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 reliably attested Danish ruler. Gorm's son, Harald Bluetooth, oversaw the widespread Christianization of Denmark, meaning that the legendary kings listed here are those from before Christianization and are predominantly (but not entirely) pagan. Earlier kings may be partly historical (especially those near to Gorm's time), but are either semi-legendary or entirely mythological. Some are based on earlier euhemerised stories (that is, figures from mythological folktales were depicted as historical kings by medieval writers such as Saxo Grammaticus).
There are many medieval accounts of the Danish kings of the Dark Ages, and these accounts can be confusing and contradictory (although there is overlap and different sources can include the same kings). This article presents the legendary kings from each source separately.
Adam of Bremen was an 11th century German chronicler. Although not Danish himself, he spent time in the court of the Danish king Svend Estridson. Adam claims to derive much of the information on Danish history from his Latin chronicle Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum ("Deeds of the Bishops of Hamburg") from conversations with Svend (whom he quotes verbatim in several places) and from information provided by Danish bishops.
Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum names several 10th century kings preceding Gorm the Old, as follows:[1] [2] [3]
The earliest known chronicle of Danish kings to be written in Denmark was Chronicon Lethrense ("The Chronicle of Lejre"), which was composed by an unknown author, likely from Roskilde and transmitted as part of the Annales Lundenses (although it was likely originally a separate work). Chronicon Lethrense was written in the mid- to late-12th century, possibly alongside or as a sort of prequel to Chronicon Roskildense, which depicts historical kings after the Christianization of Denmark.
Chronicon Lethrense was hugely influential, and many subsequent chronicles were at least partly based on it. Almost all monarchs mentioned appear in subsequent chronicles, with the notable exception of two queens regnant, Asa and Hethae. It states that the first king of the Danes was a certain Dan (after whom the tribe was named), who was the son of a Swedish king named Ypper. This is said to be both when Augustus invaded Denmark and during the time of the Biblical King David, referring to two rulers who lived about a thousand years apart.
Chronicon Lethrense also explicitly conflates the kingdoms of Denmark with Dacia, a conceit that appears in the earlier works of Dudo of Saint-Quentin, and in subsequent works such as Historia Regum Britanniae (see below).
Monarchs in the Chronicon Lethrense are:[4]
Sven Aggesen was a 12th century Danish chronicler who wrote Brevis historia regum Dacie ("A Short History of the Kings of Denmark"). He was a contemporary of Saxo Grammaticus and noted in his writings that he was aware of Saxo's then-in progress work on the Gesta Danorum (see below), but also described himself (incorrectly) as the first writer to document the kings of Denmark.
Sven says that the first king of Denmark was Skiold, whose descendants are the Skioldungar. The line of kings continues from Skiold to Gorm the Old with only one break, between Ingiald and Olaf. It says, "After his [Ingeld's] time no son succeeded his father to the throne for a space of many centuries. It passed to grandsons, or nephews, who, to be sure, were sprung from the royal stock on the one side." It is unclear if this represents a gap in the lineage (i.e. that other unmentioned kings ruled between Ingeld and Olaf) or if Olaf succeeded Ingeld directly but began a period in which there was no direct father-to-son succession. The latter is possible given, for example, that Olaf took the throne by conquest, and that after Olaf the landowner Ennignup (possibly a reference to Gnupa) became guardian of the kingdom before Knut came to power. When first written, the chronicle was apparently accompanied by an extensive genealogy as an appendix, but this appendix has not survived.
Gesta Danorum ("Deeds of the Danes") by Saxo Grammaticus is the most extensive, and most widely known Danish chronicle of Danish kings. It was written in Latin in the 12th century, and comprises 16 books, of which the first 9 relate to legendary kings leading up to Gorm the Old, and the remaining 7 are more recent and historical. The work is explicitly euhemeristic, repeatedly referring to certain individuals (including Odin, Baldr, and Thor) as mortal humans that people believed to be, and worshipped as, gods.
