Jonakr's sons
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hamdir, Sörli and Erp (ice. Erpr) were three brothers in Norse mythology, who have a historic basis in the history of the Goths.
[edit] Legend
According to the Edda and the Völsunga saga, they were the sons of Gjuki's daughter Gudrun and king Jonakr. Svanhild, the daughter of Sigurd and Gudrun was also raised by Jonakr.
King Jörmunrek (Ermanaric) proposed to Svanhild through his son Randver, but the treacherous Bicke said that Randver tried to win Svanhild's love. Consequently, Jörmunrek sentenced Randver to death by hanging and had Svanhild trampled to death by horses. Gudrun then agitated her sons Hamdir and Sörli to avenge their half-sister. As Sörli and Hamdir did not find Erp very enthusiastic about the vengeance they killed him on route.
During the night, they arrived and they cut off Jörmunrek's hands and feet. This made Jörmunrek wake up and he cried for his housecarls. Hamdir said that if Erp had been alive he would have cut off the head. The housecarls could not kill the two brothers with sharp weapons, but an old one-eyed man (Odin) advised them to kill them with stones.
This is why scaldic poetry used the "sorrow of Jonakr's sons" as a kenning for stones.
[edit] Sources and historic basis
The legend of Jörmunrek appears in the Poetic Edda as Hamðismál and Guðrúnarhvöt. It also appears in Bragi Boddason's Ragnarsdrápa, in the Völsunga saga and in Gesta Danorum. Jordanes wrote in 551 that the Gothic king Ermanaric was upset with the attack of a subordinate king and had his wife Sunilda (i.e. Svanhild) torn to pieces by horses, and as revenge Ermanaric was pierced with spears by her brothers Ammius (Hamdir) and Sarus (Sörli) and died from the wounds. The Chronicle of Quedlinburg (end of the 10th century) relates that the brothers Hemidus (Hamdir), Serila (Sörli) and Adaccar (Erp/Odoacer) had cut off the hands of Ermanarik.
