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List of legendary kings of Denmark

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The legendary kings of Denmark were, according to legend, the monarchs of Denmark, the Danes, or specific lands of Denmark (Zealand, Jutland or Scania) who preceded Gorm the Old, a king who reigned c. 930s to c. 960s and is the earliest reliably attested Danish ruler. Gorm's son, Harald Bluetooth, oversaw the widespread Christianization of Denmark, meaning that the legendary kings listed here are those from before Christianization and are predominantly (but not entirely) pagan. Earlier kings may be partly historical (especially those near to Gorm's time), but are either semi-legendary or entirely mythological. Some are based on earlier euhemerised stories (that is, figures from mythological folktales were depicted as historical kings by medieval writers such as Saxo Grammaticus).

There are many medieval accounts of the Danish kings of the Dark Ages, and these accounts can be confusing and contradictory (although there is overlap and different sources can include the same kings). This article presents the legendary kings from each source separately.

Danish sources

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Adam of Bremen

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Adam of Bremen was an 11th century German chronicler. Although not Danish himself, he spent time in the court of the Danish king Svend Estridson. Adam claims to derive much of the information on Danish history from his Latin chronicle Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum ("Deeds of the Bishops of Hamburg") from conversations with Svend (whom he quotes verbatim in several places) and from information provided by Danish bishops.

Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum names several 10th century kings preceding Gorm the Old, as follows:[1][2][3]

  • Helge ("Heiligonem"), who reigned after the defeat of the Norsemen and was renowned for his justice and sanctity (book 1 chapter XLVIII)
  • Olaf ("Olaph"), a Swedish prince who conquered Denmark, succeeded Helge, and had many sons (book 1 chapters XLVIII and LII)
  • Chnuba and Gyrd ("Chnob et Gurd"), Olaf's sons who possessed the realm after his death (book 1 chapter XLVIII)
  • Sigeric ("Sigerich"), who succeeded after Olaf and his sons (book 1 chapter LII)
  • Harthacnut ("Hardegon", "Hardecnudth"), the son of "Svein"; Harthacnut came from "Nortmannia" and deprived Sigeric of the kingdom (book 1 chapters LII and LV)
  • Wrm (i.e. Gorm the Old, rendered in various manuscripts as "Vurm", "Wrm", "Worm", "Gorm", or "Gwyrm"), son of Harthacnut; described by Adam of Bremen as a "wyrm" who tried to eradicate Christianity in Denmark, but was succeeded by his son Harold who converted the country to that religion (book 1 chapters LV, LVII, LVIIII)

Chronicon Lethrense

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The earliest known chronicle of Danish kings to be written in Denmark was Chronicon Lethrense ("The Chronicle of Lejre"), which was composed by an unknown author, likely from Roskilde and transmitted as part of the Annales Lundenses (although it was likely originally a separate work). Chronicon Lethrense was written in the mid- to late-12th century, possibly alongside or as a sort of prequel to Chronicon Roskildense, which depicts historical kings after the Christianization of Denmark.

Chronicon Lethrense was hugely influential, and many subsequent chronicles were at least partly based on it. Almost all monarchs mentioned appear in subsequent chronicles, with the notable exception of two queens regnant, Asa and Hethae. It states that the first king of the Danes was a certain Dan (after whom the tribe was named), who was the son of a Swedish king named Ypper. This is said to be both when Augustus invaded Denmark and during the time of the Biblical King David, referring to two rulers who lived about a thousand years apart.

Chronicon Lethrense also explicitly conflates the kingdoms of Denmark with Dacia, a conceit that appears in the earlier works of Dudo of Saint-Quentin, and in subsequent works such as Historia Regum Britanniae (see below).

Monarchs in the Chronicon Lethrense are:[4]

Sven Aggesen

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Sven Aggesen was a 12th century Danish chronicler who wrote Brevis historia regum Dacie ("A Short History of the Kings of Denmark"). He was a contemporary of Saxo Grammaticus and noted in his writings that he was aware of Saxo's then-in progress work on the Gesta Danorum (see below), but also described himself (incorrectly) as the first writer to document the kings of Denmark.

Sven says that the first king of Denmark was Skiold, whose descendants are the Skioldungar. The line of kings continues from Skiold to Gorm the Old with only one break, between Ingiald and Olaf. It says, "After his [Ingeld's] time no son succeeded his father to the throne for a space of many centuries. It passed to grandsons, or nephews, who, to be sure, were sprung from the royal stock on the one side." It is unclear if this represents a gap in the lineage (i.e. that other unmentioned kings ruled between Ingeld and Olaf) or if Olaf succeeded Ingeld directly but began a period in which there was no direct father-to-son succession. The latter is possible given, for example, that Olaf took the throne by conquest, and that after Olaf the landowner Ennignup (possibly a reference to Gnupa) became guardian of the kingdom before Knut came to power. When first written, the chronicle was apparently accompanied by an extensive genealogy as an appendix, but this appendix has not survived.

