Ketils saga hœngs is a
legendary sagaA Legendary saga or Fornaldarsaga is a Norse saga that, unlike the Icelanders' sagas, takes place before the colonization of Iceland. There are some exceptions, such as Yngvars saga víðförla, which takes place in the 11th century...
from
IcelandIceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
on the North Norwegian chieftain Kettil Trout from
RamstaRamsta or Ramstad is a farm area on an island in the municipality of Nærøy in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located about half way between the villages of Abelvær and Steine on an island near the mouth of the Foldafjord....
(Hrafnista) in
HålogalandHålogaland was the northernmost of the Norwegian provinces in the mediaeval Norse sagas. In the early Viking Age, before Harald Fairhair, Hålogaland was a petty kingdom extending between Namdalen in Nord-Trøndelag and Lyngen in Troms.-Etymology:...
. It is one of the sagas called the
HrafnistumannasögurThe Hrafnistumannasögur is a group of legendary sagas surrounding Ketil Trout and his relatives. The group is named after Hrafnista, modern Ramsta in northern Norway.*Ketils saga hœngs*Gríms saga loðinkinna*Örvar-Odds saga...
surrounding Ketil Trout and his relatives.
Kettil grows up to become a rascal and an
AskeladdenAskeladden is the main character in many Norwegian folktales. In some ways, he represents the small man who succeeds where all others fail. He always wins in the end, often winning the princess and half the kingdom.-Folk tales:...
, but matures and becomes a formidable champion. He slays a dragon and goes through a number of fights, mostly to defend his daughter. In a fight with Dusti, the king of the
SamiThe Sami people, also spelled Sámi, or Saami, are the arctic indigenous people inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Kola Peninsula of Russia, and the border area between south and middle Sweden and Norway. The Sámi are Europe’s northernmost...
s, he slays the king and takes his sword and three magic arrowheads of flintstone (Hremsa, Fifa and Flaug).
Together with the giantess Hrafnhild, Ketil has the son
Grim Shaggy-CheekGríms saga loðinkinna, or The Saga of Grim Shaggy-Cheek is one of the legendary sagas. It is from the 14th century and takes place in 8th century Norway. It is one of the sagas called the Hrafnistumannasögur surrounding Kettil Hoeng and his relatives.It is about Grim, the son of Ketil Hoeng, and...
, who was the father of
Orvar-OddÖrvar-Oddr is a legendary hero about whom an anonymous Icelander wrote a fornaldarsaga in the latter part of the 13th century. Örvar-Odds saga, the Saga of Örvar-Odd, became very popular and contains old legends and songs...
.
Ketil is traditionally regarded as the father of Hrafnhilda, who married
Thorkel of NamdalenThorkel of Namdalen was a Norwegian jarl in Namdalen who lived in the mid to late ninth century CE. Thorkel married Hrafnhilda, the daughter of Ketil Trout of Hrafnista. Their son, named Ketil Trout after his grandfather, was to become one of the major players in the early settlement of Iceland...
and bore him a son, the
IcelandIceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
ic chieftain Ketil Thorkelsson. This grandson also went by the name "Ketil Trout".
Source
- Ohlmarks, Åke
Åke Joel Ohlmarks was a Swedish author, translator and scholar of religion.He worked as a Lecturer at the University of Greifswald from 1941 to 1945...
. (1982). Fornnordiskt lexikon. Tiden. ISBN 91-550-2511-0
Sources and external link