Gard Agdiappears in the legendary genealogies of Hversu Noregr byggdist as one of the three sons of Nór, the legendary first king of Norway, and as ruler and ancestor of rulers over southwestern Norway. The surname Agdi may refer to Agdir, the southernmost region of Norway, represented today by the counties of Aust-Agder and Vest-Agder.
Descendants of Gard
Sons of Gard
Gard was father of seven sons: Hörd, Rúgálf, Thrym, Végard, Freygard, Thorgard, and Grjótgard,
Descendants of Hörd and Rúgálf
According to the Hversu, Hörd son of Gard, the eponym of Hördaland was father of Jöfur or Jösur. The Hversu goes on to say that Rúgálf son of Gard, the eponym of Rogaland, was father of Rögnvald, the father of Ögvald but gives no further descendants. But Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka, brings in King Ögvald of Rogaland at its beginning and in this work it is Ögvald who is the father of Jösur. The Hversu and the Hálf's saga do agree in their accounts of the descendants of Jösur. Jösur was father of King Hjör who in the saga was king of both Hördaland and Rogaland. Hjör was father of Hjörleif the Ladies' Man who had three wives. By Æsa the Fair, daughter of Jarl Eystein of Valdres, Hjörleif was father of Ótrygg, the father of Óblaud, the father of Högni the White, the father of Úlf the Squinter. Hjörleif then also married Hild the Slender daughter of Högni of Njardey. By Hild the Slender Hjörleif was father of Hjörólf and Hálf, this last being the hero of the saga. According to the saga and the Landnámabók, Hálf was father of Hjör who married Hagný daughter of Haki, son of Hámund. Their children were the twins Hámund Hellskin and Geirmund Hellskin. Geirmund Hellskin settled in Iceland with his kinsman Úlf the Squinter. The Landnámabók describes Geirmund as a war-king who had dominions in Rogaland but names a certain Sulki as the true king of Rogaland, as do other accounts. However Grettis saga states that Hördaland belonged to Geirmund and that Sulki ruled only South Rogaland. The son of Geirmund's brother Hámund was Thorir-at-Espihól who also appears as a settler in Iceland in Icelandic accounts.
Descendants of Gard's other sons
Thrym ruled Agdir. He fathered Agdi and Agnar. Agnar was father of Ketil Thrym who had land at Thrumu in Agdir. Végard ruled Signafylki, that is the eastern part of the modern county Sogn og Fjordane. Végard was the father of Vedrorm, the father of Vémund the Old who was called Sygnatrausti. The Gríms saga lodinkinna tells at the end that Vedrorm, son of Vémund the Old, was a powerful lord who asked for the hand of Brynhild, daughter of Grim Hairy-Cheek. She went with him. Their son was Vémund, father of a son Vedrorm and a daughter Brynhild. Vedrorm fled King Harald Fairhair to Jamtaland and cleared the forest to live there and was father of a son Holmfast. Holmfast and his cousin Grím son of Brynhild are also mentioned in the Landnámabók. Freygard ruled Fjörd and Fjalir, that is the western part of the modern county Sogn og Fjordane. Freygard was father of Freystein the Old who had land at Gaular and was also father of Freybjörn, father of Audbjörn father of Árinbjörn Jarl of Fird. Thórgard ruled South Mœr, the modern Sunnmøre district in the county Møre og Romsdal. Thórgard was father of Thorvid father of Arnvid Tréserkjabana, father of Slævid and Brávid. Grjótgard ruled North Mœr, the modern Nordmøre district in the county Møre og Romsdal. Grjótgard was father of Salgard, father of Grjótgard, father of Sölvi, father of Högni of Njardey, father of a son, Sölvi Víking, and a daughter, Hild the Slender, the same Hild the Slender who married Hjörleif the Ladies' Man and was mother of Hálf as described in the previous section. Högni of Njardey is mentioned also in the Ynglinga saga as the father of Sölvi who for a time ruled Sweden. Since Sölvi in Hálfs saga appears eventually as king of Sweden, the two are obviously intended to be the same. But chronologically that is impossible unless either the genealogies in the Ynglinga saga or those of Hálf's lineage are incorrect or defective. The Hversu notes further that another son of Grjótgard was Sigar, father of a daughter Signýjar who married Jarl Harald of Naumu Dale who fathered on her Herlaug, father of Grjótgard, father of Jarl Hákon, father of Jarl Sigurd, father of Jarl Hákon of Hlada.
Commentary
The word garðr means 'an enclosed piece of land' and is cognate with English yard and garth. The element garðr is commonly an element in place names such as Asgard, Midgard, Micklegard, Holmgard, and so forth. So, though Garðr does appear as a man's name, it is possible that Garðr Agði is in origin a personification of the Land of Agdir, and that his sons whose names end in -gard are similar personifications of other regions of Norway, euhemerized into first kings of those regions. Thrym is otherwise known only as the name of a giant. See Thrym.
