Hagbard and Signy
Encyclopedia
Viking Age
Viking Age is the term for the period in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, spanning the late 8th to 11th centuries. Scandinavian Vikings explored Europe by its oceans and rivers through trade and warfare. The Vikings also reached Iceland, Greenland,...
) or Habor and Sign(h)ild (the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
and later) were a pair of lovers in Scandinavian mythology and folklore whose legend was widely popular. The heroes' connections with other legendary characters place the events in the 5th century AD. Hagbard
Hagbard
Hagbard , the brother of Haki and son of Hamund, was a famous Scandinavian sea-king in Norse mythology. He is mentioned in Skáldskaparmál, Ynglinga saga, Nafnaþulur, Völsunga saga and Gesta Danorum...
and his brother Haki
Haki
Hake, Haki or Haco, the brother of Hagbard, was a famous Scandinavian sea-king, in Norse mythology. He is mentioned in the 12th century Gesta Danorum, and in 13th-century sources including Ynglinga saga, Nafnaþulur, Völsunga saga...
were famous sea-king
Sea-King
A Sea King was the Viking name for a powerful pirate chieftain.They could be actual kings of Sweden , Denmark or a Norwegian kingdom, and sons of kings, such as Refil, but they could also be men "without roof" like Hjörvard the Ylfing.In the Norse sagas, such men without roof could be so powerful...
s (see Haki
Haki
Hake, Haki or Haco, the brother of Hagbard, was a famous Scandinavian sea-king, in Norse mythology. He is mentioned in the 12th century Gesta Danorum, and in 13th-century sources including Ynglinga saga, Nafnaþulur, Völsunga saga...
for his battles over the throne of Sweden). Like the name Hagbard (Hagbarðr), the legend is believed to have continental Germanic origins.
Storyline
During the centuries of popularity the story changed. This is the most comprehensive version from Gesta DanorumGesta Danorum
Gesta Danorum is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th century author Saxo Grammaticus . It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark and is an essential source for the nation's early history...
(book 7).
Hagbard was the son of Haamund while Signy
Signy
Signy or Signe is the name of two heroines in two connected legends from Scandinavian mythology which were very popular in medieval Scandinavia. Both appear in the Völsunga saga, which was adapted into other works such as Wagner's Ring, including its famous opera The Valkyrie.The first Signe was...
was the daughter of Sigar
Sigar
The name Sigar can refer to three people in Scandinavian mythology, surrounding the legends of Sigurd the dragon slayer. One of them only appears as the friend of Helgi Hjörvarðsson in the eddic lay Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar...
. Once, when Hagbard and his brothers were pillaging, they started to fight with Signy's brothers. The battle was even and they finally decided to have peace. Hagbard followed Signy's brothers and managed to be alone with Signy in secret. She promised him her love, in spite of being more interested in Haki
Haki
Hake, Haki or Haco, the brother of Hagbard, was a famous Scandinavian sea-king, in Norse mythology. He is mentioned in the 12th century Gesta Danorum, and in 13th-century sources including Ynglinga saga, Nafnaþulur, Völsunga saga...
, the more famous brother.
When a German nobleman proposed to Signy, it became apparent that she was more interested in Hagbard. The German, then, started intriguing and created an animosity between the two groups of brothers. There was a battle and Hagbard's brothers were killed, after which honour obliged Hagbard to slay Signy's brothers and the German suitor.
In order to meet Signy, Hagbard dressed up as a woman and claimed to be his brother Haki
Haki
Hake, Haki or Haco, the brother of Hagbard, was a famous Scandinavian sea-king, in Norse mythology. He is mentioned in the 12th century Gesta Danorum, and in 13th-century sources including Ynglinga saga, Nafnaþulur, Völsunga saga...
's shieldmaiden
Shieldmaiden
A shieldmaiden was a woman who had chosen to fight as a warrior in Scandinavian folklore and mythology. They are often mentioned in sagas such as Hervarar saga and in Gesta Danorum. Shieldmaidens also appear in stories of other Germanic nations: Goths, Cimbri, and Marcomanni. The mythical Valkyries...
. Haki had not been involved in the battles with Signy's brothers, and he was the one whom Signy really had wanted. Hagbard, however, trusted in Signy's promise to him.
Since he was dressed as a woman, Hagbard was offered to sleep among Signy's handmaidens. When the handmaidens washed his legs, they asked him why they were so furry and why his hands were so calloused. Because of this, he invented a clever verse to explain his strange appearance. Signy, however, understanding that it was Hagbard who had come to see her, explained to the maidens that his verse was truthful.
During the night, they exchanged promises of eternal love and faithfulness. These promises filled Hagbard with such pleasure that he did not fear meeting her father and brothers if he were discovered leaving her chamber.
Hagbard was deceived by the handmaidens and he was arrested by Sigar's men. He defended himself well and slew many of the men. He was, however, defeated and taken to the thing
Thing (assembly)
A thing was the governing assembly in Germanic and introduced into some Celtic societies, made up of the free people of the community and presided by lawspeakers, meeting in a place called a thingstead...
, where the people had different opinions. Some claimed that he should be killed, whereas others claimed that it would be a shame to lose such a brave warrior. It was decided that the king's honour had to be protected and Hagbard killed.
