Havelok the Dane


Havelok the Dane,

English 13th-century metrical romance. It concerns a prince brought up as a scullion, who, after discovering his true identity, wins the kingdoms of Denmark and England. The poem's emphasis on the simple virtues suggests that it was written for a bourgeois rather than an aristocratic audience. The hero has been identified with the 10th-century king, Olaf Cuaran, who ruled at different times in Northumberland and in Dublin.