticus’ ''Gesta Danorum'' and the ''Prose Edda''.

* [[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.

* [[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.

* [[Expecting Someone Taller]]: When Vögg meets King Hrolf the first time, he is much surprised that Hrolf is so short and lean.

* [[Eyepatch of Power]]: Svipdag is one-eyed after his battle with Adils' berserkers.