Chronicon Lethrense - Themes

Themes

Unlike Chronicon Roskildense, which deals primarily with information presented as real historical facts after the introduction of Christianity in Denmark, Chronicon Lethrense is a recording of folklore about the old pre-Christian Danish kings and the adventure stories that were eventually associated with them. In that sense it is not much different from the first part of Sven Aggesøn's Brevis Historia Regum Dacie or Saxo's Gesta Danorum, though considerably smaller and of much lesser quality. It is sometimes referred to as the "Chronicle of the Kings of Lejre."

One of the noted aspects of Chronicon Lethrense is the writer's deep hatred of all things German, which at times takes on epic proportions. This German hatred can also be traced, although to a lesser degree, in Sven Aggesøn's Brevis Historia Regum Dacie, and to a much lesser degree in Saxo's Gesta Danorum. The second book of Saxo's Gesta Danorum, starting at Halfdan I, through the fourth book, the reign of Dan II, is based on the geneaology of the Chronicon, though substantial additional mythical material has been used to "flesh it out", and the episode of Kings Dog and Snow have been relegated to later books.

The original version of Chronicon Lethrense is certainly a work of its own. Its stories are interesting and over time copies found its way to other places; there was a copy in the fourteenth century Latin Annals of the Cathedral of Lund. Because of this, Chronicon Lethrense is often connected to Annales Lundenses, of which it is now a part, but it is unlikely the chronicle was originally included in this anthology.