Prophecy Oddr was the son of
Grímr Loðinkinni and the grandson of
Ketill Hœngr (both of whom have their own sagas) of
Hålogaland. When he was an infant, a
vǫlva predicted that he would be killed by his own horse, Faxi, at the place where he was born, at the age of three hundred (which may signify 360, as the unit in question is probably the "
long hundred" commonly used in medieval
Germanic languages, denoting 120 rather than 100). In order to thwart the prediction, he killed his horse, buried it deep in the ground and left his home intending never to return again. As he was leaving, his father gave him some magic arrows (
Gusisnautar) which soon earned him the
cognomen arrow. After a voyage to
Finnmark,
Bjarmaland,
Holmgård,
Constantinople and
Jotunheim, he fought successfully against several Vikings.
Hjalmar and Angantyr However, when he encountered the Swedish champion
Hjalmar, he met his match. The fight was even and the two warriors not only became friends, but entered
sworn brotherhood. The two heroes fought many battles together (for more see
Hjalmar), until after the famous battle of
Samsø against the sons of
Arngrim, Ǫrvar-Oddr had to bring the dead Hjalmar (killed by
Angantyr) to
Uppsala and his betrothed Ingeborg, the daughter of the Swedish king. Ǫrvar-Oddr travelled in the South fighting against the corsairs of the
Mediterranean, he was baptised in
Sicily, was shipwrecked and arrived alone in the
Holy Land.
Ǫgmundr Flóki Oddr sought vengeance against Ǫgmundr Flóki ("Ogmund Tussock" or Ǫgmundr 'tuft'; After defeating the king of Bjalkaland ("pelt country"), who used to pay tribute to the king of Hunaland, he married the Herrauðr' daughter Silkisif and became the next king.
Death After all this, Oddr became homesick and went back home. Walking over the grave of Faxi, he mocked the old prophecy, but tripped over the skull of a horse from which a snake appeared. The snake bit him and he died. ==Analysis==