Gesta Danorum

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Gesta Danorum ("Deeds of the Danes") by Saxo Grammaticus is the most extensive, and most widely known Danish chronicle of Danish kings. It was written in Latin in the 12th century, and comprises 16 books, of which the first 9 relate to legendary kings leading up to Gorm the Old, and the remaining 7 are more recent and historical. The work is explicitly euhemeristic, repeatedly referring to certain individuals (including Odin, Baldr, and Thor) as mortal humans that people believed to be, and worshipped as, gods.

Saxo draws on many sources for this work. In several places where the sources appear contradictory, he will adapt more than one version at different places in the timeline, often creating multiple individuals where earlier stories had only one. For example, instead of a single king named Gorm the Old, Saxo says there were three different kings named Gorm. Sigurd Hring appears as two different kings, Ringo and Siwardus Ring.

Name Consort(s) Claim Note(s)
Dan I Grytha Title created Did not actually rule as a king, but merely as a governor.
Humble Son of Dan I Elected as a king after the death of his father, however, he proved a weak ruler and was soon deposed by his brother.
Lother After deposing his brother, he resorted to tyranny and was killed while fighting a rebellion.
Skiold Alfhild Son of Lother Became king when younger than fifteen, renowned hunter and fighter, extraordinarily tall. Subjugated the Alemanni in order to marry a Saxon princess.
Gram Groa

Signe

Son of Skiod While his father was still alive, he invaded Sweden, and his father rewarded him by crowning him as co-ruler. Later, he was killed by Svipdagr, king of the Norwegians.
Svipdagr Daughter of Gram and Groa Son-in-law of Gram After Gram slew his father, he retired to Sweden and made peace with Gram when he agreed to marry his sister. Later, Gram abandoned his sister in favor of a Finnish princess, this prompted Svipdagr to continue the war, which eventually led to his victory, thus he took over Sweden and Denmark.
Guthorm Son of Gram
Nephew of Svipdagr		 Puppet king of Svipdagr.

Other Danish kings include:

In Book VI of Gesta Danorum, Saxo also refers to a certain Hakon as the tyrant of Denmark when describing the early years of the champion Starkad. However, Hakon does not appear to fit into the timeline or family tree of Danish rulers as described in the rest of Gesta Danorum.

Gesta Danorum på danskæ

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Gesta Danorum på danskæ, a work separate from Saxo's Gesta Danorum, is the earliest surviving chronicle of Danish kings that was written in the Danish language (then Old Norse). It is often referred to incorrectly as the Chronicon Lethrense in its English translation by Peter Tunstall.[4] This work is based on the kings list from the Codex Runicus, and includes kings not in the Chronicon Lethrense, such as:[6]

Beowulf

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The Old English epic poem Beowulf also mentions several Danish kings, in particular Hroðgar, whose hall Heorot is the main setting of the tale.

Icelandic sources

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Gróttasöngr

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The kings in the poem Gróttasöngr

  • Skjöldr
  • Friðleifr
  • Fróði

Skjöldunga saga (partial list)

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The kings of the saga of the Scylding family.

Sögubrot

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Sögubrot or Sǫgubrot af nokkrum fornkonungum Dana ok svíaveldi is an Old Icelandic saga fragment which is believed to be a part of the original Skjöldunga saga. The fragment begins in the middle of a discussion between the Scanian king Ivar Vidfamne and his daughter Auðr.

Kings of the whole of Denmark or individual Danish regions, which appear in Sögubrot:

  • Helgi, (joint ?) king of Zealand
  • Hrœrekr Ringslinger (brother of Helgi), king / (co-kingship) of Zealand
  • Ivar Vidfamne (the father-in-law of Hrœrekr), King of Scania – later King of Denmark, Sweden, Norway and parts of several adjoining countries.
  • Harald Wartooth (grandson of Ivar), he became king after Ivar (possibly identical with the "former" or "senior" King Harald mentioned in connection with the royal Danish brothers Anulo and Harald in the Royal Frankish Annals)
  • Hring or Sigurd Hring (nephew of Harald Wartooth), at first king of Sveariket (Beowulf: Swēorice; oldest Swedish form: Swerike), later also king of Denmark (could possibly be identical with king Sigfred).
  • At the end of Sögubrot is mentioned Ragnar (Ragnarr) as a son of Sigurd Hring. From other known sources it must be concluded that this Ragnarr is the famous Viking king Ragnar Lodbrok.

Ynglinga saga

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The kings of the saga of the Ynglinga family.

