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Hjálmþés saga ok Ölvis is a late legendary saga without an apparent historic basis. It is about two children of a jarl, and one of them is Hjálmþér whose evil stepmother commands him to work as a thrall until he has performed an impossible task.
In its present form, it stacks different motifs on top of each other.[ according to whom?] However, according to Icelandic philologist Finnur Jónsson the various Hjálmþésrímur which appear in the saga reveal that it once had a different structure. [1]
There are many folk tales similar to Hjálmþés saga ok Ölvis, including a number of medieval Irish stories, [2] the Northumbrian tale The Laidly Worm of Spindleston Heugh (also known as The Laidly Worm of Bamburgh (or Bamborough).