Fróði (; ;

Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; or ; , shortened as ''Mhdt.'' or ''Mhd.'') is the term for the form of High German, High German language, German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High ...

: ''Vruote'') is the name of a number of legendary Danish kings in various texts including ''

Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ) is an Old English poetry, Old English poem, an Epic poetry, epic in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 Alliterative verse, alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and List of translat ...

'',

Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of th ...

's ''

Prose Edda The ''Prose Edda'', also known as the ''Younger Edda'', ''Snorri's Edda'' () or, historically, simply as ''Edda'', is an Old Norse textbook written in Iceland during the early 13th century. The work is often considered to have been to some exten ...

'' and his ''

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

'',

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 ...

' ''

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 ...

'', and the '' Grottasǫngr''. A Danish king by this name also appears as a minor character in the Middle High German epic ''

Rabenschlacht ''Die Rabenschlacht'' (The Battle of Ravenna) is an anonymous 13th-century Middle High German poem about the hero Dietrich von Bern, the counterpart of the historical Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great in Germanic heroic legend. It is part of t ...

''. The name is possibly an eponym for the god

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

. *The Fróði of the '' Grottasǫngr'' is said to be the son of Fridleif, the son of Skjǫldr. According to it was in this Fróði's beer that King Fjǫlnir drowned.

here and in the ''

Skáldskaparmál ''Skáldskaparmál'' (Old Norse: 'Poetic Diction' or 'The Language of Poetry'; ; ) is the second part of the ''Prose Edda'', compiled by Snorri Sturluson. It consists of a dialogue between Ægir, the divine personification of the sea, and Bra ...

'' make this Fróði the contemporary of Roman emperor

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

and comments on the peacefulness of his reign, referred to as

Fróði's Peace Fróði's Peace (Old Norse: ) is a semi-legendary period of peace throughout Northern Europe that is referenced in Nordic mythology, skaldic poetry and historical accounts. Attestations Heimskringla In Snorri Sturluson's euhemeristic account of ...

, suggesting a relationship to the birth of

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

. Though Icelandic sources make this Fróði a very early Danish king, in ''Gesta Danorum'' (Book 5), Saxo puts him late in his series of rulers, though including the chronological equation with Augustus and mentioning the birth of Christ. *The Fróði who, according to ''Ynglinga saga'' and ''Gesta Danorum'', was the father of

Halfdan Halfdan (, , Medieval : "half Dane") was a late 5th and early 6th century legendary Danish king of the Scylding (Skjöldung) lineage, the son of king named Fróði in many accounts, noted mainly as the father to the two kings who succeeded hi ...

. He would have lived in the 5th or 6th century. He appears to be the same king who later in the ''Ynglinga saga'' aided the Swedish king

Ongenþeow Ongentheow (Old English: ''Ongenþeow'', ''Ongenþio'', ''Ongendþeow''; Old Norse: ''Angantýr'') (died ca. 515) was the name of a semi-legendary Swedish king of the house of Scylfings, who appears in Old English sources. He is generally ide ...

in defeating the

thrall A thrall was a slave or Serfdom, serf in Scandinavia, Scandinavian lands during the Viking Age. The status of slave (, ) contrasts with that of the Franklin (class), freeman (, ) and the nobleman (, ). Etymology Thrall is from the Old Norse ...

Tunni. Because of this, Egil and his son Ottar (

Ohthere Ohthere, also Ohtere (Old Norse: ''Óttarr vendilkráka'', ''Vendelcrow''; in modern Swedish ''Ottar Vendelkråka''), was a semi-legendary king of Sweden of the house of Yngling, Scylfings, who is said to have lived during the Germanic Heroic Ag ...

