Hjalmar () and Ingeborg () were a legendary Swedish duo. The male protagonist Hjalmar and his duel for Ingeborg figures in the Hervarar saga and in Orvar-Odd's saga, as well as in Gesta Danorum, Lay of Hyndla and a number of Faroese ballads. Hjalmar never lost a battle until meeting a berserker wielding the cursed sword Tyrfing.

A tale of two heroes
Hjalmar was one of the mythical Swedish king Yngvi's housecarls at Uppsala. He and princess Ingeborg were in love, but the king said no to his requests for marriage, since he hoped for a suitor with a better pedigree.

Hjalmar's reputation as a courageous and valiant warrior was great and it reached the most remote parts of Norway, where the Norwegian hero Orvar-Odd felt a desire to test his fighting skills with Hjalmar. Thus Orvar-Odd sailed to Sweden with five ships and met Hjalmar who had fifteen ships. Hjalmar could not accept such an uneven balance of strength and sent away ten of his own ships so that the forces would be even. The two warriors fought for two days with a lot of blood-letting and poetry, but it was a draw. Finally, they realized that they were equals and decided to become Blood brothers by letting their blood flow under a strand of turf raised by a spear. Then the strand of turf was put back during oaths and incantations. Orvar-Odd accompanied Hjalmar back to Uppsala, where he soon discovered the feelings between Hjalmar and Ingeborg. Orvar-Odd offered to help Hjalmar elope with Ingeborg, but Hjalmar declined and suffered patiently until a suitor arrived that Hjalmar could not tolerate.

The sons of Arngrim
Further south, on Bolmsö, lived the feared berserker Arngrim and his twelve sons. They were all infamous berserkers who spread fear and destruction throughout the North. The eldest was a head taller than the rest and his name was Angantyr, and it was to him that Arngrim had entrusted the sword Tyrfing, which had been cursed by its makers, the Dwarves Dvalinn and Durin. This sword would cause three evil deeds and one man had to die every time it was unsheathed. The next eldest was Hjorvard and one Yule, when everyone was at home and bragged about what they would accomplish the following year, Hjorvard declared that he was to marry princess Ingeborg at Uppsala.

The proposal

In the spring, the twelve brothers arrived at Uppsala and Hjorvard asked for Ingeborg's hand, but this was something Hjalmar would not tolerate. Hjalmar stepped forth and said that he deserved the princess more than a strange berserker. The king who was uncomfortable with having twelve infamous berserkers in his hall declared that he could not possibly choose between two so great men, and thus he preferred to let Ingeborg make the choice herself. Naturally, Ingeborg chose Hjalmar and this vexed Hjorvard who challenged the happy Hjalmar to a duel on Samsø, and reminded that Hjalmar would be niðingr, if he did not turn up.

The duel on Samsø
On the designated day, Hjalmar and Orvar-Odd arrived to Munarvágr on Samsø, and immediately stepped ashore to search for their adversaries. They soon found the scattered and gory remains of the crewmen, who had been slaughtered by the twelve berserkers. Orvar-Odd immediately went to the forest and cut himself a huge club (according to Saxo, he took a rudder), whereupon the two companions continued their search for the twelve brothers.

The decision was that one of the pair would fight Angantyr who wielded the sword Tyrfing, leaving the other to contend with the other eleven berserkers including the rival suitor Hjorvard. Orvar-Odd wore a silken (or silver) shirt () which nothing could pierce, thus offered to take on Angantyr, but Hjalmar would hear none of it, accusing his sworn brother of taking away the better part of the glory. The variant description in Odd's saga is as follows: Angantyr reckons himself equal to three of his brothers when armed with his sword, forged by dwarfs and which will "bite anything, even iron or rock." Hjalmar is eager to fight him nevertheless, thinking that his four-ringed mailcoat will afford him sufficient protection, even though Odd warns against the folly of it.

Orvar-Odd quickly defeated Hjorvard and ten of the brothers, and started to look for Hjalmar. He found Angantyr dead, but Hjalmar was lethally wounded by Tyrfing. In his dying breath, Hjalmar composed a poem which was meant to be communicated to his beloved princess Ingeborg back in Uppsala.

