Frotho III (or Frode or Fróði) was a

legendary king of Denmark The legendary kings of Denmark were, according to legend, the monarchs of Denmark, the Danes, or specific lands of Denmark (Zealand, Jutland or Scania) who preceded Gorm the Old, a king who reigned to and is the earliest List of Danish monarchs, ...

. His life was recounted in book 5 of ''

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 and is an essentia ...

'' by

Saxo Grammaticus Saxo Grammaticus (), 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. He is the author ...

, and in the

Skjöldunga saga The ''Skjöldunga saga'' (or, in another standardised Old Norse spelling, ''Skjǫldunga saga'') was an Old Norse legendary saga. Dating from c. 1180 – 1200, the saga was lost in its original form. The saga focused on the Danish dynasty of Sc ...

''Gesta Danorum''

Frotho III was the son and successor of Fridlevus I. Frotho reigned together with twelve "Diaren". He fought against the Slavs (sclavi) and defeated them. Then he sought the hand Hanunda, daughter of the King of the Huns. When she refused, a sorceress in his retinue changed her mind. Hanunda became his wife, but later was unfaithful with a man named Grep (nephew of the sorceress, Gotwar). Frotho fell under the bad influence of Grep and certain other advisors until the arrival of Erik, who killed many of them and exposed Hanunda's infidelity. Frotho put aside Hanunda, marrying her instead of Erik's brother, while Erik himself married Frotho's sister. Frode married Alvhild, daughter of the Norwegian King Gothar. The King of the Huns attacked Frode with an alliance of several princes. After three days you could go over the corpses through the water. Frode won after seven days, called for the lords to return to their dominions again. (Holmgard =

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( ; , ; ), also known simply as Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the oldest cities in Russia, being first mentioned in the 9th century. The city lies along the V ...

, Koenugard =

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

, Revallis = Reval /

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

, Lapland, Eistland =

Baltics The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

). Frotho's reign, which Saxo said coincided with the life of

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

, was marked by an uninterrupted worldwide peace. He was eventually killed by a sorceress in the shape of a sea-cow. Frode was succeeded by his son Fridlevus.

Theories and commentary

Saxo divided the life of Frotho III into two parts, each featuring counselors to the king. The first covered the king's ascendancy after the death of his father and was dominated by the issue of guardianship on account of his minority. This part was an unflattering account due to the influence of evil counselors. The second part, which roughly began in Book V, saw the emergence of the virtuous Ericus as a new counselor who guided the king towards the path of ''Fortitudo'', ''Temperantia'', and ''Constantia''. The new period described Frotho III as a peacemaker and legislator (law-giver) with Saxo claiming he was responsible for the Danish hegemony.

Viktor Rydberg Abraham Viktor Rydberg (; 18 December 182821 September 1895) was a Swedish writer and a member of the Swedish Academy, 1877–1895. "Primarily a classical idealist", Viktor Rydberg has been described as "Sweden's last Romantic" and by 1859 wa ...

considered Saxo's account of Frotho's reign to be a historicized version of the Vana-god

Frey Freyr (Old Norse: 'Lord'), sometimes anglicized as Frey, is a widely attested god in Norse mythology, associated with kingship, fertility, peace, prosperity, fair weather, and good harvest. Freyr, sometimes referred to as Yngvi-Freyr, was especi ...

, which was particularly demonstrated in the section detailing the king's war against the

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th centuries AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was par ...

References

Literature

, ''

'', 4.12, 13 *

* V. A. Motornyĭ, Dietrich Scholze, Konstantin Konstantinovich Trofimovich: ''Prašenja sorabistiki'', Sorbisches Institut (Institut slavistyky) Bautzen 200
Digitalisat
S. 66 {{Europe-noble-stub Legendary kings of Denmark

''Gesta Danorum''

Theories and commentary

See also

References

Literature