The gallows were constructed, while the queen gave him a drink to quench his thirst. She mocked him, but Hagbard answered, "I will drink a last toast, and I take the horn of death with the same hand as with the one I sent your two sons to the goddess Hel. I will not die without revenge". Then, he threw the horn onto her head so that the mead
Mead
Mead , also called honey wine, is an alcoholic beverage that is produced by fermenting a solution of honey and water. It may also be produced by fermenting a solution of water and honey with grain mash, which is strained immediately after fermentation...
ran over her face.
During this time, Signy was amongst her crying maidens, asking them if they were willing to follow her wherever she would go. Crying, she told them that she would die with the only man she had embraced in life. Then she asked them to set her chamber on fire as soon as the watchman signalled the execution. They all vowed to die with her.
Hagbard was brought to a hill, which is named after him, to be hanged. In order to test his fiancée's fidelity, he asked the hangmen to first hang his coat. He explained that it would please him to get an impression of how he would look when dead.
His last wish was granted, and the watchman, who thought it was Hagbard who was hanging, signalled so to the maidens who were gathered around Signy in the hill fort
Hill fort
A hill fort is a type of earthworks used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze and Iron Ages. Some were used in the post-Roman period...
. The maidens set the house on fire and hanged themselves in the flames.
When Hagbard saw that the king's hill fort was aflame, he felt more joy about his loved one's faithfulness than sorrow about his own impending death. He exclaimed poetically his happiness, whereupon he was immediately hanged.
Folk songs
The song of Habor and Signhild was very popular and it was sung all over Scandinavia for centuries. It has also been subjected to scholarly analysis in many ways. It has been claimed that it was sung as early as the 13th century, and in Sweden it exists in many versions ranging from handwritten ditties from the early 17th century to eighteen chapbookChapbook
A chapbook is a pocket-sized booklet. The term chap-book was formalized by bibliophiles of the 19th century, as a variety of ephemera , popular or folk literature. It includes many kinds of printed material such as pamphlets, political and religious tracts, nursery rhymes, poetry, folk tales,...
s from the period 1638–1839. In the 17th century, it seems to have been Sweden's most popular folk song. There were also many versions in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
.
The folk song is still known among non-scholars.
Locations
Halland
' is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden , on the western coast of Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Småland, Scania and the sea of Kattegat.-Administration:...
between Halmstad
Halmstad
Halmstad is a port, university, industrial and recreational city at the mouth of Nissan in the province of Halland on the Swedish west coast. Halmstad is the seat of Halmstad Municipality and the capital of Halland County...
and Falkenberg
Falkenberg
Falkenberg is a locality and the seat of Falkenberg Municipality, Halland County, Sweden, with 18,972 inhabitants in 2005.The town has a population of 19,000 and is located at the mouth of the river Ätran. The name consists of the Swedish words for falcon and mountain...
, where there are many monuments about the legend, such as Hagbard's gallows, Hagbard's stones, Siger's hill, Signy's chamber, Signy's well and Hagbard's mound. These monuments are all mentioned in Tuneld, Geografie Ofver Konungariket Swerige (1793).
A second Dane wrote in 1779 that the most likely location was in Blekinge
Blekinge
' is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden , situated in the south of the country. It borders Småland, Scania and the Baltic Sea.The name "Blekinge" comes from the adjective bleke, which corresponds to the nautical term for "dead calm"....
, where there are a Hagbard's oak and a Signy's chamber. There is also a location in Nerike named Segersjö (Sigar's lake) which has two cairn
Cairn
Cairn is a term used mainly in the English-speaking world for a man-made pile of stones. It comes from the or . Cairns are found all over the world in uplands, on moorland, on mountaintops, near waterways and on sea cliffs, and also in barren desert and tundra areas...
s called Hagbard's cairn and Signy's cairn. There are also locations in Norway.
Laurentius Petri wrote in the Svenska Krönikan (Swedish chronicle) in 1559 that there were many traditions about Habardh and Signill. According to the songs, Hagbard was not Swedish, but the son of a Norwegian king, and Signy was a Swedish princess. The songs also related that Hagbard was hanged not far from Sigtuna
Sigtuna
Sigtuna is a locality situated in Sigtuna Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 18 inhabitants in 2005. It is the namesake of the municipality even though the seat is in Märsta....
in Uppland
Uppland
Uppland is a historical province or landskap on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic sea...
, where there was a plain called Hagbard's plain in Håtuna Parish.
This placed the events in Old Sigtuna, a version that Johannes Messenius
Johannes Messenius
Johannes Messenius was a Swedish historian, dramatist and university professor. He was born in the village of Freberga, in Stenby parish in Östergötland, and died in Oulu, in modern-day Finland.-Childhood:...
wanted to confirm in Sveopentaprotopolis (1611). He argued that the names in the area of Old Sigtuna contradicted the Danish claims of a Danish location. Later in Scondia illustrata, he contradicted his claims and said that Signill was rather a Danish princess and Habor a Norwegian. However, in 1612, he reasserted that Signy was a Swedish princess, in Old Sigtuna.
In 1678, Old Sigtuna was renamed Sighildsberg in honour of Signy. The interest continued unabated for centuries.