Angantyr's father
Arngrim had given him the
magic sword Tyrfing, which cut through anything as if through cloth, and which killed a man every time it was unsheathed. He was the tallest of the twelve sons of the berserker
Arngrim, and he and his eleven brothers spread fear and destruction through the North. One
Yule, they were back home on
Bolmsö when the next eldest son Hjörvard, swore that he would win
Ingeborg, the daughter of
Yngve, the king of
Sweden. The twelve brothers departed for
Uppsala and Hjorvard proposed to Ingeborg. However then
Hjalmar, one of the Swedish king's champions, stepped forth and claimed he deserved the princess rather than a berserker. The Swedish king, who feared opposing twelve uncontrollable and infamous berserkers in his
hall, suggested that Ingeborg herself should decide. Naturally, she chose Hjalmar, and Hjorvard was besides himself with rage. He challenged Hjalmar to a duel on
Samsø and declared that Hjalmar would lose his honour if he did not turn up. When the twelve brothers arrived on Samsø, they started to go berserk. They bit their shields, screamed loud and coarsely and let themselves loose on Hjalmar and Orvar-Odd's crewmen and began to cut them to pieces. Hjalmar and
Orvar-Odd arrived to the scene to find their crew slain and Orvar-Odd, with only his club, slew Angantyr's eleven brothers. After the melee, he found Angantyr dead and Hjalmar mortally wounded by the cursed sword, Tyrfing. Orvar-Odd buried the twelve brothers in barrows on Samsø together with the cursed sword, so that it would no longer cause any harm. However Angantyr's daughter
Hervor would later return and claim Tyrfing as her own. This event is known as "the waking of Angantyr", as recorded in the poem
The Waking of Angantyr. ==Angantyr Höfundsson==