View source for Örvar-Oddr

{{Short description|Norse legendary hero}}
[[Image:Orvarodd.jpg|thumb|''Örvar-Oddr informs [[Hjalmar and Ingeborg|Ingeborg]] about [[Hjalmar]]'s death'', by [[August Malmström]] (1859)]]
'''Örvar-Oddr''' ({{langx|non|Ǫrvar-Oddr}} {{IPA|non|ˈɔrvɑr-ˌodːr̩|}}, "Arrow-Odd" or "Arrow's Point") is a legendary hero about whom an anonymous [[Icelanders|Icelander]] wrote a ''[[fornaldarsaga]]'' in the latter part of the 13th century. ''Örvar-Odds saga'', the Saga of Örvar-Odd, became very popular and contains old legends and songs. He also appears in ''[[Hervarar saga]]'' and, concerning the battle on [[Samsø]], in ''[[Gesta Danorum]]''.

==Plot summary==

=== Prophecy ===
Oddr was the son of [[Gríms saga loðinkinna|Grímr Loðinkinni]] and the grandson of [[Ketils saga hœngs|Ketill Hængr]] (both of whom have their own sagas) of [[Hålogaland]]. When he was an infant, a [[völva]] predicted that he would be killed by his own horse, Faxi, at the place where he was born, at the age of three hundred (which may signify 360, as the unit in question is probably the "[[long hundred]]" commonly used in medieval [[Germanic languages]], denoting 120 rather than 100).

In order to thwart the prediction, he killed his horse, buried it deep in the ground and left his home intending never to return again. As he was leaving, his father gave him some magic arrows (''Gusisnautar'') which soon earned him the [[cognomen]] ''arrow''. After a voyage to [[Finnmark]], [[Bjarmaland]], [[Holmgård]], [[Constantinople]] and [[Jotunheim]], he fought successfully against several Vikings.

=== Hjalmar and Angantyr ===

However, when he encountered the Swedish champion [[Hjalmar]], he met his match. The fight was even and the two warriors not only became friends, but entered [[sworn brotherhood]].

The two heroes fought many battles together (for more see [[Hjalmar]]), until after the famous battle of [[Samsø]] against the sons of [[Arngrim]], Örvar-Oddr had to bring the dead Hjalmar (killed by [[Angantyr]]) to [[Gamla Uppsala|Uppsala]] and his betrothed Ingeborg, the daughter of the Swedish king.

Örvar-Oddr travelled in the South fighting against the corsairs of the [[Mediterranean]], he was baptised in [[Sicily]], was shipwrecked and arrived alone in the [[Holy Land]].

=== Ögmundr Flóki ===
Oddr sought vengeance against Ögmundr Flóki ("Ogmund Tussock" or Ögmundr 'tuft';<ref name=lane-tussock/><ref name=tracy-tussock/> aka Ögmundr Eyþjófsbani{{sfnp|Fox|2020|p=175}} or "Eythjof's-killer"<ref name=edwards&palsson-tr-ch13-thord/>) for the murder of his blood-brother Þórðr stafnglamr (Thord Prow-Gleam).<ref name=edwards&palsson-tr-ch13-thord/> He and his crew headed toward a [[fjord]] in [[Helluland]] ("Slabland"), where Ögmundr was to be found, according to Oddr's half-giant son, Vignir. During their voyage, they encounter two huge sea-creatures that resembled islands:

{{quote|…said Vignir. "I'll tell you about it; these were two sea-monsters, one called [[Hafgufa|Sea-Reek]], and the other [[Lyngbakr|Heather-Back]]. The Sea-Reek is the biggest monster in the whole ocean. It swallows men and ships, and whales too, and anything else around. It stays underwater for days, then it puts up its mouth and nostrils, and when it does, it never stays on the surface for less than one tide.<ref>{{harvp|Boer|1888}}, p.[https://archive.org/details/rvaroddssaga00boergoog/page/n194 132]</ref><ref name=edwards&palsson-tr-ch21-hafgufa/>}}

There had been five men sent to disembark on what they thought was an island, but the Heather-Back (''lyngbakr'') plunged into sea, and those men perished.<ref name=kalinke/> However, the group had safely sailed through the jaws of the Sea-Reek (''hafgufa''), the other monster that Ögmundr had sent by magic to intercept the party.<ref name=edwards&palsson-tr-ch21-hafgufa/>

=== Barkman ===
Oddr becomes Barkman (''naefrmaðr'', 'birch bark man'), a sort of wildman dressed in bark.{{sfnp|Fox|2020|p=162}} He arrived in [[Hunaland]] and meets [[Herrauðr|King Herrauðr]], where his true identity was soon revealed due to his heroic actions.<ref>{{harvp|Boer|1888}}, pp.[https://books.google.com/books?d=7lBG_YS0J-0C&pg=PA139 139–141]</ref><ref name=edwards&palsson-tr-ch24/> After defeating the king of Bjalkaland ("pelt country"), who used to pay tribute to the king of Hunaland, he married the Herrauðr' daughter Silkisif and became the next king.

