Historically attested as Gundaharius (Gundahar), a king of the Burgundians in the early 5th century who led his people across the Rhine and was later defeated and slain during Aetius's campaign (c. 436) when Hunnic mercenaries destroyed the Burgundian polity. Over subsequent centuries the historical figure was reworked into vernacular heroic narratives (e.g., Waltharius, the Nibelungenlied, Old Norse sagas), where he appears as a king entangled in dynastic, martial, and courtly episodes rather than as a supernatural origin figure.
Sources present Gunther as a human royal: a king or leader at court (for example, described as king of the Burgundians historically and as king of the Franks at Worms in Waltharius). No systematic supernatural or physical descriptions (colors, otherworldly forms) are recorded in the provided materials; portrayals emphasize social rank, attire and martial bearing only insofar as the literary context implies a kingly warrior.
No supernatural powers are attributed. Historical agency includes leading his people as a martial and political commander, negotiating settlement as foederati within the Roman world, and engaging in alliances and warfare. Legendary behaviors echo these roles: courtly decision-making, commissioning retainers (notably Hagen) to act, participating in martial contests and dynastic intrigues, and being involved in treasure, marriage, and vengeance motifs in heroic narratives.
Abraun
Abraun is an attested name in German-language plant-legend scholarship (Der abraun, ein beitrag zur pflanzensagenkunde, 1916) and a short database entry (Wikidata) labels it as a spirit from German mythology. Surviving accessible documentation is extremely limited: the principal academic treatment is a 1916 contribution to pflanzensagenkunde (plant-saga studies), but the excerpts available here contain only bibliographic metadata and do not record tales, descriptions, or rituals.
Accolon
Accolon is a mortal knight of the Arthurian court, presented in the Post-Vulgate Merlin tradition and Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur as Morgan le Fay's paramour and instrument in a plot to supplant King Arthur; his tale centers on enchanted weapons (Excalibur and its scabbard), love-manipulation, and a tragic duel with Arthur.
Acionna
Acionna is a local Gallo-Roman water goddess attested by a single votive inscription found at a spring in the Orléanais region. The inscription, discovered by Jollois in 1822 and datable by style to the 2nd century CE, dedicates a portico and ornaments "AUG(ustae) ACIONNAE" and was recovered from the Fontaine de l'Étuvée in Orléans; archaeological work in 2007 uncovered remains of a Gallo-Roman temple and a section of an aqueduct at the site.
Adils
Adils (Old Norse Aðils; also Eadgils, Adillus, Athisl, Adhel) is a semi‑legendary sixth‑century Swedish king attested in Old Norse saga material and later medieval traditions. He appears in saga episodes as a storied royal figure involved in warfare, court acts, and marriage suits rather than as a supernatural being.
Adsullata
Adsullata is attested as a Continental Celtic river goddess associated with the River Savus (modern Sava) in the Roman province of Noricum. Later traditions record her presence in Brittany as a goddess of hot springs and present her as an antecedent or origin-form of the Anglo‑Celtic sun goddess Sul.
Agilaz (Egil)
Agilaz (reconstructed Proto-Germanic) — commonly recorded in medieval sources as Egil or Ægil — is a legendary archer attested in Germanic heroic tradition. He appears as the brother of Völund (Wayland/Weland) in the Old Norse poem Völundarkviða and in the Thidreks saga, and his name is also inscribed on early medieval objects (Franks Casket, Pforzen buckle). The attested material presents him as a named heroic human archer within saga and inscriptional contexts rather than as a recurrent supernatural species.
Aglovale
Aglovale (also Agloval, Aglovan, Aglovaus, Acglavael) is a human knight of Arthurian romance, presented as the eldest legitimate son of King Pellinore and a Knight of the Round Table in the Vulgate/Post‑Vulgate cycles, Malory, and later adaptations. He brings his long‑lost brother Perceval to Camelot, takes part in military actions (including slaying Agrippa in one account), and his death is related in varying ways across traditions (accidental at Gawain's hand, deliberate murder by Orkney kin, or killed during Lancelot's rescue of Guinevere).
Agnarr Geirröðsson
Agnarr Geirröðsson is a mortal prince attested only in the Poetic Edda poem Grímnismál; he aids Odin (disguised as Grímnir) during Geirröðr's torture and, after Odin reveals himself and King Geirröðr dies, Agnarr succeeds as king.
Agne
Agne (also attested Agni, Hogne, Agni Skjálfarbondi) is a semi-legendary king of Sweden in Old Norse saga tradition, preserved in the Ynglingatal corpus and prose expansions such as Snorri Sturluson's Ynglinga saga. He is portrayed as a mighty and famous warrior-king whose campaign in Finland, marriage to Skjalf, and death by hanging form a remembered episode connected to local place-names and a burial mound.
Agolant
Agolant is a literary Saracen king who appears as a recurring antagonist in medieval and Renaissance epic cycles (Matter of France). He functions as a human royal opponent to Charlemagne and his peers, supplying martial episodes, genealogical connections, and the transfer of legendary arms and horses in chansons de geste and later Italian romances.
Agravain
Agravain is a literary knight of Arthurian romance cycles: one of the sons of King Lot of Orkney, a member of the Round Table, and a recurring figure in French and English medieval prose and verse. He is portrayed as a skilled but morally problematic courtly knight whose jealousy, malice, and intra-familial violence drive key narrative conflicts (notably the slaying of Lamorak and the exposure of Guinevere).
Agrestes
Agrestes is a legendary pagan king of Camelot appearing in accounts of the 13th‑century Arthurian Vulgate Cycle. Presented as a human antagonist to the Christian mission associated with Joseph of Arimathea (or his son Josephus), his violent persecution of converts is followed by madness, self‑destruction, and the subsequent consolidation of Christianity in Camelot.
Community Record
- [1]Gunther. Wikipedia. "Gunther."wiki
- [2]Gunther (Wikidata). Wikidata entry for 'Gunther'.other
- [3]Waltharius / Waldere / Widsith attestations (summaries in provided notes). Summaries and excerpts referencing Waltharius, Waldere, Widsith as attestations for the legendary Gunther (from provided research notes).literary