Hugleik
Hugleik or
Ochilaik (a namesake of
Hygelac) was a
Swedish king of the
House of Yngling, according to the
Ynglinga saga,
Ynglingatal and
Historia Norwegiae. He was the son of
Alf and
Bera.
Some commentators assimilate Hugleik with his namesake, the
Geatish king Hygelac. However, this is unlikely, as the stories of the two kings do not compare at all.
When Hugleik's father and uncle had killed each other, Hugleik inherited the Swedish throne. Like his father, he was not a warrior, but preferred to stay at home. He was reputed to be as greedy as he was rich and, he preferred to be in the company of
jesters,
seidmen and
völvas who entertained him.
Haki and
Hagbard (the hero of the legend of
Hagbard and Signy) were two famous
sea-kings who had amassed a great force of warriors, and they occasionally plundered together. Haki arrived in Sweden with a his troops to assault
Uppsala. Haki was a murderous fighter and around himself he had his twelve hirdmen of whom one was the legendary old warrior
Starkad (who had been in the service of Hugleik's grandfather
Erik and great-uncle
Alrik).
Hugleik had also mustered a large army and he was aided by two famous warriors named
Svipdag and
Geigad.
The two armies met on the
Fyrisvellir (Fyris Wolds) and a great battle ensued. The Swedish army was defeated, but the two champions Svipdag and Geigad pushed onwards even though Haki's champions were six times as many. They were both captured by Haki, and then Haki attacked the
shield-circle around Hugleik and killed him together with both his sons.
Saxo Grammaticus knows of this story but he renders
Huglet(h)us as an Irish king who was killed by the Dane
Haco (given as
Hakon in the following translation [
1]). The motivation behind describing Hugleik as an Irish king was probably identical to what Saxo described as the motivation behind the attack:
even the furthest kingdoms of the world might not be untouched by the Danish arms. Saxo writes that Starkad and Haki brought their fleet to Ireland where lived the rich and greedy king Hugleik. Hugleik was never generous to an honourable man, but spent all his riches on
mimes and
jugglers. In spite of his avarice, Hugleik had the great champions Geigad and Svipdag.
When the battle began, the jugglers and mimes panicked and fled, and only Geigad and Svipdag remained to defend Hugleik, but they fought like an entire army. Geigad dealt Starkad a wound on the head, which was so severe that Starkad would later sing songs about it.
Starkad killed Hugleik and made the Irish flee. He then had the jugglers and mimes whipped and beaten, in order to humiliate them. Then the Danes brought Hugleik's riches out to Dublin to be publicly looted, and there was so much of it that none cared for its strict division.
In
Saxo Grammaticus'
Gesta Danorum,
Huglecus is one of the
legendary Danish kings. Like Hygelac, he fought against Swedes but he is only given a very short biography.
After this HUGLEIK was king, who is said to have defeated in battle at sea Homod and Hogrim, the despots of Sweden. [
2]
*
Ynglingatal*
Ynglinga saga (part of the
Heimskringla)
*
Historia Norwegiae*
Gesta DanorumNerman, B.
Det svenska rikets uppkomst. Stockholm, 1925.