Hjalmar's death song
The composed poem, commonly known as "Hjalmar's death song" is found inserted in the older text of Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks as well as in Örvar-Odds saga, though the texts diverge considerably. In German it has been dubbed Hiálmars Sterbelied, and classed by Andreas Heusler as one of the so-called Eddica minora.

Aftermath

Orvar-Odd buried all the slain men in barrows and Tyrfing. The agreement made beforehand that the slain would be given dignified burial together with their slain arms, Hjalmar with his mail-shirt, Angantyr with Tyrfing, and Odd too, had he been killed, with his shirt of protection and arrows (presumably the magic arrows named Gusir's Gifts). Perhaps it was so as to ensure that it would not cause a second and third malicious deed, after Hjalmar's death. Then he sailed alone back to Uppsala with Hjalmar's corpse. Odd remembers in his own death-poem that he piggybacked  Hjalmar's corpse to Sigtuna in Uppsala. When Ingeborg learned of Hjalmar's death, she fell dead also. The two lovers were buried in the same barrow.

Tyrfing would not remain buried. For its continued adventures, see Hervor.

Notes

Explanatory notes

Citations

References
 – critical edition

 The Saga of Hervör and Heithrek, pp. 79-, —translation of the composite version edited by , that heavily uses the later H text.
 "Appendix to Part I: The combat at Samsø and Hjalmar's Death Song" pp. 144-—The detailed passage on the battle of Angantyr vs. Hjalmar, taken from the older R text (Gks 2845 4to) is in the appendix.
 The Faroese Ballad of Hjalmar and Angantyr, pp. 182-
 The Danish Ballad of Angelfyr and Helmer, pp. 186-

External links
The Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus on Hjalmar
Örvar-Odds saga – modernized text of Gúðni Jónsson ed., Fornaldarsögur Norðurlanda II (1950), base text for Edwards & Pálsson's translation. 
Tunstall's translation of the battle, from Orvar-Odd's saga

Tyrfing cycle
Heroes in Norse myths and legends
Legendary Norsemen
햘마르()와 잉게보르그()는 스웨덴 전설에 나오는 남녀 한 쌍이다.

햘마르는 감라웁살라에 소재한 스웨덴의 왕 윙그비의 후스카를로, 왕의 딸 잉게보르그와 사랑에 빠진다. 그러나 왕은 딸이 일개 호위무사가 아닌 보다 훌륭한 가계의 남자와 결혼하기를 바랬기에 양자의 결혼을 허하지 않았다.

한편 햘마르는 용맹한 전사로서 상당한 명성을 가지고 있었기에 이웃나라 노르웨이의 영웅 오르바르오드가 그와 겨루어 보겠다고 찾아왔다. 이때 오르바르오드는 배 다섯 척을 거느리고 있었고 햘마르는 열다섯 척을 거느리고 있었다. 햘마르는 이것이 불공평하다고 여겨 자신의 배 중 열 척을 물렸다. 양자는 이틀 밤낮으로 피튀기는 싸움을 벌였지만 무승부로 끝났다. 두 전사는 서로의 실력이 동등하다는 것을 깨닫고 의형제를 맺기로 했다. 오르바르오드는 햘마르를 웁살라까지 바래다 주었다가 햘마르와 잉게보르그 사이의 감정을 눈치채고 그에게 구애를 도와주겠다고 제안했다. 그러나 햘마르는 이를 거절하고 자신이 인정할 수 있을 만큼 왕녀에게 어울리는 남자가 나타날 때까지 인내하겠다고 했다.

웁살라 남쪽의 볼름쇠에는 아른그림과 그 열두 아들이 살았는데 이 13부자는 모두 악명높은 베르세르크로 공포의 대상이 되었다. 아른그림의 아들 12형제 중 첫째가 가장 키가 컸는데 그 이름이 앙간튀르였다. 아른그림은 앙간튀르를 총애하여, 가르다리키의 왕 스바프를라미를 죽이고 빼앗은 마검(한번 뽑으면 사람을 죽이지 않으면 칼집에 넣을 수 없다) 티르핑을 앙간튀르에게 주었다. 아른그림의 둘째아들은 효르바르드(Hjǫrvard)라고 했는데, 어느 해 율(성탄절 시기에 해당하는 게르만족의 세시) 날 아른그림 가족이 각자 새해 계획을 논하는 자리에서 효르바르드는 웁살라의 잉게보르그 왕녀와 결혼할 것이라고 선언했다.

