View source for Randver

{{Infobox royalty
| name           = Randver
| succession     = [[Legendary kings of Denmark]]
| reign          = early 700s (?)
| predecessor    = [[Valdar]]
| successor      = [[Harald Wartooth]]
| birth_name     = 
| birth_date     = 7th century
| birth_place    = 
| death_date     = 
| death_place    = 
| spouse         = [[Åsa Haraldsdottir of Agder]]
| issue          = 
| dynasty        = 
| father         = [[Ráðbarðr]], or [[Valdar]]
| mother         = [[Auðr the Deep-Minded (Ívarsdóttir)|Auðr the Deep-Minded]], or Alfhild
| religion       = [[Norse religion|Norse paganism]]
}}

'''Randvér''' or '''Randver''' was a legendary Danish king. In [[Norsemen|Nordic]] [[List of legendary kings of Sweden#House of Ivar Vidfamne|legends]],  according to ''[[Sögubrot]]'' and the ''[[Lay of Hyndla]]'', he was the son of [[Ráðbarðr]] the king of [[Garðaríki]] and [[Auðr the Deep-Minded (Ívarsdóttir)|Auðr the Deep-Minded]], the daughter of the Danish-Swedish ruler [[Ivar Vidfamne]]. In these two sources, Auðr had Randver's brother, [[Harald Wartooth]], in a previous marriage.<ref>Nerman (1925), p. 243-6.</ref>

One of the genealogies in ''[[Hversu Noregr Byggðist]]'' seems to say that he is the son of [[Hrœrekr slöngvanbaugi]] and the brother of [[Harald Wartooth]].<ref>''Hversu Noregr byggðist'', Chapter V [http://www.heimskringla.no/wiki/Hversu_Noregr_bygg%C3%B0ist]</ref> Hrœrekr was, according to ''Sögubrot'', a Danish king on [[Zealand]] who was killed by Ivar Vidfamne.<ref>Nerman (1925), p. 244.</ref>

According to ''[[Hervarar saga]]'' both Randver and Harald Wartooth were the sons of  [[Valdar]] and Alfhild, the daughter of [[Ivar Vidfamne]]. This saga relates that Ivar appointed Valdar as the king of Denmark, and when Valdar died, he was succeeded by Randver. Randver married [[Åsa Haraldsdottir of Agder]] (in other sagas said to be the wife of [[Gudrød the Hunter]] of [[Vestfold]]), who gave birth to a son, [[Sigurd Hring]]. After his brother Harald had reclaimed [[Götaland]] (or [[Gotland]] depending on the manuscript), Randver fell in battle in [[England]].<ref>Ellehøj (1965), p. 89.</ref>

The ''Hervarar saga'' says that Randver was succeeded as Danish king by his son [[Sigurd Hring]] (probably as Harald's viceroy).<ref>Ellehøj (1965), p. 89.</ref> However, ''Sögubrot'' says that Harald Wartooth elevated Sigurd Hring as sub-king of Sweden and [[Västergötland]].The Danish chronicle of [[Saxo Grammaticus]] (c. 1200) does not clearly mention Randver, but rather asserts that Hring was the son of the Swedish king Ingjald and an unnamed sister of Harald Wartooth.<ref>Saxo Grammaticus (1905), p. 459.</ref>

The Danish scholar [[Gudmund Schütte]] drew a parallel between the pair Ráðbarðr - Randver in ''[[Langfeðgatal]]'' and the pair Rædhere - Rondhere that is mentioned in line 123 in the Anglo-Saxon poem ''[[Widsith]]'' (7th century?). Schütte's argument was that lists of heroic figures found in ''Widsith'' were reflected in the ordering of names in some later medieval sagas and chronicles.<ref>Schütte (1926), p. 44.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Literature==
* Ellehøj, Svend (1965) ''Studier over de ældste norrøne historieskrivning''. Hafniæ: Munksgaard.
* Nerman, Birger (1925) ''Det svenska rikets uppkomst''. Stockholm: Generalstabens litografiska anstalt.
* Saxo Grammaticus (1905) ''The nine books of the Danish history of Saxo Grammaticus''. London: Norroena Society [https://archive.org/details/ninebooksofdanis02saxouoft]
* Schütte, Gudmund (1926) "Dansk kongetals tusendaarige traad", ''Dansk Historisk Tidskrift'' 9:V [https://tidsskrift.dk/historisktidsskrift/article/view/55491/75435]

{{Norse mythology}}

[[Category:Legendary kings of Denmark]]
[[Category:Legendary Danish people]]
{{Norse-myth-stub}}