Vanlade

From Free net encyclopedia

Vanlade, Vanlande was a Swedish king at Uppsala of the House of Yngling in Norse mythology. He was the son of Sveigder. Snorri Sturluson wrote in the Ynglinga saga, that Vanlade was a great warrior.

Once he stayed for the winter in Finland with Snær the Old, and was married to his daughter Drífa. When he left in spring, he left Drífa behind. Although he had promised her to come back in three years time, she had to wait ten years. Then she sent her and Vanlade's son Visbur to Sweden, and sent a message to the völva Huld. She asked the völva to either bring Vanlade back to Finland or kill him.

As the völva worked to bring Vanlade back, he was staying at Uppsala and he felt a great need to travel to Finland. His advisors and friends told him not to go and claimed that it was the witchraft of the Finns that made him want to go. Having resisted the wish to leave, he became drowsy and went to bed. A little later he screamed that he was hagridden and his men came to help him. However, when they grasped his head the Mara stepped on his legs and when they held his legs she trod on his head. This caused him to die. The Swedes burnt his body by the River Skyt (one of the tributaries of the River Fyris) and raised a menhir over him.

Snorri quoted some lines from Ynglingatal composed in the 9th century:

En á vit
Vilja bróður
vitta véttr
Vanlanda kom,
þá er trollkund
of troða skyldi
liðs grímhildr
ljóna bága;
ok sá brann á beði Skútu
menglötuðr,
er mara kvalði.[1]
And Vanlande, in a fatal hour,
Was dragg'd by Grimhild's daughter's power,
The witch-wife's, to the dwelling-place
Where men meet Odin face to face.
Trampled to death, to Skytaa's shore
The corpse his faithful followers bore;
And there they burnt, with heavy hearts,
The good chief killed by witchcraft's arts.(Laing's translation [2])

Template:Start box Template:Succession box Template:End box


[edit]

Geography

Geographical note: the river skutá is today called Björklingeån. According to the encyclopedias Nationalencyklopedin and Nordisk familjebok it passed its name onto the village and the parish of Skuttunge. The area does not only contain raised stones, but also 45 grave fields (most from the Iron Age), including a dolmen.

[edit]

Sources

Image:Mjollnir icon.png

Norse mythology

List of Norse gods | Æsir | Vanir | Giants | Elves | Dwarves | Valkyries | Einherjar | Norns
Odin | Thor | Freyr | Freya | Loki | Balder | Tyr | Yggdrasil | Ginnungagap | Ragnarök
Sources:
Poetic Edda | Prose Edda | The Sagas | Volsung Cycle | Tyrfing Cycle
Rune stones | Old Norse language | Orthography | Later influence
Society:
Viking Age | Skald | Kenning | Blót | Seid | Numbers
The nine worlds of Norse mythology | People, places and things

sv:Vanland

Retrieved from "http://www.netipedia.com/index.php/Vanlade"