이듬해 봄이 되자 아른그림의 아들 12형제가 웁살라에 와서 효르바르드가 잉게보르그에게 청혼했다. 그러나 햘마르는 효르바르드가 잉게보르그에게 어울리지 않는다고 생각하고 미친 광전사보다는 차라리 자신이 신랑감으로 적합하다고 나섰다. 자기 궁전에 베르세르크가 열두 명이나 들어찬 상황이 마음에 들지 않은 왕은 두 사내가 모두 뛰어나 자신이 판단할 수 없으니 잉게보르그가 직접 선택하라고 했다. 당연히 잉게보르그는 햘마르를 선택했고 바람맞은 효르바르드는 햘마르에게 결투를 신청하고, 만일 받아들이지 않으면 그는 니딩그(명예실추자)가 될 것이라고 했다.

약속된 날 햘마르와 그 의형제 오르바르오드는 약속 장소인 삼쇠섬 남안 무나르바그에 도착했다. 둘은 적수들을 찾았지만 그들에게 살해당한 선원들의 시체만 발견했을 뿐이었다. 오르바르오드는 숲 속으로 들어가 커다란 몽둥이를 깎아 왔다(삭소 그라마티쿠스의 기록에서는 배의 방향타를 무기로 삼았다고 한다). 두 의형제는 효르바르드 12형제를 찾아 섬을 뒤지고 다녔다.

이후 두 세력이 마주하자 장남 앙간튀르는 마검 티르핑을 들고 둘 중 한 명이 자신과 붙고 나머지 한 명은 효르바르드 외 열한 명 중 한 명과 붙으라고 했다. 오르바르오드는 아무것도 뚫을 수 없는 비단저고리()를 입고 있었기에 자신이 앙간튀르와 붙겠다고 했다. 그러나 이 사실을 몰랐던 햘마르는 의형제가 자신보다 더 영광스러운 위업을 세우려 하는 것이라 비난했다. 앙간튀르는 자신이 마검을 들면 자기 형제 세 명 분의 몫을 한다고 했지만 햘마르는 개의치 않고 자신의 쇄자갑이 충분한 방호력을 제공할 것이라 생각하고 앙간튀르와 붙겠다고 나섰다. 오르바르오드는 어리석은 짓이라며 햘마르를 말렸지만 그는 듣지 않았다.

오르바르오드는 순식간에 효르바르드와 그 동생 열 명을 쓰러뜨렸고, 이후 햘마르와 앙간튀르가 싸울 차례가 되었다. 햘마르는 앙간튀르를 죽였지만 자신도 마검 티르핑에 치명상을 입고 죽었다. 오르바르오드는 흙무덤을 파서 앙간튀르 12형제와 티르핑을 거기다 묻었고 햘마르의 시체를 갖고 웁살라로 돌아갔다. 오늘날의 시그투나에서 기다리던 잉게보르그는 오드바르오드에게 햘마르의 죽음을 전해듣고 자신도 쓰러져 죽었고 햘마르와 한 무덤에 묻혔다.

한편 마검 티르핑은 이때 영원히 봉인되지 않고 수 년 뒤 앙간튀르의 딸 헤르보르에 의해 도굴되어 이야기가 계속된다.

참고 자료 

 – critical edition

 The Saga of Hervör and Heithrek, pp. 79-, —translation of the composite version edited by Niels Matthias Petersen, that heavily uses the later H text.
 "Appendix to Part I: The combat at Samsø and Hjalmar's Death Song" pp. 144-—The detailed passage on the battle of Angantyr vs. Hjalmar, taken from the older R text (Gks 2845 4to) is in the appendix.
 The Faroese Ballad of Hjalmar and Angantyr, pp. 182-
 The Danish Ballad of Angelfyr and Helmer, pp. 186-

 

튀르핑 대계
노르드 신화의 영웅