  • Skjöldr
  • ...
  • Frið-Fróði
  • ...
  • Danr hinn mikilláti
  • Fróði hinn mikilláti eða friðsami
  • Hálfdan
  • Friðleifr
  • Áli hinn frækni
  • ...
  • Fróði hinn frækni
  • ...
  • Helgi Hálfdanarson
  • Hrólfr kraki

Other sources

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Histories of the Franks

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The 6th century historian Gregory of Tours, in Book 3 of his Historia Francorum ("History of the Franks"), refers to a Danish king named Chlochilaicus, who led a raid into the Frankish Kingdoms during the reign of Theodericus I (511 to 534), and was killed in the counter-attack by Theodericus' son, Theodebertus.[7] The 8th century Liber Historiae Francorum tells the same story, referring to the Danish King as Chochilaicus. (The same story also appears in the 7th or 8th century Liber Monstrorum and in the poem Beowulf, but in these works the raiding Viking king is named Hygelac, and described as King of the Geats rather than King of the Danes.)[8]

Gesta Danorum refers to two characters named Huglecus, one as King of the Danes (see above), and another in Book VI as a King of the Irish who was attacked and defeated by the Danish forces of Hakon and Starkad.

Royal Frankish Annals

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The Royal Frankish Annals are a series of Latin annals of the Carolingian dynasty year-by-year between 741 to 829. Several annals refer to kings of the Danes, as follows:

  • Sigfred ("Sigifrid"): In 782, King Sigfred sends a group of "Nordmanni", Halptani and his companions, to a synod held by Charlemagne. (Sigfred is not explicitly referred to as a king of the Danes in this work, but the others mentioned are.)
  • Gudfred ("Godofrid"): Gudfred was mentioned as King of the Danes in the annals of 804, 808, 809, and 810. His reign was characterised by a worsening relationship and finally conflict with Charlemagne's Franks. Gudfred was killed by one of his own companions in 810.
  • Hemming: Hemming was the son of Gudfred's brother, and became king in 810. He made peace with Charlemagne in 811. In 812, he was found dead.
  • Sigfred ("Sigifrid") and Anulo: Two rival claimants to the Danish throne in 812, Sigfred was a nephew of Gudfred and Anulo was a nephew of Harald ("Heriold"). Neither succeeded to the throne as both were killed in combat, but Anulo's faction won and the throne passed to his brothers Harald and Reginfrid.
  • Reginfrid: Reginfrid was co-king of Denmark with his brother Harald from 812. They petitioned the Emperor (Louis the Pious) to return their brother Hemming, but after he was returned in 813 they were attacked by Danish forces of the sons of Gudfred and forced into exile. In 814 they returned to retake the kingdom, but Reginfrid was killed.
  • Harald ("Hariold"): Harald initially ruled with his brother Reginfrid from 812. After being forced out of Denmark, and the death of his brother in 814, Harald sought refuge and support from the Emperor. He continued to harry his rivals, the sons of Gudfred, and in 817 they contacted the Emperor offering peace in exchange for Harald; the Emperor refused. The Emperor helped him retake Denmark in 819 (two sons of Gudfred defected to him). He remained in conflict with them as mentioned in 821, 822 and 823. In 826, he was baptised as a Christian in St. Alban's. He was forced out of the country in 827.
  • Horik ("Hohric"): One of the sons of Gudfred who took control of Denmark in 813 and battled with Harald for it until 827, Horik is only mentioned in the annal for 827, before the annals conclude in 829.

Historia Regum Britanniae

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Book III of the 12th century Historia Regum Britanniae by Geoffrey of Monmouth refers to a King of the Dacians named Guichtlac. As mentioned above in the section on Chronicon Lethrense, the Danes and Dacians had been conflated by European historians since at least the works of Dudo of Saint-Quentin over a century earlier. In Geoffrey's tale, Guichtlac had been in love with the daughter of Elsingius the King of Norway, but instead she married Brennius, then King of Northumberland and the brother and rival of Belinus, King of the Britons. After a sea battle, Guichtlac and the lady were washed up in Britain and captured by Belinus. After Brennius defeated Belinus in battle and became King of the Britons, Guichtlac promised to submit Dacia (Denmark) to Brennius and pay yearly tribute if he was given leave to return to Dacia with his mistress, which was granted.

