Page "Heoroweard" Paragraph 12

The Danish scholar Axel Olrik ( 1903 ) has proposed a solution to why the sources vary.

According to Beowulf, Adils gains the Swedish throne aided by the Geats.

In Heoroweard's case, he is a pretender who gains the Danish throne aided by the Swedes.

This is why Heoroweard is easily made jarl of Swedes, as in Saxo's patriotic tradition Swedish rulers are frequently appointed and dethroned.

In order to make this possible, Saxo, or his tradition, had to make Adils defeated by the Danes and losing his kingdom.

In Arngrímur's Icelandic tradition, which had a more clear conception of the Swedish line of kings, Heoroweard could not be made ruler of Sweden, and so he was named as the ruler of a kingdom on the fringe of Sweden, Öland, a kingdom which was known to be independent, but whose line of kings was no longer known.