Part 8 (2/2)

HROLF, 'the Swift-Handed': one of King Hrolf's champions, 32.

HROMUND, 'the Hard': one of Hrolf's champions, 32.

HVIT: daughter of King Finn, 17; taken as bride for King Hring, 17; asks that Bjorn be left home with her while Hring goes raiding, 18; [tries to seduce Bjorn, turns him into a bear when he rejects her, 19]; [urges killing of bear, 20; forces Bera to eat bear's flesh, 20]; tortured and killed by Bodvar, 22.

HVITSERK, 'the bold': son of Svip, who sends him to help his brother Svipdag, in dire straits in battle with berserkers, 14; [goes with Svipdag to join King Hrolf, 15]; in Hrolf's retinue, 24; with Hrolf in Adils' hall, 27; warned by Hjalti of attack by Hjorvard and Skuld, 32.

INGEBJORG: mother of Hvit, 17.

NORDRI: a king in England, 5; Hroar befriends him and marries his daughter Ogn, 5; wants to repulse Hrok, but too old, 8.

NORTHUMBERLAND: land where Hroar rules, 7, 8.

NORWAY: Hring, king in Norway, 17.

ODIN: [a voice (Odin?) welcomes home Frodi and his men, about to be killed, 4]; [as farmer HRANI, tests Hrolf's men with cold, thirst and heat, 26]; as Hrani, offers Hrolf weapons which he refuses, 30; Hrolf then realizes that Hrani was Odin, for he had only one eye, 30; Hrolf has lost the gift of victory henceforth, 30; Bodvar threatens that he would treat Odin abusively if he saw him, 33.

OGN: daughter of Nordri, 5; married to Hroar, 5; Hrok, when he has killed Hroar, seeks to marry her, 8; with child by Hroar, she appeals to Helgi for protection against Hrok, 8; has son Agnar, 9.

OLOF: warrior queen of Saxland, 6; disgraces Helgi when he seeks to marry her, 6; Helgi tricks and rapes Olof in return for her earlier insult to him, 7; she bears a daughter Yrsa by Helgi, 7; spitefully keeps silent about Yrsa's parentage when Helgi marries Yrsa, 7; reveals to Yrsa that she is incestuously married to her father, 10; receives Adils' proposal to marry Yrsa, 11.

REGIN: foster-father of Hroar and Helgi, hides them from Frodi, 1; creates confusion in Frodi's hall to give Hroar and Helgi a chance to escape, 3; gives them riddling hints how to destroy Frodi, 3; 'warns' Frodi in ambiguous punning verse of danger he is in, 4; joins in burning Frodi in his hall, 4; dies, 5; mentioned, 8.

SAEVIL: a jarl, husband of King Halfdan's daughter Signy, 1; Vifil sends Hroar and Helgi into hiding with Saevil, 2; Hroar and Helgi follow him in disguise to Frodi's hall, 3; he attempts to conceal their ident.i.ty, 3; joins Hroar and Helgi in burning Frodi in his hall, 4; has son Hrok, 5; dies, 8.

SAXLAND: land where warrior queen Olof rules 6, 7, 10; Yrsa takes refuge in Saxland from her incestuous marriage, 10.

SIGNY: daughter of King Halfdan, wife of Jarl Saevil, 1; recognizes her disguised brothers Hroar and Helgi, 3; attempts to forestall seeress from revealing their ident.i.ty to Frodi, 3; has son Hrok, 5; covets ring that Helgi owns, 7; [incites Hrok to demand ring, 8].

SIGRID: mother of Hroar and Helgi, 4; refuses to leave Frodi's hall and is burned inside, 4.

SKJOLDUNGS: dynasty to which Halfdan, Hroar and Helgi belong, 3; Skuld has fierceness of the Skjoldungs, 32.

SKOFNUNG: sword with which Hrolf cuts off Adils' b.u.t.tocks, 30; Hrolf fights with Skofnung in battle against Hjorvard and Skuld, 33; it rings when it touches bone, 33; sword buried with Hrolf, 34.

SKULD: Helgi's daughter by an elfin woman, 11; marries Hjorvard, 16; attacks Hrolf, 31, 32; fights Hrolf and his champions with witchcraft, 33; sends a great boar, 33; raises the dead to continue fighting, 33; wins battle, 34; rules Hrolf's kingdom until killed by army said to be led by Vogg, 34.

SKUR: daughter of King Hrolf, 15.

STOROLF: one of Hrolf's champions, 32.

SVIAGRIS, 'pig of the Swedes': a precious ring belonging to Adils, given to Hrolf by Yrsa, 29; Hrolf, pursued by Adils, throws down Sviagris, 30; Adils stoops to retrieve the ring, and Hrolf cuts off his b.u.t.tocks, 30.

