View source for Ohthere

{{short description|Semi-legendary Swedish king}}
{{About|the Swedish king|the Norwegian voyager by the same name|Ohthere of Hålogaland}}

[[File:Ottarshogen.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Ohthere's Mound located at [[Vendel]] parish, [[Uppland]], [[Sweden]].]]
'''Ohthere''', also '''Ohtere''' ([[Old Norse]]: ''Óttarr vendilkráka'', ''Vendelcrow''; in modern Swedish ''Ottar Vendelkråka''), was a [[semi-legendary king of Sweden]] of the house of [[Yngling|Scylfing]]s, who is said to have lived during the [[Germanic Heroic Age]], possibly during the early 6th century (fl. c. 515 &ndash; c. 530<ref name="runeberg.org">[https://runeberg.org/nfbt/0584.html "Ottar"], Encyclopedia Nordisk familjebok</ref>).  

His name can be reconstructed as [[Proto-Norse]] *''Ōhta-harjaz'' or *''Ōhtu-harjaz''. The ''[[harjaz]]'' element is common in [[Germanic names]] and has a meaning of "warrior, army" (whence English ''[[:wikt:harry#English|harry]]''); by contrast, the ''oht'' element is less frequent, and has been tentatively interpreted as "fearsome, feared".<ref>[http://www.sofi.se/GetDoc?meta_id=1464 Peterson, Lena. ''Lexikon över urnnordiska personnamn'' PDF] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060915030412/http://www.sofi.se/GetDoc?meta_id=1464 |date=2006-09-15 }}</ref>

A prince of the Swedes, Ohthere and his brother [[Onela]] conducted successful raids against the [[Geats]] after King Hrethel had died. In 515, their father [[Ongentheow]] was killed in battle by the Geats, and Ohthere succeeded his father as the king of [[Sweden]]. Ohthere led an army against the Geats, and besieged one of their armies. He nearly killed the Geatish king [[Hygelac]] but lost many of his forces in the conflict. Ohthere managed to get back to Sweden. In the 520s, Ohthere led a large raid to [[Denmark]] and plundered the Danish coast. A Danish army led by two Jarls, however, was waiting for him. Battle broke out. The Danish were reinforced, and Ohthere was killed in the battle. His corpse was taken back to Sweden and buried in an earthwork mound.

==''Beowulf''==
In the [[Old English literature|Old English]] [[epic poetry|poem]] ''[[Beowulf]]'', the name of Ohthere appears only in constructions referring to his father [[Ongenþeow]] (''fæder Ohtheres''),<ref>Line 2929.</ref> mother (''Onelan modor and Ohtheres''),<ref>Line 2933.</ref> and his sons [[Eadgils]] (''suna Ohteres'',<ref>Lines 2381,</ref> ''sunu Ohteres''<ref>Line 2395.</ref>) and [[Eanmund]] (''suna Ohteres'').<ref>Lines 2613.</ref>

When Ohthere and his actions are concerned, he is referred to as ''Ongenþeow's offspring'', together with his brother [[Onela]]. The following section deals with Ohthere and Onela pillaging the [[Geat]]s at the death of their king [[Hreðel]], restarting the [[Swedish-Geatish wars]]:

{|
|
:Þa wæs synn and sacu Sweona and Geata,
:ofer wid wæter wroht gemæne,
:here-nið hearda,      syððan Hreðel swealt,
:oððe him Ongenþeowes eaferan wæran
:frome fyrd-hwate,      freode ne woldon
:ofer heafo healdan,      ac ymb Hreosna-beorh
:eatolne inwit-scear oft gefremedon.<ref>Lines 2473-2480.</ref>
|
:There was strife and struggle 'twixt Swede and Geat
:o'er the width of waters; war arose,
:hard battle-horror, when Hrethel died,
:and Ongentheow's offspring grew
:strife-keen, bold, nor brooked o'er the seas
:pact of peace, but pushed their hosts
:to harass in hatred by Hreosnabeorh.<ref>''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/981 Modern English translation]'' by [[Francis Barton Gummere]]</ref>
|
|}

Later, it is implied in the poem that Ohthere has died, because his brother Onela is king. Ohthere's sons Eadgils and Eanmund fled to the Geats and the wars began anew.
{{Scyldings of Beowulf family tree}}

== Scandinavian sources ==
''[[Ynglingatal]]'', ''[[Ynglinga saga]]'', ''[[Íslendingabók]]'', and ''[[Historia Norvegiae]]'' all present Óttarr as the son of Egill (called [[Ongenþeow]] in ''Beowulf'') and as the father of Aðísl/Aðils/athils/Adils ([[Eadgils]]).

According to the latest source, ''[[Ynglinga saga]]'', Óttarr refused to pay tribute to the Danish king [[Fróði]] for the help that his father had received. When Fróði sent two men to collect the tribute, Óttarr answered that the Swedes had never paid tribute to the Danes and would not begin with him. Fróði gathered a vast host and looted in Sweden, but the next summer he pillaged in the east. When Óttarr learnt that Fróði was gone, he sailed to Denmark to plunder in return and went into the [[Limfjord]] where he pillaged in [[Vendsyssel]]. Fróði's jarls Vott and Faste attacked Óttarr in the fjord. The battle was even and many men fell, but the Danes were reinforced by the people in the neighbourhood and so the Swedes lost (a version apparently borrowed from the death of Óttarr's predecessor [[Jorund]]). The Danes put Óttarr's corpse on a mound to be devoured by wild beasts, and made a wooden crow that they sent to Sweden, with the message that the wooden crow was all that Óttarr was worth. After this, Óttarr was called ''Vendelcrow''.

