“ Like Svava she inspired a dull and nameless youth, and as Hild raised the dead to fight by magic, so Argentille in Havelok and Hermuthruda in Amleth prop up dead or wounded men with stakes to bluff the enemy. ”

“ He died the next year as a monk at Iona. Round the name of Anlaf Curan a number of legends rapidly gathered, and the legend of the Danish hero probably filtered through Celtic channels, as the Welsh names of Argentille and Orwain indicate. The close similarity between the Havelok saga and the story of Hamlet (Amlethus) as told by Saxo Grammaticus was pointed out long ago by Scandinavian scholars. The individual points they have in common are found in other legends, but the series of coincidences between the adventurous history of Anlaf Curan and the life of Amlethus can hardly be fortuitous. ”

“ Havelok’s royal lineage is betrayed by his flame breath when he is asleep, a phenomenon which has parallels in the history of Servius Tullius and of Dietrich of Bern. Part of the Havelok legend lingers in local tradition. Havelok destroyed his enemies in Denmark by casting down great stones upon them from the top of a tower, and Grim is said to have kicked three of the turrets from the church tower in his efforts to destroy the enemy’s ships. ”