HROLFR KRAKI, perhaps the most famous of the Danish kings of the heroic age. In Beowulf, where he is called Hroth wulf, he is represented as reigning over Denmark in conjunction with his uncle Hrothgar, one of the three sons of an earlier king called Healfdene. In the Old Norse sagas Hrolfr is the son of Helgi (Halga), the son of Halfdan (Healfdene). He is repre sented as a wealthy and peace-loving monarch similar to Hrothgar in Beowulf, but the latter (Hroarr, or Roe) is quite overshadowed by his nephew in the Northern authorities. The chief incidents in Hrolf rs career are the visit which he paid to the Swedish king Abils (Beowulf's Eadgils), of which several different explanations are given, and the war, in which he eventually lost his life, against his brother-in-law Hiorvar6r. The name Kraki (pole-ladder) is said to have been given to him on account of his great height by a young knight named Voggr, whom he handsomely rewarded and who eventually avenged his death on Hiorvat6r. There is no reason to doubt that Hrolf r was an historical person and that he reigned in Denmark during the early years of the 6th century.
See Saxo Grammaticus, Gesta Danorum, pp. 52-68, ed. A. Holder (Strasbourg, 1886) ; and A. Olrik, Danmarks Heltedigtning (1903) .