Angantýr

A mighty berserker mentioned in Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks. He is the oldest and tallest of the twelve sons of the berserker Arngrímr, and is the possessor of the cursed sword Tyrfing.

The brothers travel to Uppsala, where Hjörvarðr, the next eldest son, proposes to the daughter of the Swedish king Ingjald. This angers Hjálmarr, one of the king's champions, who says he would be more deserving of a princess than a berserker. Ingjald lets his daughter decide for herself, and she chose Hjálmarr.

Hjörvarðr challenges Hjálmarr to a duel on Samsø. When the brothers arrive there, they see two ships in a cove and, believing these must belong to Hjálmarr, they go berserk and kill all those aboard. By the time Hjálmarr and Örvar-Oddr come, the brothers have come out of their berserker-state and are weakened. Oddr slays all the brothers of Angantýr with his club while Hjálmarr kills Angantýr, although he himself is mortally wounded by Tyrfing.

The brothers are afterwards buried in a mound on Samsø with all their weapons, including the cursed sword Tyrfing.

Angantýr's daughter Hervör later visits him in the burial mound and demands the sword so that she may avenge his death. Although he warns her not to take the sword as it would bring death to their entire line, she persists and Tyrfing is cast out of the grave. This episode is found in the Old Norse poem Hervararkviða, "the Incantation of Hervör."

References

Sources

  • Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks.
  • Hlöðskviða.