King Hrolf's Death: one of the most Brutal Revenge Tales in Viking Legend

According to legend, Hrolf Kraki was a great Danish king of the 6th century, a Danish King Arthur. His great hall stood near Lejre, where he entertained a famous band of champions. But many sought his throne. His own cousin, Hjorvard, made a surprise dawn attack on the king's hall. After a desperate last stand, Hrolf lay dead, surrounded by his champions. Only one man survived. Vogg, the weakest man in Hrolf's court. He'd been the butt of all jokes, even when he'd sworn to avenge Hrolf's death. Now he was hauled before the new king, Hjorvard. Hrolf is dead and all his champions are dead as well. That's the right thing to do, except Vogg, who is dragged out of a pile of bodies. And for some reason, Hjorvard thinks it would be a good idea to get a pledge of allegiance from Hrolf's last surviving champion. So, they get Vogg and he is pulled up, asked to swear allegiance to Hjorvard, and Hjorvard gives him his sword to swear allegiance on. Bad idea. Vogg picks it up, runs Hjorvard through. That's the end of Hjorvard and the Skjoldung dynasty. And of course, Vogg is immediately killed. But he has fulfilled his vow. So, it's another example, really, of the Viking love of, shall we say, wit, of being able to turn the tables in a funny kind of way. Once again, Ragnar's joke was on King Ælla, and Vogg's joke is on King Hjorvard. Um very funny, um in a sort of way. Legends about King Hrolf come from a tumultuous period of Europe's history, traditionally known as the Dark Ages. But recent discoveries suggest the tales of King Hrolf have a basis in fact. King Hrolf is the Danish King Arthur. They lived at about the same time in the early 6th century. For a long time, uh the story of King Hrolf was regarded rather like Arthur, you know, not couldn't be true. But then the archaeologists, alerted by a chance discovery, started looking at the traditional site of King Hrolf's court, which is now the small village of Lejre in Denmark. And much to their surprise, they discovered the site of one enormous hall after another. I think they have now found six of them all through the Viking and pre-Viking era.