Valland
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In Norse legend, Valland is the name of the part of Europe which is inhabited by Celtic and Romance peoples.[1] The element Val- is derived from *Walhaz, a Proto-Germanic word whose descendants were used in various Germanic languages to refer to the inhabitants of the Western Roman Empire.
Mythological context[edit]
In the genealogy section of Flateyjarbók, there are two kings of Valland named Auði and Kjárr, who may have been a late reflection of Julius Caesar and the Roman Emperors in Norse mythology:[2]
| Auði hafði Valland ok var faðir Fróða, föður Kjárs, föður Ölrúnar.[3] | Auði ruled Valland and was the father of Fróði, the father of Kjár, the father of Ölrún.[4] |
Kjárr and his daughter Ölrún also appear in the Völundarkviða, where she is a Valkyrie who marries the hero Egil:
| Þar váru tvær dætr Hlöðvés konungs, Hlaðguðr svanhvít ok Hervör alvitr, in þriðja var Ölrún Kjársdóttir af Vallandi.[5] | Two of them were daughters of King Hlothver, Hlathguth the Swan-White and Hervor the All-Wise, and the third was Olrun, daughter of Kjar from Valland.[6] |
It is mentioned in Illuga saga Gríðarfóstra that Hringr, the king of Denmark and son of Sköld dagsson, was married to Sigrid, who was the daughter of Vilhálm - or William - king of Valland.[7]
Legendary and historical context[edit]
In the Heimskringla by Snorri Sturluson, Valland is mentioned several times as the Old Norse name for Gaul. It was the country where Rollo carved out Normandy:
- Rolf Ganger went afterwards over sea to the West to the Hebrides, or Sudreys; and at last farther west to Valland, where he plundered and subdued for himself a great earldom, which he peopled with Northmen, from which that land is called Normandy.[8]
In Hrómundar saga Gripssonar, the hero Hrómund slays an undead witch-king named Þráinn who had been the king of Valland.
See also[edit]
Notes and references[edit]
- ^ The entry Valnöt in Svensk etymologisk ordbok by Elof Hellquist (1922).
- ^ Anderson, Carl Edlund. (1999). Formation and Resolution of Ideological Contrast in the Early History of Scandinavia. Ph.D. thesis, University of Cambridge, Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic (Faculty of English). p. 44. Archived 2007-03-07 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Ættartölur, a section of Flateyjarbók at «Norrøne Tekster og Kvad», Norway.
- ^ Translation provided by Wikipedia editors.
- ^ Völundarkviða at «Norrøne Tekster og Kvad», Norway. Archived 2007-05-08 at the National and University Library of Iceland
- ^ Henry A. Bellows' translation of The Lay of Völund.
- ^ Jónsson, Guðni. "Illuga saga Gríðarfóstra" [Saga of Illuga Gríðarfóstra] (in Old Norse). Retrieved 22 April 2011.
Hann átti drottningu, er Sigríðr hét. Hún var dóttir Vilhjálms konungs ór Vallandi. He had a queen, who was called Sigrid. She was King William of Valland's daughter.
- ^ Harald Harfager's Saga at Northvegr.