Why do Sweden, Norway and Denmark not list Oden (Odin/Woden) as their first king when most of the old Anglo-Saxon kingdoms does?

by masken21
y_sengaku

Well, at least the probably most 'genuine' Norwegian aristocratic genealogy of the jarl of Lade from pre-Christian Viking Age Scandinavia, narrated in Háleygjatal (ca. 990) by Eivindr Finsson, trace the linage of the jarl to the liaison between Óðinn and Skaði as following:

‘ (Rough English translation) The shield-worshipped kinsman of the Æsir <gods> [= Óðinn] begat that tribute-bringer [JARL = Sæmingr] with the female from Járnviðr, when those renowned ones, the friend of warriors [= Óðinn] and Skaði [giantess], lived in the lands of the maiden of the bone of the sea [(lit. ‘maiden-lands of the bone of the sea’) ROCK > GIANTESS > = Jǫtunheimar ‘Giant-lands’], and the ski-goddess [= Skaði] bore many sons with Óðinn' (Eyvindr Finsson, Háleygjatal, St. 2. The translation is taken from the official site of Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages).

Jarl Håkon Sigurdssonof Lade (d. 995), to whom Eivindr dedicated his poem Háleygjatal, is also associated with Óðinn by another poet, Einarr skálaglamm Helgason in Vellekla St. 19:

' (Rough English translation) The beast of the mast [SHIP] was carried towards land under the destroyer of the fire of Þundr <= Óðinn> [SWORD > WARRIOR = Hákon jarl]; a multitude of wounds spurted; that broke off the battle on the sea. The war-seasoned generous descendant of Yggr <= Óðinn> [= Hákon jarl] (Fjǫlsnerrinn fégildandi niðr Yggs) did not want to be the first to ask for peace; the jarl did not yield to the prince’ (Einarr skálaglamm Helgason, Vellekla St. 19. The translation is taken from the official site of Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages).

These allusions in the praising poetry suggest that at least a ruler family knew how to make use of the genealogical poem, among others, to mantle the ruler himself with the image of Óðinn for enhancing their legitimacy to rule (Cf. Ström 1981).

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Among medieval texts, now lost (at least in complete form) Skjöldunga saga also apparently narrates the genealogy of legendary rulers of the Danes that can trace back to Óðinn and Skjöldr, his alleged son, based on the Latin summary of Arngríms Jónsson (d. 1648) as well as a fragment of later copy in the 18th century (AM 746 4to.) (ÍF XXXV: 2f., 39). Langfeðgatal (Genealogy) of the Skjöldungs in the manuscript AM 415 4to. (dates to beginning of the 14th century) also largely confirms this linage of the kings, at least Óðinn (father) - Skjöldr (son) and his descendant (Alfræði Íslenzk, iii: 58f.)

The problem is, however, that this kind of medieval genealogy was a written genre of literature, and medieval Icelanders had certainly got familiar with the Anglo-Saxon (West Saxon) genealogy by ca. 1200. They even regarded Anglo-Saxon/ Anglo-Norman linage (descended from Woden) as well as the Christian Old testament one as a model of those of Scandinavian legendary dynasties, took some names from them and and incorporated them into 'their' genealogy, as shown in the works by Anthony Faulkes. In other words, the compilation of as well as the writing down the genealogy primarily belonged to the fully Christianized period, and it is very difficult for researchers to trace its earlier development (than written version). There were sometimes a few variant of the genealogy of the allegedly same dynasty written at the almost same time, and scholars have a hard time to reach an agreement on the exact textual relationship between them.

A recent study suggests that the Anglo-Saxons also tried to harmonize their pagan past with the Christian notion of the linage/ genealogy and its proper names, and that such a effort reflects in the manuscript (Cf. Anlezark 2002). So, it is already enough not a straightforward job to reconstruct the significance of alleged Divine descent (Óðinn/ Woden) in the royal genealogy either in Anglo-Saxon England or in Viking Age /Medieval Scandinavia respectively.

References:

  • Kålund, Kristian (utg.). Alfræði Íslenzk, iii. København: S. L. Møllers, 1917-18.
  • Edith Marold (ed.) 2012, ‘Einarr skálaglamm Helgason, Vellekla 19’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 306.
  • Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Eyvindr skáldaspillir Finnsson, Háleygjatal 2’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 199.

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  • Anlezark, Daniel. 'Sceaf, Japheth and the Origins of the Anglo-Saxons'. Anglo-Saxon England 31 (2002): 13–46. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44510556.
  • Faulkes, Anthony. 'Descent from the Gods'. Mediaeval Scandinavia 11 (1978-79): 91-125.
  • ________. 'The Earliest Icelandic Genealogies and Regnal Lists'. Saga Book 29 (2005): 115-120.
  • Ross, Margaret Clunies. 'The Development of Old Norse Textual Worlds: Genealogical Structure as a Principle of Literary Organisation in Early Iceland'. The Journal of English and Germanic Philology 92, no. 3 (1993): 372–85. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27710853.
  • Ström, Folke. 'Poetry as an Instrument of Propaganda: Jarl Hákon and his Poets'. In: Specvlvm Norroevvm: Norse Studies in Memory of Gabriel Turville-Petre, pp. 440-58. Odense: Odense UP, 1981.