Elk-Froði
In Scandinavian literature, Elk-Froði (Old Norse: Elgfróði) is the half-man, half-elk elder brother of the hero Bödvar Bjarki and Thorir Houndsfoot. The name can also be used to describe mythical creatures with his form, which have been seen as a Norse variant of a centaur.[1][2]
Attestations[edit]
Hrólfr Kraki's saga[edit]
In Hrólfs saga kraka, the sole surviving medieval source referencing Elk-Froði, he is the son of Bjorn, the son of King Hring of Uppland, and Bera, a churl's daughter and Bjorn's childhood friend. It tells that Bjorn refused the advances of his stepmother, the queen, while the king was away and struck her, telling her to leave him. In retaliation, the queen cursed Bjorn to take the form of a bear by day whereupon he fled to a cave and proceeded to hunt the king's cattle. Taking advantage of this, the queen encourages King Hring to send men to kill the bear. One evening Bera sees the bear who walks up to her and through looking into its eyes realises it is Bjorn. She follows Bjorn back to his cave where he returns to his human form and she spends the night, becoming pregnant. Bjorn foresees that he will be killed by the king's men the next day and that the queen will try to feed her his flesh but Bera must not eat it. He further tells Bera that once she has given birth, if needs be, she should bring their three children to the cave where she will find a chest with three compartments, containing gifts for each child, and three weapons stuck in a rock of which each child shall take one when the time is right. After this, Bjorn transforms back into a bear and leaves the cave to meet his fate. He is cornered by the king's men and after killing all their hunting dogs, he is slain. Later, a feast is held where the bear meat is boiled and the queen offers it to Bera to eat, who refuses. Claiming her hospitality is being insulted, the queen forces Bera to eat her lover's flesh, who lets a tiny piece of meat fall into her mouth. Because of this, she falls ill and her children are born as follows:
He was a man above, and an elk below the navel; he was named Elgfrothi. A second son was born named Thorir, and he had hound's feet down from his instep, and was therefore called Thorir Houndsfoot. He was of fairest appearance in every other aspect. The third son was born and he was the most promising; he was named Bothvar and had no blemish.[3]
As a child, Elk-Froði was incredibly fierce and merciless, maiming many of the king's men and killing one. By the time he was twelve he was stronger than all others and he was not permitted to join in their games. At this, Elk-Froði told his mother he wished to leave, claiming "I may no longer live among men, for they are nought but imbeciles, and take hurt when they are touched only."[3] Bera agrees that he should not be part of society on account of his violence and led him to the cave in which Bjorn had lived. Elk-Froði had been left the least by his father and desired more but was not allowed, and tried to take the weapons embedded in the rock. Neither the longsword, nor the axe would release from the stone, whereupon he tried the third weapon and the shortsword slid out. In anger at it being the worst weapon, he tried to break it on a rock but instead, it was buried into the rock up to the haft. Taking his sword with him, he left the cave and built a hut at a mountain pass, killing and stealing from travelers attempting to pass through.
Soon after, Thorir Houndsfoot leaves his mother's home and collecting his gifts from Bjorn's cave, goes to visit Elk-Froði, covering his face with a hood. Thinking him a stranger, Elk-Froði threatens Thorir, burying his sword into a beam before realising his true identity and offering him half of the wealth he has accrued from his banditry, though Thorir refuses. Elk-Froði then leads him to the land of the Geats, where Thorir becomes king.
When it is the turn of Bödvar Bjarki to leave home, he too collects the gifts left for him by his father and goes to visit Elk-Froði concealed by a hood. As with Thorir, Elk-Froði threatens the visitor and buries his sword into a beam, however he does not recognise his brother and challenges him to fight. As they wrestle, Bödvar Bjarki's hood falls down and Elk-Froði recognises him and they cease the brawl. Elk-Froði offers his brother half of his possessions, as he did with Thorir Houndsfoot, but again is refused on account of their provenance. He sets Bödvar Bjarki on his way, recommending him to seek out Hrolf Kraki and join his company. As he's leaving, Elk-Froði gives his brother a push and tells Bödvar Bjarki that he is not as strong as is fitting for him. At this, he cuts into his calf, letting blood drip out and told Bödvar Bjarki to drink. Once he had, Elk-Froði pushes his brother again, this time observing that the strength of his blood made Bödvar Bjarki stand firm. Elk-Froði then stamps on a rock beside him such that his hoof is buried deep in it, saying:
"To this hoof-print will I come every day and look what is therein; earth will be in it if thou be dead from sickness; water of thou art drowned in the sea; and blood, if thou art dead from weapons; and in that case I will avenge thee, for I love thee best of all men."[3]
At the end of the saga, Bödvar Bjarki is slain along with Hrolf Kraki by the army of the sorceress Skuld. Elk-Froði avenges his brother as he promised, taking Skuld by surprise and killing her, with the help of Thorir Houndsfoot and Queen Yrsa's army, led by Vöggr.[3]
Themes[edit]
Bödvar Bjarki drinking Elk-Froði's blood to gain strength has been identified as a widespread motif in Germanic heroic legend in which drinking of a monster's blood grants transformative powers,[4][5] such as is seen in the Volsung Cycle when eating the heart of the dragon Fafnir grants Sigurd understanding of the speech of birds.
In popular culture[edit]
Elgfrothi is the name of an Icelandic electronic music artist.[6]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ The Nordic languages : an international handbook of the history of the North Germanic languages. Berlin: W. de Gruyter. 2002. ISBN 3110148765. Search this book on
- ↑ Zoëga, Geir T. (1910). A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic. Oxford University Press. Search this book on
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Mills, Stella (1933). Saga of Hrolf Kraki. Search this book on
- ↑ Matveeva, Elizaveta (2015). Reconsidering the tradition: The Odinic hero as saga protagonist. University of Nottingham. Search this book on
- ↑ Hui, Jonathan (2018). "Bad Beef and Mad Cow Disease in Bósa saga ok Herrauðs". Scandinavian Studies. 90 (4): 461–484. doi:10.5406/scanstud.90.4.0461.
- ↑ "Elgfrothi". Beatport.
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