Sæmingr was a king of 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...

 according to Snorri Sturluson

Snorri Sturluson

Snorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was twice elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing...

's euhemerized

Euhemerus

Euhemerus was a Greek mythographer at the court of Cassander, the king of Macedon. Euhemerus' birthplace is disputed, with Messina in Sicily as the most probable location, while others champion Chios, or Tegea.-Life:...

 accounts. He was said to be the son of Odin

Odin

Odin is a major god in Norse mythology and the ruler of Asgard. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxon "Wōden" and the Old High German "Wotan", the name is descended from Proto-Germanic "*Wodanaz" or "*Wōđanaz"....

 or Yngvi-Freyr

Freyr

Freyr is one of the most important gods of Norse paganism. Freyr was highly associated with farming, weather and, as a phallic fertility god, Freyr "bestows peace and pleasure on mortals"...

.

According to the prologue of the Prose Edda, Sæmingr was one of the sons of Odin

Sons of Odin

Various gods and men appear as Sons of Odin or Sons of Wodan/Wotan or Sons of Woden in old Old Norse and Old High German and Old English texts.-Thor, Baldur, and Váli:...

 and the ancestor of the kings of Norway and of the jarls of Hlaðir. Snorri relates that Odin settled in Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 and:

After that he went into the north, until he was stopped by the sea, which men thought lay around all the lands of the earth; and there he set his son over this kingdom, which is now called Norway. This king was Sæmingr; the kings of Norway trace their lineage from him, and so do also the jarls and the other mighty men, as is said in the Háleygjatal

Háleygjatal

Háleygjatal is a skaldic poem by Eyvindr skáldaspillir made in honour of Haakon Sigurdsson and his ancestors, in the end of the 10th century.The poem is only partially preserved in disjoint parts quoted in Skáldskaparmál, Heimskringla and two other manuscripts of kings' sagas. It appears to be a...

.

—Prologue of the Prose Edda (11) Brodeur's translation

In the Ynglinga saga

Ynglinga saga

Ynglinga saga is a legendary saga, originally written in Old Norse by the Icelandic poet Snorri Sturluson about 1225. It was first translated into English and published in 1844....

, Snorri adds that Sæmingr's mother was Skaði

Skaði

In Norse mythology, Skaði is a jötunn and goddess associated with bowhunting, skiing, winter, and mountains...

:

Njord took a wife called Skade; but she would not live with him and married afterwards Odin, and had many sons by him, of whom one was called Saeming; and about him Eyvind Skaldaspiller

Eyvindr Skáldaspillir

Eyvindr Finnsson skáldaspillir was a 10th century Norwegian skald. He was the court poet of king Hákon the Good and earl Hákon of Hlaðir. His son Hárekr later became a prominent chieftain in Norway.His preserved works are:...

 sings thus: --

"To Asa's son Queen Skade bore

Saeming, who dyed his shield in gore, --

The giant-queen of rock and snow,

Who loves to dwell on earth below,

The iron pine-tree

Járnviðr

In Norse mythology, Járnviðr is a forest inhabited by troll women who bore giantesses and giant wolves. Járnviðr is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson.-Poetic Edda:Járnvid...

's daughter, she

Sprung from the rocks that rib the sea,

To Odin bore full many a son,

Heroes of many a battle won."

To Saeming Earl Hakon the Great

Haakon Sigurdsson

Haakon Sigurdarsson was the de facto ruler of Norway from about 975 to 995.-Background:Haakon was the son of Sigurd Haakonsson, Jarl of Lade and ruler of Trøndelag and Hålogaland. His mother was Bergljot Toresdatter, daughter of Tore Ragnvaldsson, Earl of Møre...

 reckoned back his pedigree.

—The Ynglinga Saga (8), Laing's translation

Sæmingr is also listed among the sons of Odin in the þulur.

But in the prologue of the Heimskringla

Heimskringla

Heimskringla is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorri Sturluson ca. 1230...

Snorri mentions that according to a lost stanza of Eyvindr skáldaspillir's Háleygjatal, Sæmingr was the son of Yngvi-Freyr.

The late Saga of Hálfdan Eysteinsson

Hálfdanar saga Eysteinssonar

Hálfdanar saga Eysteinssonar is a legendary saga from early 14th century Iceland about Halfdan Eysteinsson. The main events appear to take place in the 9th century....

 also reports that Sæmingr was Odin's son. The saga adds that he reigned over Hålogaland

Hålogaland

Hålogaland was the northernmost of the Norwegian provinces in the mediaeval Norse sagas. In the early Viking Age, before Harald Fairhair, Hålogaland was a petty kingdom extending between Namdalen in Nord-Trøndelag and Lyngen in Troms.-Etymology:...

. He married Nauma and had a son called Þrándr.

A Swedish king by the name Semingr (likely the very same name as the Norwegian king of Folklore in an alternate rendering) becomes victim to a draugr

Draugr

A draugr, draug or draugur , or draugen , also known as aptrgangr is an undead creature from Norse mythology...

 who wields a legendary sword in The Saga of Hromund Gripsson

Hrómundar saga Gripssonar

Hrómundar saga Gripssonar or The Saga of Hromund Gripsson is a legendary saga from Iceland. The original version has been lost, but its content has been preserved in the rímur of Hrómundr Gripsson published in Fernir forníslenzkar rímnaflokkar...

. A similar name, "Sámr", appears related to characters in both Hrafnkels saga

Hrafnkels saga

Hrafnkels saga or Hrafnkels saga Freysgoða is one of the Icelanders' sagas. It tells of struggles between chieftains and farmers in the east of Iceland in the 10th century. The eponymous main character, Hrafnkell, starts out his career as a fearsome duelist and a dedicated worshiper of the god...

 & Njáls saga.