=== Death ===
After all this, Oddr became homesick and went back home. Walking over the grave of Faxi, he mocked the old prophecy, but tripped over the skull of a horse from which a snake appeared. The snake bit him and he died.

==Analysis==
The saga includes several stories, such as the voyage of [[Ottar from Hålogaland]] to Bjarmaland, the legend of [[Hjalmar]]'s foster-brother (originally named ''Söte''), [[Starkaðr]], [[Ketil Höing]], [[Odysseus]] and [[Polyphemus]], [[Sigurd Jorsalfare]] and the Rus' ruler [[Oleg of Novgorod]] (the attack on Bjalkaland).

The motif of Örvar-Oddr's mocking the prophecy and death has parallels in the [[Primary Chronicle]], which describes the manner of the death of [[Oleg of Novgorod|Oleg]] (also of Varangian origin) in similar terms. Oleg's legendary death from "the skull of a horse" became the subject of one of the best known ballads in the [[Russian language]], published by [[Alexander Pushkin]] in 1826. Another variant on the same theme is found in the legend of [[Isle of Sheppey#Shurland Hall|Sir Robert de Shurland]] on the [[Isle of Sheppey]] in Kent, England, recorded in the 17th century, and which in 1837 inspired one of the popular ''[[Ingoldsby Legends]]'' of [[Richard Barham]].<ref>{{cite journal |first=Oliver D. |last=Harris |title="Grey Dolphin" and the Horse Church, Minster in Sheppey: the construction of a legend |journal=Archaeologia Cantiana |volume=144 |year=2023 |pages=97–123 }}</ref>

Ögmundr Flóki owned a cloak made from the beards of kings he collected, as did the giant of Mont Saint-Michel, enemy of King Arthur in Brittany.{{sfnp|Tracy|2017|pp=327–328}}{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|The giant which was called Retho by [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]], and Royns (Ryence, Ryens, Ryons) by [[Thomas Malory]].<ref name=nickel/>}}

== Örvar-Oddr and Norwegian Rugii ==
Örvar-Oddr spent his childhood and youth in Berurjóðr near Eikund (Eigersund). In the saga, Örvar-Oddr responds to the question of the priestess about who raised him in such folly that he refuses to worship the highest god and leader of the Aesir, Odin:

"I was raised by Ingjaldr in my childhood, who ruled Eikund and inhabited Jadar."

* Eikundasund, Eykundasund. In: [[Johann Samuel Ersch]], [[Johann Gottfried Gruber]] (Eds.): General Encyclopedia of Sciences and Arts. Section 1: A–G. Part 32: Ei–Eisen. F. A. Brockhaus, Leipzig 1839, p. 209 ([https://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/id/PPN351177132 resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de] [https://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/id/PPN351177132?tify=%7B%22pages%22%3A%5B217%5D%2C%22view%22%3A%22info%22%7D gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de]).

At the beginning of the 19th century, historians, literary scholars, and geographers believed that Oddr's fate was connected to the Norwegian Rogaland. In the General Encyclopedia of Sciences and Arts, it is pointed out that in the Örvar-Odds saga, it concerns the island of Eigerøy.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Eikund. In: Johann Samuel Ersch, Johann Gottfried Gruber (Hrsg.): Allgemeine Encyclopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste. 1. Sektion: A–G. 32. Teil: Ei–Eisen. F. A. Brockhaus, Leipzig 1839, S. 209 (gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de).}}</ref>

The settlement of Berurjóðr [[:nn:Berglyd|(Berglud]]), the island of Eikund [[Eigerøya|(Eigerøy]]), and the historical region of Jadar ([[Jæren]]) are located in the Norwegian province of [[Rogaland]], which was inhabited by [[Rugii]] in the Middle Ages. Egersund is the bay between the island of Eigerøy and the mainland, which was called "Eikundarsund" in the Middle Ages. The island of Eigerøy was called "Eikund" in the Middle Ages. The name of this island indicates rich deposits of high-quality oak wood used for shipbuilding, as the word "eik" is the Norwegian word for "oak." Eikund and Eikundarsund were some of the oldest geographical names in Norway and are already found in the [[Óláfs saga helga]], written in the 13th century by the Icelandic author [[Snorri Sturluson]].

