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Halga, Helgi, Helghe or Helgo was a legendary Danish king living in the early 6th century.The dating has never been a matter of controversy. It is inferred from the internal chronology of the sources themselves and the dating of Hygelac's raid on Frisia to c. 516. It is also supported by archaeological excavations of the barrows of Eadgils and Ohthere in Sweden. For a discussion, see e.g. Birger Nerman's Det svenska rikets uppkomst (1925) (in Swedish). For presentations of the archaeological findings, see e.g. Elisabeth Klingmark's Gamla Uppsala, Svenska kulturminnen 59, Riksantikvarieämbetet (in Swedish), or this English language presentation by the Swedish National Heritage Board His name would in his own language (Proto-Norse) have been * Hailaga Lexikon över urnnordiska personnamn PDF (dedicated to the gods).
Scholars generally agree that he appears in both Anglo-Saxons ( Beowulf) and Scandinavian tradition ( and Danish chronicles). Shippey, T. A.: Wicked Queens and Cousin Strategies in Beowulf and Elsewhere, Notes and Bibliography. In The Heroic Age Issue 5 Summer 2001. In both traditions, he was a Scylding, the son of Healfdene and the brother of Hroðgar. In Beowulf, his relationship to Hroðulf is not explained, but if he was not his father, as in the Scandinavian tradition, he was at least his uncle. Both traditions also mention his family's feud with Froda and Ingeld.
Whereas, not much is said about Halga in Anglo-Saxon sources, much more is said in Scandinavian ones. It is also noticed a curb in Halga storyline's direction, all of them containing a version of the story of his incestuous relationship with his own daughter Yrsa. This liaison resulted in Halga's son Hroðulf.
This appears in Gummere's translation as:59 Ðæm feower bearn forðgerimed
60 in worold wocun weoroda ræswa
61 heorogar. 7 hroðgar 7 halga til
62 hyrde icþelan cwen
63 heaðo-Scilfingas healsgebedda
59 Then, one after one, there woke to him,
60 to the chieftain of clansmen, children four:
61 Heorogar, then Hrothgar, then Halga brave;
62 and I heard that — ela's queen,
63 the Heathoscylfing’s helpmate dear.
Hroðulf (Hrólfr Kraki) is only mentioned as Hroðgar's nephew, whereas he is specified as Halga's son in Norse sources.
Both Helghe and Ro being dead, the Swedish king Hakon/Athisl Hakon according to Chronicon Lethrense proper, Athisl according to the included Annals of Lund (i.e. Eadgils) forced the Danes to accept a dog as king. The dog king was succeeded by Hrolf Kraki.
Saxo agrees with Beowulf and the Chronicon Lethrense by describing Helgo and Ro (Hroðgar) as the sons of Haldanus (Healfdene). Like the Chronicon Lethrense, he relates that Ro and Helgo shared the kingdom after Haldanus' death (of old age), Ro taking the land, and Helgo the sea. Saxo adds that Helgo was a rather tall man.
Helgo attacked and killed king Skalk of Sklavia (i.e. the king of Wendland), subduing Sklavia into a Danish province. Continuing his sea roving, Helgo arrived at Thurø, where he found and raped the young girl Thora, which resulted in Yrsa.
He earned the name Hundingsbane by slaying Hunding, the king of Saxony, and conquered Jutland from the Saxons and entrusted it to his commanders Heske, Eyr and Ler. He then humiliated the Saxon aristocracy by enacting a law that the killing of one of them would be no more costly in wergild than the killing of a commoner.
When Helgo after many years returned to Thurø, Thora avenged her lost virginity by sending Urse to Helgo, who unknowingly raped his own daughter. This resulted in Roluo Kraki (i.e. Hroðulf).
Whereas the Chronicon Lethrense and the Annales Lundenses do not explain why Halga needed to kill Hodbrod to win all of Denmark, the Gesta Danorum presents Hothbrodd as a king of Sweden, who invaded Denmark and killed Ro. After having killed Hothbrodd, avenging the death of his brother, he humiliated the Swedes by forbidding that any crime against a Swede should result in any punishment by law. Then, hating his own country, he went east and died, reputedly by throwing himself onto his own sword. He was succeeded by his son Roluo.