Others

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Multiple sources

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Many kings are mentioned by multiple sources, but are for various reasons still considered more legendary than historical kings of Denmark

  • Harthacnut (Hardeknud) (c. 916 – c. 936), the father of Gorm the Old according to multiple sources. The main question is whether he was king of Denmark or only king of some part of Denmark. His parentage is also disputed, as either from an unknown king Sweyn, or from either Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye or king Erik, both said to be children of Ragnar Lodbrok.
  • Sigtrygg Gnupasson, either deposed c. 916 by Harthacnut or contemporary, depending on sources. Likely had base in Schleswig, but the extent of his realm is unknown. Son of Gnupa.
  • Gnupa (early 900s). Father of Sigtrygg. According to one source he shared power with his brother Gyrd. According to the Saga of Olaf Tryggvason, he was defeated as one of the minor border kings by Gorm when he united Denmark, though that conflicts with Gnupa's son being deposed by Gorm's father according to other sources.
  • Olof the Brash conquered Denmark (or part of Denmark) c. 900.
  • Helgi, supposedly deposed by Olaf the Brash.
  • Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye (Sigurd Orm-i-øje or Snogeøje) became king of Zealand and Scania according to the sagas, perhaps correctly named Sigfred and co-ruling as king of Denmark with his brother Halfdan Ragnarsson (d. 877). Mentioned by Chronicon Roskildense and Ragnarssona þáttr. Son of Ragnar Lodbrok.
  • Halfdan Ragnarsson (c. 871 – 877), son of Ragnar Lodbrok and older brother of Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye. Leader of the so called Great Heathen Army of the Anglo-Saxon sources, in 870 and 871. King Bagsecg joined him to become the co-leader of the Great Summer Army of 870 but Bagsecg was killed in battle with the English in January 871. Halfdan succeeded Bagsecg as king of Jutland.
  • Bagsecg, Danish king who came to England and was killed in 871.
  • Horik II, king from about 854 until about 870.
  • Horik I, co-ruler of Denmark from 813, the sole king of Denmark c. 828 to 854. Son of Gudfred.
  • Harald Klak, 812 to 813 and 819 to 827, a period of civil war with the sons of Gudfred. Nephew of an earlier Harald.
  • Hemming, c. 810 to c. 812. Nephew of Gudfred. Brother of Ragnvald, Håkon and Angantyr.
  • Gudfred (Godfred or Gøtrik), a Danish king c. 804 to 810. Said to be father of Ogier the Dane (Holger Danske); possibly the son of Sigfred.
  • Ragnar Lodbrok was a legendary king, allegedly flourishing before 865. He is mentioned in multiple sources, but the sources are wildly inconsistent. There is no historical record of anyone named Ragnar ruling Denmark in the 9th century. However his sons Halfdan Ragnarsson and Sigurd Snake-In-the-Eye may have become kings of Denmark, while his son Bjorn Ironside became king of Sweden and Uppsala according to various late sagas.
  • Sigfred, Danish king c. 770 to c. 804. Possibly the historical basis for Sigurd Hring. Reported to have assisted the Saxons against Charlemagne.
  • Harald Wartooth (Harald Hildetand), legendary king of Denmark, Sweden and parts of Norway, sometimes assigned to c. 715 to c. 770. Mentioned in multiple sources. According to one source his conquests reached as far as the Mediterranean. Said to be grandfather of Ragnar Lodbrok.
  • Ongendus was a king of the Danes, reigning c. 710, the first Danish king known from contemporary literature.
  • Randver, sometimes assigned to the early 700s. Son of Valdar (or Radbard) according to late sagas; fell in England.
  • Valdar, sometimes assigned to the early 700s. Son-in-law of Ivar Vidfamne and sub-king in Denmark according to the late sagas.
  • Ivar Vidfamne, sometimes assumed to have died in c. 700. The Viking sagas say that Ivar Vidfamne ruled over most of Denmark, Sweden, Saxland and even parts of England.

Rig and Scylding line

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Early kings of the Rig and Scylding lines, mentioned by multiple sources

After Hrólf Kraki no two sources give the same succession.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Sven Estridsen (in Adam of Bremen), by Mischa Hooker of Augustana College, with text and translation
  2. ^ Gorm of Denmark and his immediate predecessors based on the earliest authorities, compiled by Stewart Baldwin
  3. ^ Latin text of Adam of Bremen's Gesta Hammburgensis ecclesiae pontificum from B. Schmeidler, 3rd ed., MGH SRG 2 (1917)
  4. ^ a b Chronicon Lethrense, with translation and commentary by Mischa Hooker of Augustana College
  5. ^ Saxo Grammaticus, ed. Hilda Ellis Davidson, p. 165.
  6. ^ The Chronicle of the Kings of Lejre, ed. Peter Tunstall.
  7. ^ Gregory of Tours, Decem Libri Historiarum III 3 at The Latin Library
  8. ^ Explanatory notes to Beowulf, "1204-1216, 2355f., 2502-2509, 2915-2920: Hygelac's raid on Frisia", including Historia Francorum, Liber Historiae Francorum and Liber Monstrorum in Latin and in English translation
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