Sunday, February 12, 2012

Bodvar in Saxo Grammaticus

I was reading through Saxo Grammaticus's History of the Danes and I spotted my friend, Boðvar Bjarki. In Saxo, Hrothgar's nephew Hrothulf is called Rolf. He is also the Hrolf in Hrolf's Saga Kraki.
In Saxo, the scene, in which Boðvar finds Hottr hiding in a pile of bones, takes place in Heorot but, instead of killing a dragon and letting Hottr drink the blood for courage, Boðvar kills a bear. Boðvar´s brother is king of Gautland (Geats). This might make you wonder if Boðvar is an alternative view of Beowulf´s adventures in Denmark and you would not be far off.

2 comments:

Anachronist said...

Killing a bear sounds far more sensible you know. I bet the blood tasted better. ;p

The Red Witch said...

At least bears exist in this world. Makes it seem like the story is based on historical persons.