) became tributaries to the Danish king. *Fróði the father of Ingjald, who in ''

'' is Froda the father of

Ingeld Ingeld or Ingjaldr (Old Norse: ) was a legendary warrior who appears in early English and Norse legends. Ingeld was so well known that, in 797, Alcuin wrote a letter to Bishop Higbald of Lindisfarne questioning the monks' interest in heroic legend ...

and king of the Heathobards. The existence of the Heathobards has been forgotten in Norse texts and this Fróði there sometimes appears as the brother of Halfdan with the long hostility between Heathobards and Danes becoming a family feud between Halfdan and his brother Fróði. Fróði kills Halfdan and is himself slain by Halfdan's sons

Helgi Helge or Helgi is a Scandinavian, German, and Dutch mostly male name. The name is derived from Proto-Norse ''Hailaga'' with its original meaning being ''dedicated to the gods''. For its Slavic version, see Oleg. Its feminine equivalent is Olga ...

(Halga) and Hroar (

Hrothgar Hrothgar ( ; ) was a semi-legendary Danish king living around the early sixth century AD. Hrothgar appears in the Anglo-Saxon epics ''Beowulf'' and '' Widsith'', in Norse sagas and poems, and in medieval Danish chronicles. In both Anglo-Saxon ...

). (In

Arngrímur Jónsson Arngrímur Jónsson the Learned (; 1568 – 27 June 1648) was an Icelandic scholar and a Christian apologist. His father was Jón Jónsson, who died in 1591. Arngrímur studied in Copenhagen, completing his studies in 1589 and taking up a posit ...

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

summary to the lost ''

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 ...

'' the names Fróði and Ingjald are interchanged. Saxo Grammaticus (Book 6) makes this Fróði instead to be a very late legendary king, the son of Fridleif son of Saxo's late peaceful Fróði. Saxo knows some of the story of this feud but nothing of any relationship to Halfdan. Instead Saxo relates how this Fróði was slain by Saxons and how, after a marriage alliance between his son Ingel and a Saxon princess to heal the feud, Ingel opened it again at the urging of an old warrior, just as the hero Beowulf prophesies of Ingjald in the poem ''Beowulf''. *A legend from

Ydre Ydre Municipality () is a municipality in Östergötland County, southeast Sweden. The municipal seat is located in the town of Österbymo. The municipality was created through the local government reform of 1952, when six former entities were u ...

in the

South Swedish highlands 300px, Aerial view of farms and forest in Ydre Municipality. 250px, The forested landscape of the South Swedish highlands, seen from Eksjö_Municipality.html" ;"title="Skuruhatt in Eksjö Municipality">Skuruhatt in Eksjö Municipality. The Sout ...

tells that a king known as Frode was killed by Urkon, the same cow that created Lake Sommen. The form Fróði is still in use in Icelandic and Faroese and appears Latinized as Frotho or Frodo. The latter form of the name is used by

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

in ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

'' for the main character of the story,

Frodo Baggins Frodo Baggins ( Westron: ''Maura Labingi'') is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings and one of the protagonists in ''The Lord of the Rings''. Frodo is a hobbit of the Shire who inherits the One Ring from his cousin Bilbo Bag ...

. Alternative anglicizations are Frode, Fródi, Fróthi and Frodhi. The Danish, Norwegian and

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 ...

form is Frode. The meaning of the name is "clever, learned, wise". The number of men with the name Frode in Scandinavia as of 2008: Norway (ca.) 11384, Denmark (ca.) 1413, Sweden (ca.) 307. The ''Gesta Danorum'' describes six Frothos. *

Frotho I Frotho I is one of the legendary Danish kings in Saxo Grammaticus' ''Gesta Danorum'', where he has a substantial biography. He succeeds his father Hadingus to the throne and replenishes the war-drained treasury by slaying a dragon and winning its ...

* Frotho II *

Frotho III Frotho III (or Frode or Fróði) was a legendary king of Denmark. His life was recounted in book 5 of ''Gesta Danorum'' by Saxo Grammaticus, and in the Skjöldunga saga. ''Gesta Danorum'' Frotho III was the son and successor of Fridlevus I. Fro ...

* Frotho IV * Frotho V * Frotho VI

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frodi Legendary kings of Denmark English heroic legends Legendary Danish people Scyldings Characters in Beowulf

See also

References