Saxo draws on many sources for this work. In several places where the sources appear contradictory, he will adapt more than one version at different places in the timeline, often creating multiple individuals where earlier stories had only one. For example, instead of a single king named Gorm the Old, Saxo says there were three different kings named Gorm. Sigurd Hring appears as two different kings, Ringo and Siwardus Ring.
| Name | Consort(s) | Claim | Note(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title created | Did not actually rule as a king, but merely as a governor. | |||
| Elected as a king after the death of his father, however, he proved a weak ruler and was soon deposed by his brother. | ||||
| After deposing his brother, he resorted to tyranny and was killed while fighting a rebellion. | ||||
| Son of Lother | Became king when younger than fifteen, renowned hunter and fighter, extraordinarily tall. Subjugated the Alemanni in order to marry a Saxon princess. | |||
| Gram | Groa Signe | Son of Skiod | While his father was still alive, he invaded Sweden, and his father rewarded him by crowning him as co-ruler. Later, he was killed by Svipdagr, king of the Norwegians. | |
| Svipdagr | Daughter of Gram and Groa | Son-in-law of Gram | After Gram slew his father, he retired to Sweden and made peace with Gram when he agreed to marry his sister. Later, Gram abandoned his sister in favor of a Finnish princess, this prompted Svipdagr to continue the war, which eventually led to his victory, thus he took over Sweden and Denmark. | |
| Guthorm | Son of Gram Nephew of Svipdagr | Puppet king of Svipdagr. |
Other Danish kings include:
In Book VI of Gesta Danorum, Saxo also refers to a certain Hakon as the tyrant of Denmark when describing the early years of the champion Starkad. However, Hakon does not appear to fit into the timeline or family tree of Danish rulers as described in the rest of Gesta Danorum.
Gesta Danorum på danskæ, a work separate from Saxo's Gesta Danorum, is the earliest surviving chronicle of Danish kings that was written in the Danish language (then Old Norse). It is often referred to incorrectly as the Chronicon Lethrense in its English translation by Peter Tunstall.[4] This work is based on the kings list from the Codex Runicus, and includes kings not in the Chronicon Lethrense, such as:[6]
The Old English epic poem Beowulf also mentions several Danish kings, in particular Hroðgar, whose hall Heorot is the main setting of the tale.
The kings in the poem Gróttasöngr
The kings of the saga of the Scylding family.
Sögubrot or Sǫgubrot af nokkrum fornkonungum Dana ok svíaveldi is an Old Icelandic saga fragment which is believed to be a part of the original Skjöldunga saga. The fragment begins in the middle of a discussion between the Scanian king Ivar Vidfamne and his daughter Auðr.
Kings of the whole of Denmark or individual Danish regions, which appear in Sögubrot:
The kings of the saga of the Ynglinga family.
The 6th century historian Gregory of Tours, in Book 3 of his Historia Francorum ("History of the Franks"), refers to a Danish king named Chlochilaicus, who led a raid into the Frankish Kingdoms during the reign of Theodericus I (511 to 534), and was killed in the counter-attack by Theodericus' son, Theodebertus.[7] The 8th century Liber Historiae Francorum tells the same story, referring to the Danish King as Chochilaicus. (The same story also appears in the 7th or 8th century Liber Monstrorum and in the poem Beowulf, but in these works the raiding Viking king is named Hygelac, and described as King of the Geats rather than King of the Danes.)[8]
Gesta Danorum refers to two characters named Huglecus, one as King of the Danes (see above), and another in Book VI as a King of the Irish who was attacked and defeated by the Danish forces of Hakon and Starkad.
The Royal Frankish Annals are a series of Latin annals of the Carolingian dynasty year-by-year between 741 to 829. Several annals refer to kings of the Danes, as follows:
Book III of the 12th century Historia Regum Britanniae by Geoffrey of Monmouth refers to a King of the Dacians named Guichtlac. As mentioned above in the section on Chronicon Lethrense, the Danes and Dacians had been conflated by European historians since at least the works of Dudo of Saint-Quentin over a century earlier. In Geoffrey's tale, Guichtlac had been in love with the daughter of Elsingius the King of Norway, but instead she married Brennius, then King of Northumberland and the brother and rival of Belinus, King of the Britons. After a sea battle, Guichtlac and the lady were washed up in Britain and captured by Belinus. After Brennius defeated Belinus in battle and became King of the Britons, Guichtlac promised to submit Dacia (Denmark) to Brennius and pay yearly tribute if he was given leave to return to Dacia with his mistress, which was granted.
Many kings are mentioned by multiple sources, but are for various reasons still considered more legendary than historical kings of Denmark
Early kings of the Rig and Scylding lines, mentioned by multiple sources
After Hrólf Kraki no two sources give the same succession.