It is only Snorri who uses the epithet Vendelcrow, whereas the older sources ''[[Historia Norvegiae]]'' and ''[[Íslendingabók]]'' use it for his father [[Ongenþeow|Egill]]. Moreover, only Snorri's work tells the story of  Óttarr's death in [[Vendsyssel]], and it is probably his own invention.<ref name="runeberg.org"/> ''[[Ynglingatal]]'' mentions only that Óttarr was killed by the Danish jarls Vott and Faste in a place named ''Vendel'' (Laing has been influenced by Snorri's version in his translation):

{|
|
:Féll Óttarr
:und ara greipar
:dugandligr
:fyrir Dana vápnum,
:þann hergammr
:hrægum fœti
:viti borinn
:á Vendli sparn.
:Þau frá ek verk
:Vötts ok Fasta
:sœnskri þjóð
:at sögum verða;
:at eylands
:jarlar Fróða
:vígframað
:um veginn höfðu.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.heimskringla.no/original/heimskringla/ynglingasaga.php |title=The original text at Heimskringla Norrøne Tekster og Kvad |access-date=2006-10-29 |archive-date=2005-12-31 |archive-url=http://web.archive.bibalex.org/web/20051231070651/http://www.heimskringla.no/original/heimskringla/ynglingasaga.php |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|
:By Danish arms the hero bold,
:Ottar the Brave, lies stiff and cold.
:To Vendel's plain the corpse was borne;
:By eagles' claws the corpse is torn,
:Spattered by ravens' bloody feet,
:The wild bird's prey, the wild wolf's meat.
:The Swedes have vowed revenge to take
:On Frode's earls, for Ottar's sake;
:Like dogs to kill them in their land,
:In their own homes, by Swedish hand.<ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/heim/02ynglga.htm Laing's translation at Sacred Texts]</ref>
|
|}
The ''[[Historia Norwegiæ]]'' presents a Latin summary of ''Ynglingatal'', older than Snorri's quotation (continuing after [[Ongenþeow|Egil]]):
{|
|
Cui successit in regnum filius suus Ottarus, qui a suo æquivoco Ottaro Danorum comite et fratre ejus Fasta in una provinciarum Daniæ, scilicet Wendli, interemptus est. Cujus filius Adils [...]<ref>Storm, Gustav (editor) (1880). ''Monumenta historica Norwegiæ: Latinske kildeskrifter til Norges historie i middelalderen'', Monumenta Historica Norwegiae (Kristiania: Brøgger), pp. 100-101.</ref>
|
The successor to the throne was his son Ottar, who was assassinated in Vendel, a law province of Denmark, by his namesake, a Danish jarl, and this man's brother, Fasta. His son Adils [...]<ref>Ekrem, Inger (editor), Lars Boje Mortensen (editor) and Peter Fisher (translator) (2003). ''Historia Norwegie''. Museum Tusculanum Press. {{ISBN|87-7289-813-5}}, p. 77.</ref>
|
|}
''Historia Norvegiæ'' informs only that Ohthere was killed by the Danish brothers ''Ottar'' [sic.] and Faste in a Danish province called ''Vendel''.

==Ohthere's Barrow==
Ohthere's barrow (Swedish: ''Ottarshögen'') ({{coord|60|08|N|17|34|E|}}) is located in [[Vendel]] parish, [[Uppland]], [[Sweden]]. The barrow is 5 metres high and 40 metres wide. In the 17th century, the barrow was known locally as ''Ottarshögen''. The term Hög is derived from the [[Old Norse]] word ''haugr'', meaning mound or barrow.<ref name="NE-Högen">{{citation |contribution-url=http://databas.bib.vxu.se:2057/jsp/search/article.jsp?i_art_id=277891 |contribution=Ottarshögen |title=[[Nationalencyklopedin]] }}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

The barrow was excavated in the period 1914–16.<ref name="NE-Högen"/> It showed the remains of both a man and a woman, and the finds were worthy of a king.<ref>[http://www.raa.se/cms/extern/se_och_besoka/sevardheter/ottarshogen.html A presentation by the Swedish National Heritage Board] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070824195155/http://www.raa.se/cms/extern/se_och_besoka/sevardheter/ottarshogen.html |date=2007-08-24 }}</ref> The Swedish archaeologist [[Sune Lindqvist]]<ref>''Fornvännen'' 1917, Sune Lindqvist, "Ottarshögen i Vendel", p. 142</ref> reported that in its centre, there was a wooden vessel with ashes. There were few finds but they were well-preserved. There were some decorative panels similar to those found in the other [[Vendel era]] graves nearby. A comb with a case was found, as well as a golden Roman coin, a [[Solidus (coin)|solidus]], dated to be no later than 477. It had been perforated and was probably used as decoration, but it showed signs of wear and tear and had probably been worn for a longer time. Lindqvist stated that the identification of the barrow as that of Ohthere could not receive more archaeological confirmation than those provided by the excavation.

==See also==
*[[Óttar of Dublin]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*Nerman, B. ''Det svenska rikets uppkomst''. Stockholm, 1925.

{{start box}}
{{s-hou|[[Yngling|House of Yngling]]||||}}
{{succession box|title=[[Legendary king of Sweden]]|years=|before=[[Ongenþeow]]|after=[[Onela]] or [[Eadgils]]}}
{{end box}}

{{Norse mythology}}
{{Beowulf}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:European people whose existence is disputed]]
[[Category:Characters in Beowulf]]
[[Category:Semi-legendary kings of Sweden]]
[[Category:Monarchs killed in action]]