Ohthere

Who was Ohthere?

Ohthere, Old Norse Óttarr vendilkráka is a semi-legendary king of Sweden of the house of Scylfings who would have lived during the 6th century.

His name can be reconstructed as Proto-Norse *Ōhta-harjaz or *Ōhtu-harjaz. The harjaz element is common in Germanic names and has a meaning of "warrior, army"; by contrast, the oht element is less frequent, and has been tentatively interpreted as "fearsome, feared".

A prince of the Swedes, Ohthere and his brother Onela conducted successful raids against the Geats after King Hrethel had died. In 515, Ongentheow was killed in battle by the Geats and Ohthere succeeded his father as the king of Sweden. Ohthere led an army against the Geats, and besieged one of their armies. He nearly killed the Geatish king Hygelac but lost many of his forces in the conflict. Ohthere managed to get back to Sweden. In the 520s, Ohthere led a large raid to Denmark and plundered the Danish coast. A Danish army led by two Jarls, however, was waiting for him. Battle broke out. The Danish were reinforced, and Ohthere was killed in the battle. His corpse was taken back to Sweden and buried in a mound.