==See also==
* ''[[Hrafnistumannasögur]]''

== Explanatory notes ==
{{notelist}}

==References==
;Citations
{{reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name=edwards&palsson-tr-ch13-thord>{{harvp|Edwards|Pálsson|1970}} "Ch. 13. Ogmund Eythiof's Killer", pp. 36–39.</ref>
<ref name=edwards&palsson-tr-ch21-hafgufa>{{harvp|Edwards|Pálsson|1970}} "Ch. 21. Family Reunion", pp. 68–69 (in the first edition, "sea-reek" and "heather-back" are non-capitalised); {{harvp|Edwards|Pálsson|1985}}, pp. 85–[https://archive.org/details/sevenvikingroman00herm/page/86 86]</ref>
<ref name=edwards&palsson-tr-ch24>{{harvp|Edwards|Pálsson|1970}} "Ch. 24. King Herraud", pp. 75–79.</ref>

<ref name=kalinke>{{cite journal|last=Kalinke |first=Marianne E. |author-link=:is:Marianne E. Kalinke |title= Reykjahólabók:A Legendary on the Eve of the Reformation |journal=Skáldskaparmál |volume=2 |date=January 1992 |url=https://timarit.is/page/6487990#page/n249/mode/2up |page=28, note 17<!--238/169-->}}</ref>

<ref name=nickel>{{cite journal|last=Nickel |first=Helmut |author-link=:de:Helmut Nickel |title=The Fight about King Arthur's Beard and for the Cloak of Kings' Beards |journal=Interpretations  |volume=16 |number=1 |date=Fall 1985 |publisher=Scriptorium Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fUcqAQAAIAAJ&q=Ryence |pages=1–7|jstor=43797841}}</ref>

<ref name=lane-tussock>{{harvp|Lane|1971|p=90}}, note 2: "'Tussock' is a poor translation of ''flóki'' anyway. Something like "tuft" would be better, since it undoubtedly referred to some sort of hairy feature. The word tussock, while it now-a-days brings grass to most people's minds".</ref>

<ref name=tracy-tussock>{{harvp|Tracy|2017|p=327}} defends the "Tussock" translation saying: "''flóki'' refers to a section of matted hair, like wool or felt, which resembles a grass lump rather than the standard ''[[wikt:toppr|topprinn]]'', or a lock of hair". In her quote (text vs. translation) ''toppurinn'' is rendered "forelock" (cf. mod. Icel. ''[[wikt:hártoppur|hártoppur]]'').</ref>
}}

;Bibliography
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|editor-last=Boer |editor-first=Richard Constant |editor-link=Richard Constant Boer |title=Örvar-Odds saga |year=1888 |publisher=E. J. Brill |location=Leiden|oclc=462860153 |archive-url=https://archive.org/details/rvaroddssaga00boergoog |archive-date=2008-05-13 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7lBG_YS0J-0C |pages=}}<!--(1892) https://books.google.com/books?id=wuEOAAAAQAAJ-->

*{{cite book|editor1-last=Edwards |editor1-first=Paul |editor1-link=Paul Edwards (literary scholar) |editor2-last=Pálsson |editor2-first=Hermann |editor2-link=Hermann Pálsson |title=Arrow-Odd: A Medieval Novel |location=New York |publisher=New York University Press |year=1970 |sbn=8147-0458-1 }} (First English translation)
*{{cite book|last1=Edwards |first1=Paul |author1-link=Paul Edwards (literary scholar) |last2=Pálsson |first2=Hermann (trr.) |author2-link=Hermann Pálsson |title=Seven Viking Romances |year=1985 |location=Toronto |publisher=Penguin Books Canada Ltd |isbn=978-0-14-044474-2 |pages=|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/sevenvikingroman00herm/page/86}}

* {{cite book|last=Fox |first=Michael |author-link=<!--Michael Fox, associate professor in the Department of English at the University of Alberta--> |title=Following the Formula in Beowulf, Örvar-Odds saga, and Tolkien |publisher=Springer Nature |date=2020 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RHD-DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA175 |page= |isbn=<!--3030481344, -->9783030481346}}

*{{cite journal|last=Lane |first=George S. |author-link=George Sherman Lane |title=(Review): Arrow-Odd: A Medieval Novel by Paul Edwards and Hermann Pálsson |journal=Scandinavian Studies |volume=43 |number=1 |date=Winter 1971 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Czk8AAAAIAAJ&q=Tussock |pages=89–91}}

* {{citation|last=Tracy |first=Larissa |author-link=<!--Larissa Tracy--> |title=Face Off: Flayed Beards and Identity in Medieval Romance |editor-last=Tracy |editor-first=Larissa |editor-link=<!--Larissa Tracy--> |work=Flaying in the Pre-modern World: Practice and Representation |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |date=2017 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_bM4DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA322 |pages=322–348 |isbn=<!--1843844524, -->9781843844525}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[https://www.usask.ca/english/icelanders/fsproverbs_%D6OS.html Proverbs and proverbial materials in ''Örvar-Odds saga'']
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050514043851/http://sunsite3.berkeley.edu/OMACL/DanishHistory/book5II.html The Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus on Orvar-Odd]
*[https://www.snerpa.is/net/forn/orvar.htm The Old Norse text of the Saga]
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{{Legendary sagas}}
{{Tyrfing}}
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[[Category:Tyrfing cycle]]
[[Category:Legendary sagas]]
[[Category:Heroes in Norse myths and legends]]