The Gesta Danorum (Books I-IX) on Ingild

The Danish History, > Book Six.

• attestation: Ingild succeeded Frode but abandoned his ancestors' martial virtues for gluttony and debauchery

  "Frode was succeeded by his son Ingild, whose soul was perverted from honour. He forsook the examples of his forefathers, and utterly enthralled himself to the lures of the most wanton profligacy"

• attestation: Ingild was so consumed by gluttony that he had no desire to avenge his father or repel enemies

  "he was so prone to gluttony, that he had no desire to avenge his father, or repel the aggressions of his foes"

• attestation: Ingild's wife bore him sons named Frode, Fridleif, Ingild, and Olaf

  "she bore him sons, Frode, Fridleif, Ingild, and Olaf (whom some say was the son of Ingild's sister)"

• attestation: Ingild had two sisters, Helga (of marriageable age) and Asa (too young for wedlock)

  "Ingild had two sisters, Helga and Asa; Helga was of full age to marry, while Asa was younger and unripe for wedlock"

• attestation: Ingild recognized Starkad by his horny fighting hands and battle scars and rebuked the queen

  "when he noticed his hands horny with fighting, his scars in front, the force and fire of his eye, he perceived that a man whose body was seamed with so many traces of wounds had no weakling soul"

• attestation: Ingild told the queen that Starkad had been his tutor and guardian in childhood, appointed by his father

  "this man had been appointed his tutor by his father long ago, and had been a most tender guardian of his childhood"

• attribution: Saxo blamed Teutonic (German) influence for corrupting Danish dining customs under Ingild

  "when he had once abandoned himself to the manners of Teutonland, he did not blush to yield to its unmanly wantonness"

• attestation: Starkad characterizes Ingild as a sluggard devoted to feasting rather than martial duty

  "Why dost thou, sluggard, think only of feasting, and lean thy belly back in ease, more effeminate than harlots?"

• attestation: Starkad mocks Ingild as luxury-loving, saying the gift should go to a husband who enjoys handling roasted meat

  "But take this gift to thy husband, who loves luxury, whose finger itches, while he turns over the rump and handles the flesh of the bird roasted brown."

• attestation: Starkad accuses Ingild's wife of following Teutonic customs and preparing excessive elaborate feasts

  "The flighty and skittish wife of Ingild longs to observe the fashions of the Teutons; she prepares the orgy and makes ready the artificial dainties."

• attestation: Starkad directly commands Ingild to take on a man's spirit, remember Frode, and avenge his father's death

  "Thou who now lickest the milk-white fat, put on, prithee, the spirit of a man; remember Frode, and avenge thy father's death."

• attestation: Starkad accuses Ingild of honoring his father's killers and taking vengeance only with food rather than weapons

  "thou who honourest the foe guilty of thy father's blood, and art thought only to take thy vengeance with loaves and warm soup?"

• attestation: Starkad prophesies that everlasting dishonour will follow Ingild wherever he goes — east, west, north, or to the pole

  "Whether thou revisit the cold quarter of the heaven where the pole is to be seen, and carries on the sphere with its swift spin"

• attestation: Ingild slays the sons of Swerting at the feast table with his sword, turning the holy rites of hospitality into bloodshed

  "he unsheathed his sword upon the sons of Swerting with bloody ruthlessness, and aimed with drawn blade at the throats of those whose gullets he had pampered with the pleasures of the table."

• attestation: Starkad declares Ingild now better deserves to be called lord of Leire and Denmark

  "Therefore, Ingild, better now than in time past dost thou deserve to be called lord of Leire and of Denmark."

• attestation: Ingild is identified as lord of Leire, establishing Leire as the seat of his Danish kingship

  "lord of Leire and of Denmark"

The Danish History, > Book Seven.

• attestation: Ingild had four sons, three of whom died in war while Olaf alone reigned after him

  "Ingild had four sons, of whom three perished in war, while OLAF alone reigned after his father"