House of Halfdan-Hrolf

Dynasty of Halfdan

The dynasty of Halfdan-Helgi-Hrolf belonged to the line of the Skjoldungs. The Skjoldungs were known in the Beowulf epic as the Scyldings. The Skjoldungs were descendants of Skiold (Scyld Scefing), the founder of the dynasty of Denmark. In the Hrolfs saga Kraka, Skiold was not mentioned at all.

Note that Helgi, father of Hrolf Kraki, raped and impregnated Olof, the Queen of Saxland, who gave birth to Yrsa. Not knowing that Yrsa was his daughter, Helgi married Yrsa, and they became the parents of Hrolf. This is why Helgi appears twice in the genealogy above.

Through Bodvar's marriage to Hrolf's daughter (Drifa), I have included Bodvar's family tree in Halfdan-Hrolf's genealogy. Bodvar came from the Norwegian royal family. Bodvar ruled only a short time in the Norwegian kingdom before abdicating, so he could become Hrolf Kraki's champion. See Bjorn and his Sons.

According to Snorri in the Ynglinga, Adils was a son of Ottar, and a descendant of the Vanir god Frey, who was known as Yngvi, so he was often called Yngvi-Frey.

Family Tree of Svip

Below is the family tree of the Swedish farmer named Svip. His sons, Svipdag, Beygard and Hvitserk, became Hrolf Kraki's champions. See Svipdag.