What is "halfdan"

Halfdan (, , Medieval , Proto-Norse: *Halbadaniz, "half Dane") was a late 5th and early 6th century legendary Danish king of the Scylding (Skjöldung) lineage, the son of king named Fróði in many accounts, noted mainly as the father to the two kings who succeeded him in the rule of Denmark, kings named Hroðgar and Halga in the Old English poem Beowulf and named Hróar and Helgi in Old Norse accounts.

Halfdan ("half Dane") is an Old Norse masculine given name. In Beowulf it is spelled Healfdene, and in Latin sources Haldan. It may refer to:

Mythical figures:

• Halfdan, legendary king of the Scyldings in Beowulf, who also appears in Norse mythology
• Halfdan the Old, ancient legendary king
• Halfdan Hvitbeinn, mythical petty king in Norway
• Halfdan the Valiant (7th century), legendary father of Ivar Vidfamne
• Halfdan Eysteinsson, subject of the legendary saga Hálfdanar saga Eysteinssonar

People:

• Halfdan (floruit 782–807), Danish client of the Franks
• Halfdan the Black (c. 820-c. 860), father of Harald I of Norway
• Halfdan Ragnarsson (died 877), Viking, leader of the Great Heathen Army
• Halfdan Haraldsson the Black, Norwegian petty king and grandson of Halfdan the Black
• Halfdan, a joint King of Northumbria (reigned 902-910) - see Eowils and Halfdan
• Halfdan the Mild, son of King Eystein Halfdansson, of the House of Yngling
• Halfdan Bryn (1864–1933), Norwegian physician and physical anthropologist
• Halfdan Christensen (1873–1950), Norwegian stage actor and theatre director
• Halfdan Olaus Christophersen (1902–1980), Norwegian historian of ideas, non-fiction writer and World War II resistance member
• Halfdan E (born 1965), Danish film and television composer
• Halfdan Egedius (1877–1899), Norwegian painter and illustrator
• Halfdan Wexel Freihow (born 1959), Norwegian literary critic, novelist, editor and book publisher
• Halfdan Hegtun (1918–2012), Norwegian radio personality, comedian and writer, and politician
• Halfdan Holth (1880–1950), Norwegian veterinarian and professor
• Halfdan Jønsson (1891–1945), Norwegian trade unionist and World War II resistance member
• Halfdan Kjerulf (1815–1868), Norwegian composer
• Halfdan Lehmann (1825-1908), Norwegian government official
• Halfdan T. Mahler (born 1923), Danish medical doctor and three-term director-general of the World Health Organization
• Halfdan Nielsen, Norwegian speedskater who set the world record in the 10,000 m in 1893
• Halfdan Rasmussen (1915-2002), Danish poet
• Halfdan Strøm (1863–1949), Norwegian painter
• Halfdan Sundt (1873–1951), Norwegian physician and politician

Halfdan ( floruit 782–807) was a leading person among the Danes and the first known Scandinavian to enter Frankish service. Onomastics links him to the Danish royal family since the name "Halfdan" was commonly employed both historically (as attested by the Annales Fuldenses under the year 873) and in the legendary royal lineage.

Halfdan was the envoy sent by King Sigfred to the court of the Frankish emperor Charlemagne in 782, as recorded in the Frankish chronicle Annales regni Francorum. An anonymous Saxon poet praising Charlemagne in Latin epic verse mentions Halfdan's commendation to the emperor in the year 807:

''Northmannorum dux, Alfdeni dictus, / Augusto magno sese comitante caterva / Subdidit, atque fidem studuit firmare perennem. A leader of the Northmen, called Halfdan, submitted to the great Emperor, accompanied by a host of others and strove to keep lasting faith.

Although the Saxon poet wrote much later in the century, his poem is generally based on trustworthy sources like the Annales regni Francorum and this section is probably derived from a now lost earlier source. There is no record of Halfdan after 807 and he probably died not long thereafter, possibly already old at the time. A conversion to Christianity on Halfdan's part is not recorded, nor is a gift of land or a fief, but his son Hemming did convert and was probably ruling Frisia in 837. It is possible that this Frisian fief had been inherited form his father. If the identification of Hemming as a son of Halfdan is correct, then Halfdan was also the father of Anulo, Harald Klak and Reginfrid, all of whom were, for brief periods, co-rulers of Denmark.