OhÞere Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
OhÞere, Ohtere or Ottar Vendelkråka (Vendelcrow) (ca 515 - ca 530) was a king of the Swedish house of Scylfings. He was the son of OngenÞeow and the brother of Onela. He was the father of Eadgils, and according to Beowulf he also had a son named Eanmund.OhÞere is mentioned in several independent sources, but there are however, two different versions of his death.
According to the oldest source, Beowulf, he was captured by the Geats together with his mother and his younger brother Onela. They were saved by his father OngenÞeow who killed the Geatish king HæÞcyn and besieged the Geats in a forest named Ravenswood. However, Geatish reinforcements arrived led by the Geatish prince Hygelac whose warrior Eofor slayed OngenÞeow.
Later OhÞere was murdered by his brother Onela. This version fits the Swedish tradition which claims that Ottar resided at the ancient royal estate in Vendel, in Uplandia, and that he was buried in Ottarshögen (OhÞere's mound). An archaeological excavation in 1917 supported the tradition dating the finds to the first half of the 6th century. It was a burial befitting a king[1].
According to the later source Ynglinga saga, he died fighting the Danish king Fródi (against whom he rebelled), in Vendsyssel. Snorri Sturluson explains the epithet Vendelcrow by the sending of a wooden crow to Sweden from Vendsyssel, instead of the corpse. Older sources, however, gave this cognomen to his father OngenÞeow (Egil). According to the classic Swedish encyclopedia Nordisk familjebok, vendelcrow was a name given to any resident of the parish and the ancient royal estate of Vendel until present time. Consequently, Snorri Sturluson's version should be considered to be a later addition explaining a cognomen, the meaning of which he did not know.
Sources:
- Beowulf
- Ynglinga saga
- Historia Norwegiae
- Íslendingabók
| Preceded by: OngenÞeow | Semi-legendary king of Sweden | Succeeded by: Onela |
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