Angantyr was the name of three characters from the same line in Norse mythology, and who appear in Hervarar saga, in Gesta Danorum and Faroese ballads.
The last generation named Angantyr also appears to be mentioned as Incgentheow in Widsith, line 115, together with his father Heiðrekr (Heathoric), half-brother Hlöð (Hlith) and Hlöð's mother Sifka (Sifeca).
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Angantyr the Berserker
Hjorvard and Hjalmar propose to Ingeborg
Angantyr's father Arngrim had given him the magic sword Tyrfing, which cut through anything as if through cloth, and which killed a man every time it was unsheathed. He was the tallest of the twelve sons of the berserker Arngrim, and he and his eleven brothers spread fear and destruction through the North.
One Yule, they were back home on Bolmsö when the next eldest son Hjörvard, swore that he would win Ingeborg, the daughter of Yngve, the king of Sweden.
The twelve brothers departed for Uppsala and Hjorvard proposed to Ingeborg. However then Hjalmar, one of the Swedish king's champions, stepped forth and claimed he deserved the princess rather than a berserker.
The Swedish king, who feared opposing twelve uncontrollable and infamous berserkers in his hall, suggested that Ingeborg herself should decide. Naturally, she chose Hjalmar, and Hjorvard was besides himself with rage. He challenged Hjalmar to a duel on Samsø and declared that Hjalmar would lose his honour if he did not turn up.
When the twelve brothers arrived on Samsø, they started to go berserk. They bit their shields, screamed loud and coarsely and let themselves loose on Hjalmar and Orvar-Odd's crewmen who were cut to pieces.
When Hjalmar and Orvar-Odd arrived Angantyr's eleven brothers were quickly slain by Orvar-Odd with a club. Orvar-Odd then went to see how Hjalmar was faring and found Angantyr dead and Hjalmar lethally wounded by Tyrfing.
Orvar-Odd buried the twelve brothers in barrows on Samsø together with the cursed sword, so that it would no longer cause any harm. However Angantyr's daughter Hervor would later return and claim Tyrfing as her own. This event is known as "the waking of Angantyr", as recorded in the poem The Waking of Angantyr.
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