Alvaldi (also Ölvaldi;

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...

'all-powerful') is a jötunn in

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern per ...

, presented as the father of

Þjazi In Norse mythology, Þjazi (Old Norse: ; anglicized as Thiazi, Thjazi, Tjasse or Thiassi) was a giant. He was a son of the giant Ölvaldi, brother of giants Iði and Gangr, and the father of Skaði. His most notable misdeed was the kidnapp ...

. Saturn's moon Alvaldi is named after him.

Name

The

name ''Alvadi'' means 'all-powerful'. The name ''Ölvadi'', found in '' Skáldskaparmál'', appears to be a variant form referring to the same character.

Attestations

In '' Hárbarðsljóð'' (Lay of Hárbarðr), Alvadi is mentioned as the father of the jötunn

. In '' Skáldskaparmál'' (Language of Poetry)'','' he is named Ölvadi and portrayed as the father of Þjazi,

Gangr Gangr (or Gang; Old Norse: , 'traveller') is a jötunn in Norse mythology. He is portrayed as the son of Alvaldi and the brother of Þjazi and Iði. Name The Old Norse name ''Gangr'' has been translated as 'traveller'. It is related to the Ic ...

and

Iði Iði (Old Norse: ; also Idi) is a jötunn in Norse mythology. He is the son of Alvaldi and the brother of Þjazi and Gangr. Name The Old Norse name ''Iði'' has been translated as the 'active one' or the 'hard-working one', deriving from ''i� ...

. Described as "very rich in gold", Ölvadi divides the inheritance among his sons in such a way that each may take the same mouthful of gold. According to philologist Rudolf Simek, the story is probably the remnant of an old myth.

References

Bibliography

* * Jötnar {{Norse-myth-stub