Raum the Old (Old Norse: Raumr inn gamli) is a legendary king in Norway in the Hversu Noregr byggdist and in Thorsteins saga Víkingssonar.
At least three kings in this and other sagas has aquired this cognomen explicitly this way: - Snœr the Old, the grandfather of King Nór, father to King Raum the First, who is grandfather to Raum the Old - Halfdan the Old, grandson to Raum the Old and father to nine royal lineages, among them Næfill, the eponymous anchestor of the Niebelungen, famous through Richard Wagner's operacycle Der Ring des Nibelungen - Örvar Odd, by Saxo Grammaticus depicted as father to Rurik, the eponymous anchestor to the first tsar-dynasty, the Rurikids.
It is stated that his daughter Bryngerd, who was married to Álf the Old, grandfather of Gandalf, was not beautiful, in spite of being the first queen of the Elves; because Raumr had a terryfying look (ljótr).
Indeed, the word raumr meant in norse times an ugly, terrifying, or even disgusting person, sometimes clumsy, clownish.
His brothers are Thrond (Þranðr), the namesake of Trondheim (Þranðheim) and Gard (Garðr) who is called Agde (Agði), which is the name of the southernmost county in Norway - Agder.
Bergdís subsequently bore three sons: Björn (Bjǫrn 'bear'), Brand (Brandr 'torch', 'fire', 'prow or stern-plank', 'sword-blade'), and Álf (Álfr 'elf').
Ólafr fékk konu þeirrar, er Sölveig hét eða Sölva, dóttir Hálfdanar gulltannar vestan af Sóleyjum.
Hálfdan var son Sölva, Sölvarssonar, Sölvasonar hins gamla, er fyrstr ruddi Sóleyjar.
The plurality of Sölvas, as well as the explicitly stated death defiance of several of the ones with the cognomen the Old, makes the puzzle possible; not as historical realism, but as in holding an inherent coherence.
But Af Upplendinga Konungum claims that Olaf's wife Sölva was the sister of King Sölvi the Old.
By his wife Hild, Raum the Old became father of four sons: Gudröd (Guðröðar), Hauk (Haukr), Hadding (Haddingr), and Hring (Hringr).
One was Thormod who settled the land to the south of Reymir, and dwelt at Holm; he was the father of Bersi and Geirlaug, the mother of Tungu-Odd (Tungu-Oddr).
The tale is also told more fully as a deed of long ago in the Saga of Hakon the Good in the Heimskringla where Eystein (no parentage given) is said to be King of the Uplands in Norway, part of the modern county of Oppland.
Two sons of Hrómund named Björnólf (Bjǫrnólfr) and Hróald (Hróaldr) appear among the first Norse settlers in Iceland in the Landnámabók (1.3) and are mentioned in other sagas.
The Hversu tells that Hadding (Haddingr) son of Raum ruled over Haddingjadal and Telemark (Þelamǫrk).
The Hversu then comments cryptically that after him the three Haddings (Haddingjar) took power, that they ruled one after the other, and that Helgi Hadding-prince (Haddingjaskati) was one of them.
A version of this tale survives only in Hrómundar saga Gripssonar in which the Haldingjar are two concurrent kings of Sweden and Helgi is their champion.
Raum's son Hring was the eponym and ruler of Ringerike (Ringeríki) and also ruled Valdres (a valley of modern Oppland).
Alternative Anglicizations are: Álf: Alf ; Álfheim: Alfheim ; Bergdís: Bergdis ; Björn: Bjorn ; Björnólf: Bjornolf ; Finnálf: Finnalf ; Gudröd: Gudrod ; Gunnlöd: Gunnlod ; Hálf: Half ; Halfdan: Hálfdan ; Hámund: Hamund ; Hródgeir: Hrodgeir ; Hrossbjörn: Hrossbjorn ; Högni: Hogni ; Höd: Hod, Hodr, Hoder, Hother ; Höddbrodd: Hoddbrodd ; Hróald: Hroald ; Hrók the Black: Rook the Black ; Hrók the White: Rook the White ; Hrólf: Hrolf ; Hrómund: Hromund ; Jötunbjörn: Jotunbjorn ; Kára: Kara ; Ketil Raum: Ketil the Large ; Lára: Lara ; Ólaf: Olaf ; Önund: Onund ; Raumaríki: Raumarike, Raumarik, Raum's-ric ; Sæfari: Saefari ; Sigrún: Sigrun ; Sól: Sol ; Sóleyjar: Soleyjar ; Sölva: Solva ; Sólveig: Solveig ; Sölvi: Solvi ; Thórolf: Thorolf ; Thrym: Thrymr ; Úlf: Ulf ; Útstein: Utstein.