SVIP: Swedish farmer, father of Svipdag, Beygad and Hvitserk, 14; has dream warning him that Svipdag is in trouble in battle, sends Beygad and Hvitserk to help him, 14; praises King Hrolf to his sons, 15.

SVIPDAG: son of farmer Svip, 14; joins Adils' retinue, 14; does battle with berserkers, 14; leaves Adils, who has abandoned him in battle, to seek a better king, 14; joins King Hrolf in Denmark, 15; mentioned, 16; in Hrolf's retinue, 24; with Hrolf in Adils' hall, 27; warns that Adils is likely to be treacherous, 27; asks Adils for truce for Hrolf, 27; flings fire-stoker into flames in Adils' hall, 28; wants to test if Hrani was Odin, 30; warned by Hjalti of attack by Hjorvard and Skuld, 32.

SWEDEN: ruled by Adils, 11; Svip lives in Sweden, 14; Svipdag leaves Sweden, 15; Hrolf sends men to Sweden to meet Queen Yrsa, 15.

SWEDES: ruled by Adils, 29, 39.

THORIR HOUND'S FOOT: son of Bjorn and Bera, 20; born with dog's feet, 20; draws from rock an axe left him by his father, 21; visits his brother Elk-Frodi, 21; becomes king of the Gauts, 21; mentioned, 22; Bodvar visits him, 23; avenges Bodvar, 34.

UPPDALES: Hring, King of Uppdales in Norway, 17.

UPPSALA: Adils' capital in Sweden, 11, 12, 25, 26, 30.

VALHALLA: Odin's hall, where he receives dead warriors, 33; Hjalti expects to be entertained in Valhalla on the evening after the battle, 33.

VALSLEYT: a jarl, marries Bera, 22.

VAR: the name of King Frodi's two smiths, 3; Regin warns Frodi to be 'wary' in punning song on names of two smiths, 4.

VIFIL: island-dweller skilled in magic, 1; conceals Helgi and Hroar from Frodi, 2; seeress reveals that Hopp and Ho on Vifil's island were Hroar and Helgi, 3.

VOGG: gives Hrolf the name kraki, 28; promises to avenge Hrolf's death, 28; warns Hrolf that Adils is sending a monstrous boar against him, 28; rewarded for his help by Hrolf, 29; leads army to avenge Hrolf, 34.

VOTT, 'the Arrogant': one of Hrolf's champions, 32.

YRSA: daughter of Olof by Helgi, 7; Helgi marries Yrsa, not knowing her parentage, 7; has son Hrolf by Helgi, 9; Olof tells her that Helgi is her father and her marriage is incestuous, 10; Yrsa leaves Helgi and returns to Saxland with Olof, 10; marries Adils, although she expects it to turn out badly, 11; welcomes Helgi at Uppsala, not knowing that Adils plans to betray him, 12; reproaches Adils for killing Helgi, 13; urges Adils to take Svipdag into his following, 14; Hrolf appeals to her to help him get the treasure which belonged to Helgi, now held by Adils, 15; mentioned, 16; welcomes and aids Hrolf, 28; reproaches Adils, 28; gives Hrolf Adils' treasures, including ring Sviagris, 29; aids those who avenge Hrolf and his champions, 34.

* 'Jarl' was a n.o.ble t.i.tle, denoting a powerful chieftain, who often ruled his own lands. The word is related to English 'earl'.

* A common expression in medieval Iceland, meaning that there would be no chance of finding refuge.

* Hel was the name both for the land of the dead and for the Scandinavian G.o.ddess of death and of the underworld.

Regin is the word for 'rain' as well as a man's name. Thus both Regin and rain are outside. The poem is full of double meanings. The smiths' names are Var, meaning 'to be cautious' or 'the careful one'. In the poem's final line, Var makes the varnagli, the nail of caution. Because regin is also a plural word for the G.o.ds, there is a further implication that the G.o.ds are involved.

* Saxland, corresponding roughly with Saxony, was a general term for northern Germany.

* Putting a sleep thorn into a person's ear was thought to produce a charmed sleep from which the person would not awaken until the sleep thorn fell out.

* Skuld means a debt or a payment due. The name is also used in the Prose Edda for one of the three Norns.

* The saga calls the raiding berserkers Vikings (vikingar). In Old Norse the term is used to describe pirates or raiders in general. The medieval Scandinavians did not, as is popularly done today, use the word as an ethnic term.

* Hvit means white.

* Here Frodi is used as a shortened form of Elk-Frodi.

* A kraki.

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