Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks konungs

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Hervors Tod, painting by Peter Nicolai Arbo

Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks konungs or Hervarar saga is a prehistoric saga , the oldest form of which originated in the 13th century and which is based on older sagas. She is known in three editorial offices, some of which differ considerably. It is about a war between a Gothic and " Hunnish " people around the 4th to 5th centuries.

action

Hervör, a warrior in men's clothing, and her son Heidrek , who became king of the mythical kingdom of Reidgotaland , are the main characters at the beginning of the saga. A civil war breaks out between Heidrek's sons, Angantýr and Hlǫd (Hlǫðr) over the inheritance of their father. Hlǫd gets help from the Huns, but in the following battle he is defeated and slain. The sword Tyrfing plays a central role. This part of the saga is often referred to as the Hunnenschlachtlied (Hlǫðskviða).

At the end of the saga it is reported that Angantýr has a son Heidrek Ulfham, who remains king in Reidgotaland for a long time. Heidrek's daughter was called Hild. She gave birth to the son Halvdan the Kind, who in turn was the father of Ivar Vidfamne. The latter two kings also appear in Snorri Sturluson . This is followed by a listing of the Swedish royal family tree up to Philip , who is also historically documented , in an editorial office of the saga (U-editorial) .

Cultural and historical context

The themes of the saga go back to the Migration Period. This is especially true for the Hunnenschlachtlied (Hlǫðskviða). This part belongs to the hero sagas. On the other hand, the part about fore, which is built around the song for hervararkviða, belongs to the Viking sagas. It is noticeable that there are more verses in this saga than in the other sagas. The introduction and the first part of the saga takes place almost exclusively in the East Nordic areas, most of them in Sweden or in areas of Swedish influence. The locations of the second part, which are exclusively attributed to the southeastern Baltic Sea region or generally to the southeastern European area, are controversial and are z. B. rejected by Reinhard Wenskus . According to his text-critical investigations, this area of ​​tradition is more likely to be the battle between a godly tribe and the people who lived in the northern part of the Hunaland , including the present-day Netherlands. According to this interpretation, Árheimar, the royal seat of Angantyr, attacked by Hlǫðr, would have a counterpart in the local Arnhem. Wenskus interprets this narrative portion as a salfränkischen conquest under Chlodio whom he has seen both etymologically and sagengeografisch compatible with the Norse Hlǫðr. About this narrative space , a manuscript from the Hervara saga also contains this geographical quote from its editor: "He þat says, at Reiðgotaland ok Húnaland sé nú þýðskaland kallat." ( Þýðskaland = Germany). The Reiðgotaland is equated in other editors of this saga with the contemporary extent of Jutland .

expenditure

  • Erwin Matthias Reifegerste: The Hervarar saga. An annotated translation and research on the origin and integration of their traditional stories. = The saga of Hervör (= Old Norse library. Volume 6). Norden Reinhardt, Leverkusen 1989, ISBN 3-927153-01-X (also: Cologne, University, dissertation, 1988).

literature

  • Dan Korn: Tre isländska sagor om Sverige. D. Korn, Mölnlycke 1990.
  • Johan Henrik Schück: Smärre bidrag till nordisk litteraturhistoria. I. The Svenska krönikan i Hervararsagan . In: Axel Kock, et al. (Ed.): Arkiv för nordisk filologi (ANF) . New episode, volume 8 (= band 12 of the complete edition). CWK Gleerups förlag, Lund 1896, p. 217-222 (multilingual, runeberg.org ).
  • Johan Henrik Schück: Studier i Hervararsagan (= Upsala universitets årsskrift 1918, part 2, ZDB -ID 211708-3 ). Almqvist & Wiksell, Uppsala 1918, pp. 3-56.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Cf. u. a. Helmut Humbach: The geographical names of the old Icelandic Hunnenschlachtlied. In: GERMANIA. Bulletin of the Roman-Germanic Commission of the German Archaeological Institute. Vol. 47 1969. pp. 145-162.
    Jan de Vries: Old Norse Literature History I. Berlin 1942. P. 36–38, 47f. and (m. E.) Hermann Schneider: Germanic heroic legend III. Berlin 1934. pp. 96f.
  2. ↑ Reinhard Wenskus: The 'Hunnish' Siegfried . In: Heiko Uecker (Ed.) Studies on Old Germanic. Festschrift for Heinrich Beck , Berlin / New York 1994. ( Supplementary volumes to the Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde , 11) pp. 686–721. See p. 717f. (PDF; 1.3 MB)