Hugleik or Ochilaik (a namesake of

Hygelac Hygelac ( ang, Hygelāc; non, Hugleikr; gem-x-proto, Hugilaikaz; la, Ch(l)ochilaicus or ''Hugilaicus''; died 521) was a king of the Geats according to the poem ''Beowulf''. It is Hygelac's presence in the poem which has allowed scholars to ...

) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

king of the

House of Yngling The Ynglings were a dynasty of kings, first in Sweden and later in Norway, primarily attested through the poem ''Ynglingatal''. The dynasty also appears as Scylfings (Old Norse ''Skilfingar'') in '' Beowulf''. When ''Beowulf'' and ''Ynglingatal'' ...

, according to the ''

Ynglinga saga ''Ynglinga saga'' ( ) is a Kings' saga, originally written in Old Norse by the Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson about 1225. It is the first section of his ''Heimskringla''. It was first translated into English and published in 184 ...

''. He was the son of Alf and

Bera Bera may refer to: Acronyms * Bioelectric recognition assay, a method in electrophysiology * Botswana Energy Regulatory Authority, an energy regulatory body in Botswana * Brainstem evoked response audiometry, a screening test to monitor for heari ...

. Some commentators assimilate Hugleik with his namesake, the

Geatish king Geatish kings ( la, Rex Getarum/Gothorum; sv, Götakungar), ruling over the provinces of Götaland (Gautland/Geatland), appear in several sources for early Swedish history. Today, most of them are not considered historical. This list follows t ...

. However, although both kings were killed in battle, Chlochilaicus/Hygelac was killed near the coast of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

/ Frisia, while Hugleik was killed at

Fyrisvellir Fyrisvellir, Fyris Wolds or Fyrisvallarna was the marshy plain (''vellir'') south of Gamla Uppsala where travellers had to leave the ships on the river Fyris (Fyrisån) and walk to the Temple at Uppsala and the hall of the Swedish king. The name ...

in Sweden. When Hugleik's father and uncle had killed each other, Hugleik inherited the Swedish throne. Like his father, he was not a warrior, but preferred to stay at home. He was reputed to be as greedy as he was rich and, he preferred to be in the company of jesters, seidmen and

völva In Germanic paganism, a seeress is a woman said to have the ability to foretell future events and perform sorcery. They are also referred to with many other names meaning "prophetess", "staff bearer", "wise woman" and "sorceress", and they are ...

s who entertained him.

Haki Haki, Hake ( Old Norse: ) or Haco, the brother of Hagbard, was a famous Scandinavian sea-king, in Norse mythology. He is mentioned in the 12th century '' Gesta Danorum'', and in 13th-century sources including '' Ynglinga saga'', ''Nafnaþulur' ...

and

Hagbard Hagbard ( non, Hagbarðr ), the brother of Haki and son of Hamund, was a famous Scandinavian sea-king in Norse mythology. He is mentioned in ''Skáldskaparmál'', ''Ynglinga saga'', ''Nafnaþulur'', ''Völsunga saga'' and ''Gesta Danorum''. The ...

(the hero of the legend of

Hagbard and Signy Hagbard and Signe (Signy) (the Viking Age) or Habor and Sign(h)ild (the Middle Ages and later) were a pair of lovers in Scandinavian mythology and folklore whose legend was widely popular. The heroes' connections with other legendary characters pl ...

) were two famous sea-kings who had amassed a great force of warriors, and they occasionally plundered together. Haki arrived in Sweden with his troops to assault

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Located north of the c ...

. Haki was a murderous fighter and around himself he had his twelve hirdmen of whom one was the legendary old warrior

Starkad ''Starkad'' ( non, Starkaðr or ; Latin: ''Starcaterus''; in the Late Middle Ages also ''Starkodder''; modern Danish: ''Stærkodder'')The article ''Starkad'' in ''Nationalencyklopedin''. was either an eight-armed giant or the human grandson of ...

(who had been in the service of Hugleik's grandfather Erik and great-uncle

Alrik Alaric and Eric (Old Norse: ''Alrekr'' and ''Eiríkr''), according to legend, were two kings of Sweden. In the ''Ynglinga saga'' According to the ''Ynglinga saga'', Alaric and Eric were sons and heirs of the previous king Agni. They shared the ...

). Hugleik had also mustered a large army and he was aided by two famous warriors named

Svipdag Svipdagr (Old Norse: "sudden day"Orchard (1997:157).) is the hero of the two Old Norse Eddaic poems Grógaldr and Fjölsvinnsmál, which are contained within the body of one work; Svipdagsmál. Plot Svipdagr is set a task by his stepmother ...

and Geigad. The two armies met on the

(Fyris Wolds) and a great battle ensued. The Swedish army was defeated, but the two champions Svipdag and Geigad pushed onwards even though Haki's champions were six times as many. They were both captured by Haki, and then Haki attacked the ''shield-circle'' around Hugleik and killed him together with both his sons.

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 ...

knows of this story but he renders ''Huglet(h)us'' as an Irish king who was killed by the Dane ''Haco'' (given as ''Hakon'' in the following translatio

. The motivation behind describing Hugleik as an Irish king was probably identical to what Saxo described as the motivation behind the attack: ''even the farthest kingdoms of the world might not be untouched by the Danish arms.'' Saxo writes that Starkad and Haki brought their fleet to Ireland where lived the rich and greedy king Hugleik. Hugleik was never generous to an honourable man, but spent all his riches on mime artist, mimes and

juggler Juggling is a physical skill, performed by a juggler, involving the manipulation of objects for recreation, entertainment, art or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling. Juggling can be the manipulation of one object ...

s. In spite of his avarice, Hugleik had the great champions Geigad and Svipdag. When the battle began, the jugglers and mimes panicked and fled, and only Geigad and Svipdag remained to defend Hugleik, but they fought like an entire army. Geigad dealt Starkad a wound on the head, which was so severe that Starkad would later sing songs about it. Starkad killed Hugleik and made the Irish flee. He then had the jugglers and mimes whipped and beaten, in order to humiliate them. Then the Danes brought Hugleik's riches out to Dublin to be publicly looted, and there was so much of it that none cared for its strict division.

In mass media

* Recurring character in the popular web series "Internet Comment Etiquette with Erik"

Secondary sources

* Nerman, B. ''Det svenska rikets uppkomst''. Stockholm, 1925.

References

{{Reflist Mythological kings of Sweden House of Yngling