Hróarr moved to Northumbria and married king Norðri's daughter Ögn, whereas Helgi became the new king of Denmark, but stayed unmarried. Wanting a spouse, Helgi went to the Saxons to woo their warlike queen Oluf. She was, however, not interested and humiliated Helgi by shaving his head and covering him with tar while he was asleep, and sending him back to his ship. Some time later, Helgi returned and through a ruse, he kidnapped the queen for a while during which time he got her pregnant.
Having returned to her kingdom, the queen bore a child, a girl whom she named Yrsa after her dog. Yrsa was set to live as a shepherd until she was 12 years old, when she met her father Helgi, who fell in love with her, not knowing it was his daughter. Oluf kept quiet about the parentage and saw it as her revenge that Helgi would wed his own daughter. Helgi and Yrsa had a son, Hrólfr Kraki (Hroðulf).
For his share of the kingdom, Hróarr had been given a precious ring, an heirloom. There was, however, a second relative who wanted his share, their nephew Hrókr. Since Hrókr was given neither a part of the kingdom nor the ring, he went to Northumbria, killed Hróarr and threw the ring into the water (later retrieved by Hróarr's son Agnar). Helgi avenged his brother by cutting off Hrókr's arms and legs.
Learning that Helgi and Yrsa were living happily together, Queen Oluf travelled to Denmark to tell her daughter the truth. Yrsa was shocked and although Helgi wanted their relationship to remain as it was, Yrsa insisted on leaving him. She was later taken by the Swedish king Aðils (Eadgils) as his queen, which made Helgi even more unhappy.
Later, one Yule, Helgi was visited by loathly lady while he was in his hunting house. No person in the entire kingdom would allow the being to enter their house, except Helgi. Later, the thing asked to sleep in his bed. Unwillingly he agreed, and as the thing got into bed, it turned into an Elf woman, who was clad in silk and who was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He raped her, and made her pregnant with a daughter named Skuld. Helgi forgot the woman and a couple of days after the date had passed, he was visited by the woman, who had Skuld in her arms. The daughter would later marry Hjörvarðr (Heoroweard), Hrólfr Kraki's killer.
Missing Yrsa, Helgi went to Uppsala to fetch her, but was killed by Aðils in battle. He was succeeded by his son Hrólfr.
Ingjaldus (i.e. Ingeld, but here he is presented as Halfdan's half-brother) attacked Halfdan, killed him and married Sigrith. Ingjaldus and Sigrith had the sons Rærecus and Frodo (Froda), while Signy grew up with her mother until she was married to Sævil, the jarl of Zealand. Roas and Helgo survived by hiding on an island near Skåne, and when they were old enough, they avenged their father by killing Ingjaldus.
The two brothers both became kings of Denmark, and Roas married the daughter of the king of England. Helgo, on the other hand, raped Olava, the queen of the Saxons, and she bore a daughter named Yrsa. The girl later married king Adillus (Eadgils), the king of Sweden. Some years later, Helgo attacked Sweden and captured Yrsa, whom he raped. His daughter bore him the son Rolfo (Hroðulf). After a few years, Yrsa's mother, Queen Olava, came to visit her and told her that Helgo was her own father. Yrsa returned to Adillus, leaving her son behind. Helgo died when Rolfo was eight years old, and Rolfo succeeded him. Not much later, Roas was killed by his half-brothers Rærecus and Frodo, whereupon Rolfo became the sole king of Denmark.
He wrote that king Halfdan's (Healfdene) son Helgi ruled in Lejre. He invaded Sweden with such a large army that king Aðils (Eadgils) could not do anything else but to flee Uppsala. Helgi amassed a great deal of booty and took queen Yrsa (whom Aðils had found in Saxony) with him. Yrsa bore a son named Hrólfr Kraki (Hroðulf). When the boy was three years of age, Yrsa's mother, queen Alof of Saxony, came to visit her and told her that her husband Helgi was her own father. Then Yrsa returned to Sweden and king Aðils. Hrólfr Kraki was only eight years old when Helgi died during a war expedition, and Hrólfr was proclaimed his successor.
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