Yngwin (''"Yngve"'') was, according to

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 ...

, a king in

Götaland Götaland (; also '' Gothia'', ''Gothland'', ''Gothenland'' or ''Gautland'') is one of three lands of Sweden and comprises ten provinces. Geographically it is located in the south of Sweden, bounded to the north by Svealand, with the deep wo ...

, who was a close friend to one of the Danish kings named Halfdan. This Danish king had no sons, so he left his treasures and his kingdom to Yngwin. Yngwin then moved to Denmark, and ruled the kingdom for a while, until he was slain by a competitor to the throne, by the name Ragnald. Yngwin had a son named Siwald, who became king in Denmark after him. Then Siwald's son, Sigar, took the throne after him. Sigar had three sons. One of his sons was Alf, who went aviking. On a raiding tour to Finland, he met Alfhild, the daughter of king Siward, in Götaland. Alfhild had her own fleet of Viking ships, some of them staffed with maidens. Alf and Alfhild later married, and they had a daughter, named Gurid. In a war fought against a revolting Danish Viking clan, Sigar, Alf and Alf's brothers were killed, while defending their Danish subjects. At the end of the war, Alf's comrade, Borgar, arrived with fresh cavalry from

Scania Scania ( ), also known by its native name of Skåne (), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces () of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous w ...

, and slew all the enemies. But without a king, the country fell apart, and chieftains took control of the different parts. Only Alf's daughter, Gurid, had survived, of the royal family. She later married one of Borgar's sons, Halfdan, and they had a son, named Harald, who became the new king. Harald restored the Danish kingdom to its former glory and unity.

Supposed timeframe

According to the details in the saga, this would have taken place in the 5th century. If true, this would explain much of the warm friendship between

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 ...

, king of Denmark, and

Hrethel Hrethel (; ) is a king of the Geats. Name Hrethel's name appears with both the root vowel and and with both the consonant (i.e. the phoneme , pronounced in Old English) and (which would ordinarily represent the phoneme ). This is thought to ...

, king of Götaland, depicted in ''

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 ...

'', in the beginning of the next century. According to

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 ...

in ''

'', the aforementioned Harald was the famous

Harald Wartooth Harald Wartooth or ''Harold Hiltertooth'' (Old Norse: ''Haraldr hilditǫnn''; Modern Swedish and Danish: Harald Hildetand; Modern Norwegian: ''Harald Hildetann'')Röreksson was a semi- legendary king of Denmark who is mentioned in several tradit ...

. But that must be a mistake by Saxo, as that Harald lived several hundred years later.

External links

The Danish History (Gesta Danorum), English translation
{{s-end Legendary kings of the Geats Legendary kings of Denmark