According to
Þorgils saga ok Hafliða, a saga included in the great compilation
Sturlunga saga, the original version was composed by the farmer Hrólfr of
Skálmarnes and was recited by him at a wedding at
Reykjahólar in 1119: The saga that we now have is about Hrómundr serving king Óláf King of Warriors (
Óláfr Liðsmannakonung) and Hrómund's battles with the
berserker Hröngvið, as well as the undead witch-king Þráinn, a
draugr (he was a former king of
Gaul,
Valland). Þráinn had killed four hundred and twenty men, including king
Sæmingr, legendary first King of Norway, father of
Þrand of Trondheim, with his enchanted sword Mistletoe (
Mistilteinn.) Hrómund grapples with Þráinn and wins, burns his body and takes Mistletoe. This first section of the saga corresponds with the saga described in
Þorgils saga ok Hafliða. It's been questioned whether
Þorgils saga could have reported such details accurately over a century after the fact, but even if no such saga was told in 1119, the basic tale must have been familiar by the mid-13th century, when
Þorgils saga ok Hafliða itself was written. Soon afterwards, Hrómundr is slandered to King Olaf and forced to leave his service, but he returns to fight the two kings of Sweden, both named
Haldingr or Haddingr, who have invaded Olaf's realm. With them is their champion
Helgi Haddingjaskati (Hröngvið's brother) who is aided in battle by his lover Kára's magic. During the battle, she flies overhead in the shape of a swan, and she is probably based on the
Valkyrie Kára. Her magical singing causes Helgi's enemies to forget to defend themselves, and Helgi is able to kill all eight of Hrómundr's brothers. When Hrómundr arrives, Helgi accidentally cuts off the swan's leg as he swings his sword, and is no longer protected by Kára's magic. Hrómundr kills Helgi but is severely wounded. His rival at Olaf's court, Vali, gets Mistletoe away from him before Hrómundr kills him as well. After recuperating and finding Mistletoe again, Hrómund slays the last Swedish king Haldingr. This section of the saga reflects parts of the lost
Káruljóð which is mentioned in the prose section of
Helgakviða Hundingsbana II. This section says that
Helgi Hundingsbane and his lover, the Valkyrie
Sigrún are reborn as
Helgi Haddingjaskati and
Kára. It also reflects others of the "Helgi lays" preserved in the
Poetic Edda; an episode in which Hrómundr is searched for by a malicious counsellor named Blindr, but is concealed by being dressed as a female servant grinding grain, is very close to an escapade of Helgi in
Helgakviða Hundingsbana II. It is probably not a historic account of real events since it was remarked by king
Sverre of Norway, who heard it, that it was an amusing "lying tale" (
lygisaga). Nonetheless, according to
Landnámabók, Hrómundr Gripsson was the paternal great-grandfather of
Ingolfr Arnarson, the first settler in Iceland. This means that he would have lived in
Norway in the first half of the 8th century, and it's not impossible that stories about an ancestor who did exist were handed down by his Icelandic descendants (probably becoming increasingly embellished as time passed). == Sweden ==