Onela

Onela
Hrlf Kraki Tradition
Hrlf Kraki's saga Ynglinga saga Lejre Chronicle Gesta Danorum Beowulf

People Hrlfr Kraki Halfdan Helgi Yrsa Adils li Bdvar Bjarki Hjrvard Roar Locations
Lejre Uppsala Fyrisvellir

Onela was according to Beowulf a Swedish king, the son of Ongentheow and the brother of Ohthere. He usurped the Swedish throne, but was killed by his nephew Eadgils, who won by hiring foreign assistance. In Scandinavian mythology a Norwegian king by the same name exists, li (the Old Norse form of Onela, also rendered as Ole, le or Ale), who had the cognomen hinn Upplenzki ("from Uppland").

Etymology
The name stems from the Proto-Norse *Anula (diminutive with l-suffix to a name starting with *Anu-, or directly of an appellative *anuz, "ancestor").[1]

Beowulf
In the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf, Onela plays a central part in the Swedish-Geatish wars. Onela and his brother Ohthere were the sons of the Swedish king Ongeneow. When the Geatish king Hreel died, Onela and Ohthere saw the opportunity to pillage in Geatland starting the Swedish-Geatish wars:

Onela

a ws synn and sacu Sweona and Geata, ofer wid wter wroht gemne, here-ni hearda, syan Hreel swealt, oe him Ongeneowes eaferan wran frome fyrd-hwate, freode ne woldon ofer heafo healdan, ac ymb Hreosna-beorh [2] eatolne inwit-scear oft gefremedon.

There was strife and struggle 'twixt Swede and Geat o'er the width of waters; war arose, hard battle-horror, when Hrethel died, and Ongentheow's offspring grew strife-keen, bold, nor brooked o'er the seas pact of peace, but pushed their hosts to harass in hatred by Hreosnabeorh. [3]

The war ended with Ongeneow's death.[4] It is implied by the poem that Onela eventually became king, because Ohthere's two sons, Eanmund and Eadgils, had to seek refuge with Heardred, Hygelac's successor as king of the Geats.[5] This caused Onela to attack the Geats. During the battle, Eanmund was killed by Onela's champion Weohstan[6] and Heardred was killed as well,[7] after which Onela returned home.[8] Eadgils, however, survived and later, Beowulf helped him avenge Eanmund by slaying Onela.[9] By a conjectural emendation of line 62 of this poem some editors represent Onela as the son-in-law of Healfdene/Halfdan king of Denmark.

Norse sagas
The animosity between Eadgils and Onela also appears in Scandinavian tradition. In the Norse sagas, which were mostly based on Norwegian versions of Scandinavian legends, Onela seems to appear as li of Uppland, and is called Norwegian. By the time Ynglingatal was used as a source by Snorri Sturluson, there appears no longer to have been a Scandinavian tradition of li as a relation of Eadgils. The earliest extant Scandinavian source where Onela appears is the 9th century skaldic poem Ynglingatal, Eadgils (Ails) is called Onela's enemy (la dlgr). la is the genitive case of li, the Old Norse form of the name Onela.
at fr ek enn, at Ails fjrvi vitta vettr um via skyldi, ok dgjarn af drasils bgum Freys ttungr falla skyldi. Ok vi aur gir hjarna bragnings burs um blandinn var; ok dsll deyja skyldi la dlgr at Uppslum. [10] Witch-demons, I have heard men say, Have taken Adils' life away. The son of kings of Frey's great race, First in the fray, the fight, the chase, Fell from his steed his clotted brains Lie mixed with mire on Upsal's plains. Such death (grim Fate has willed it so) Has struck down Ole's [Onela's] deadly foe. [11]

In Skldskaparml, compiled by Snorri Sturluson and in Arngrmur Jnsson's Latin summary of Skjldunga saga, the battle hinted at in Beowulf is treated in more detail. Snorri first quotes the Klfsvsa but only small parts of it:[12]

Onela

Ali Hrafni, es til ss riu, en annarr austr und Ailsi grr hvarfai, [13] geiri undar.

li rode Hrafn, They who rode onto the ice: But another, southward, Under Adils, A gray one, wandered, Wounded with the spear. [14]

Snorri then relates that Ails was in war with a Norwegian king named li, and they fought in the Battle on the Ice of Lake Vnern. Ails was married to Yrsa, the mother of Hrlfr (Hroulf) and so sent an embassy to Hrlfr asking him for help against li. He would receive three valuable gifts in recompense. Hrlfr was involved in a war against the Saxons and could not come in person but sent his twelve berserkers, including Bdvar Bjarki. li died in the war, and Ails took li's helmet Battle-boar and his horse Raven. The berserkers demanded three pounds of gold each in pay, and they demanded to choose the gifts that Ails had promised Hrlfr, that is the two pieces of armour that nothing could pierce: the helmet battle-boar and the mailcoat Finn's heritage. They also wanted the famous ring Svagris. Ails considered the pay outrageous and refused. In the Ynglinga saga, Snorri relates that king Eadgils fought hard battles with the Norwegian king who was called li hinn upplenzki. They fought on the ice of Lake Vnern, where li fell and Adils won. Snorri relates that much is told about this event in the Skjldunga saga, and that Adils took Hrafn (Raven), li's horse. The Saga of the Skjldungs is lost but in the end of the 16th century, Arngrmur Jnsson saved a piece of information from this saga in Latin. He wrote: There was animosity between king Adils of Sweden and the Norwegian king li of Uppland. They decided to fight on the ice of Lake Vnern. Adils won and took his helmet, chainmail and horse.

Notes
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] (Lexicon of nordic personal names before the 8th century) Lines 2473-2480. Modern English translation (http:/ / www. gutenberg. org/ etext/ 981) by Francis Barton Gummere Lines 2485-2490, 2977-2982 Lines 2380-2391 Lines 2610-2617 Line 2389

[8] Lines 2388-2391 [9] Line 2392-2397 [10] The Ynglinga saga in Old Norse (http:/ / www. heimskringla. no/ original/ heimskringla/ ynglingasaga. php) [11] Laing's translation (http:/ / www. sacred-texts. com/ neu/ heim/ 02ynglga. htm) [12] Nerman 1925:102 [13] heimskringla.no - Eddukvi : Eddubrot (http:/ / www. heimskringla. no/ original/ edda/ eddubrot. php) [14] Brodeur's translation (http:/ / www. northvegr. org/ lore/ prose/ 209212. php)

Secondary sources
Nerman, B., Det svenska rikets uppkomst. Stockholm, 1925.
Onela House of Yngling Precededby Semi-legendary king of Sweden Succeededby Ohthere Eadgils

Article Sources and Contributors

Article Sources and Contributors

Onela Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=560875543 Contributors: Andejons, Anthony Appleyard, Benc, Berig, Briangotts, Campaigner80, Dthomsen8, Gravitone2, Haukurth, Holt, Jallan, Jeltz, KuatofKDY, Lugnuts, Nickshanks, Pieter Kuiper, SMasters, Sardanaphalus, Slarre, Vanished user ewfisn2348tui2f8n2fio2utjfeoi210r39jf, Wiglaf, 8 anonymous edits

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