Skjöldr (Latinized as Skioldus, sometimes Anglicized as Skjold or Skiold) was among the first legendary Danish kings. He is mentioned in the ''

Prose Edda The ''Prose Edda'', also known as the ''Younger Edda'', ''Snorri's Edda'' ( is, Snorra Edda) or, historically, simply as ''Edda'', is an Old Norse textbook written in Iceland during the early 13th century. The work is often assumed to have been t ...

'', in ''

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 ...

'', in ''

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 informati ...

'', in

Sven Aggesen Svend Aggesen (or "Sven"; also known as ''Aggessøn'', ''Aggesøn'' or ''Aagesen'', in Latin ''Sveno Aggonis''; born around 1140 to 1150, death unknown) is the author of '' Brevis historia regum Dacie'', one of the first attempts to write a coherent ...

's history, in Arngrímur Jónsson's Latin abstract of 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 S ...

'' and in

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 Denma ...

' ''

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 and ...

''. Under the name Scyld he also appears in the Old English poem ''

Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English Epic poetry, epic poem 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 translations of Beo ...

''. The various accounts have little in common. In the ''Skjöldunga saga'' and the ''Ynglinga saga'', Odin came from Asia (Scythia) and conquered Northern Europe. He gave Sweden to his son Yngvi and Denmark to his son Skjöldr. Since then the kings of Sweden were called

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'' ...

s and those of

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establishe ...

Skjöldungs. Scyld Scefing is the legendary ancestor of the Danish royal lineage known as the

Scylding 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 many ...

s. He is the counterpart of the ''Skioldus'' or ''Skjöldr'' of Danish and Icelandic sources. He appears in the opening lines of ''

'', where he is referred to as '' Scyld Scefing'', implying he is a descendant of Sceafa, Scyld son of Scef, or Scyld of the Sheaf. The ''Beowulf'' poet places him in a boat which is seen in other stories about Scef as a child in a boat:

Scyld the Sheaf-Child from scourging foemen,
From raiders a-many their mead-halls wrested.
He lives to be feared, the first has a waif,
Puny and frail he was found on the shore.
He grew to be great, and was girt with power
Till the border-tribes all obeyed his rule,
And sea-folk hardy that sit by the whale-path
Gave him tribute, a good king was he.

After relating in general terms the glories of Scyld's reign, the poet describes Scyld's funeral, his body was laid in a ship surrounded by treasures:

They decked his body no less bountifully
with offerings than those first ones did
who cast him away when he was a child
and launched him alone out over the waves.

In ''

'' 33, ''Scyld's'' ship is called ''īsig'', literally, "icy." The meaning of this epithet has been discussed many times. Anatoly Liberman gives a full survey of the literature and suggests that the word meant "shining."

William of Malmesbury William of Malmesbury ( la, Willelmus Malmesbiriensis; ) was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. He has been ranked among the most talented English historians since Bede. Modern historian C. Warren Hollister described him as "a ...

's 12th century ''Chronicle'' tells the story of Sceafa as a sleeping child in a boat without oars with a sheaf of corn at his head. Olrik (1910) suggested Peko, a parallel "barley-figure" in Finnish, in turn connected by Fulk (1989) with Eddaic

Bergelmir Bergelmir ( ; Old Norse: ) is a jötunn in Norse mythology. Name The Old Norse name ''Bergelmir'' has been variously translated as 'bear-yeller', 'mountain-yeller', or 'bare-yeller'. According to linguist Jan de Vries, the name should be read ...

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Skjoldr Mythological kings of Denmark Scyldings Sons of Odin Legendary progenitors