Hothbrodd was a legendary Norse hero, details of whose life appear in several related variations. In the legends of the

Ylfing The Wulfings, Wylfings or YlfingsWord initial ''w'' was lost before rounded vowels in Proto-Norse, e.g. ''wulf'' corresponds to ''ulf'', and ''Wulfing''/''Wylfing'' corresponds to ''Ylfing'', because the ''i'' in the second syllable causes an uml ...

Helgi Hundingsbane Helgi Hundingsbane is a hero in Norse sagas. Helgi appears in '' Volsunga saga'' and in two lays in the ''Poetic Edda'' named '' Helgakviða Hundingsbana I'' and '' Helgakviða Hundingsbana II''. The ''Poetic Edda'' relates that Helgi and his mist ...

, he was the son of king Granmar of

Södermanland Södermanland ( or ), locally Sörmland, sometimes referred to under its Latin form ''Sudermannia'' or ''Sudermania'', is a historical province or ''landskap'' on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Östergötland, Närke, Västm ...

, and he was killed by Helgi. The ''

Chronicon Lethrense ''Chronicon Lethrense'' ( Danish: ''Lejrekrøniken'' English: ''Chronicle of Lejre/Leire'') is a small Danish medieval work from the 12th century, written in Latin. Themes Unlike ''Chronicon Roskildense'', which deals primarily with informatio ...

'' and included ''Annales Lundenses'' relate that Hother was the king of the

Saxons The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

and son of Hothbrod, whom Helghe had killed to win all of Denmark. Hother first slew Othen's (i.e.

Odin Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, victory, ...

) son Balder in battle and then chased Othen and Thor. Finally, Othen's son Both killed Hother. Hother, Balder, Othen and Thor were incorrectly considered to be gods. In

Gesta Danorum ''Gesta Danorum'' ("Deeds of the Danes") is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th-century author Saxo Grammaticus ("Saxo the Literate", literally "the Grammarian"). It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark an ...

Saxo Grammaticus Saxo Grammaticus (c. 1150 – c. 1220), also known as Saxo cognomine Longus, was a Danish historian, theologian and author. He is thought to have been a clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, the main advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark ...

has merged the Ylfing Helgi Hundingsbane with the Danish

skjöldung Old English Scylding (plural Scyldingas) and Old Norse Skjǫldung (plural Skjǫldungar), meaning in both languages "children of Scyld/Skjǫldr" are the members of a legendary royal family of Danes, especially kings. The name is explained in ma ...

king Helgi. He has also made Hothbrodd a king of Sweden and father of Höder and Adils. In Hversu Noregr byggdist, Höddbrodd (''Hǫdbroddr'') was the son of a Höd. The name Höd is identical to that born by the slayer of the god

Baldr Baldr (also Balder, Baldur) is a god in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, Baldr (Old Norse: ) is a son of the god Odin and the goddess Frigg, and has numerous brothers, such as Thor and Váli. In wider Germanic mythology, the god was ...

in other tales. And while the Höd of the ''Hversu'' is said to be father of a son named Höddbrodd, in

' ''

'' (Book 3) Høtherus, the slayer of Balderus, is the son of Hothbrodus or Hothbroddus.)

See also