Ulf Bjalfason (Úlfr Bjálfason) (better known as Kveldulf,

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 ...

for "Night Wolf") was a renowned

hersir A Hersir was a local Viking military commander of a ''hundred'' (a county subdivision) of about 100 men and owed allegiance to a jarl or king. They were also aspiring landowners, and, like the middle class in many feudal societies, supported the k ...

and landowner in ninth century

Sogn Sogn is a traditional district in Western Norway ''(Vestlandet)''. It is located in the county of Vestland, surrounding the Sognefjord, the largest/longest fjord in Norway. The district of Sogn consists of the municipalities of Aurland, Bales ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

. He is a main character in the early chapters of ''

Egils saga ''Egill's Saga'' or ''Egil's saga'' ( non, Egils saga ; ) is an Icelandic saga (family saga) on the lives of the clan of Egill Skallagrímsson (Anglicised as Egill Skallagrimsson), an Icelandic farmer, viking and skald. The saga spans the year ...

'' and appears in the ''

Landnámabók (, "Book of Settlements"), often shortened to , is a medieval Icelandic written work which describes in considerable detail the settlement () of Iceland by the Norse in the 9th and 10th centuries CE. is divided into five parts and ov ...

'' and other Icelandic sources. Kveldulf is described as an '' ulfhéðinn'', a shape-shifter (''hamrammr''), or a ''

berserker In the Old Norse written corpus, berserker were those who were said to have fought in a trance-like fury, a characteristic which later gave rise to the modern English word '' berserk'' (meaning "furiously violent or out of control"). Berserkers ...

''.''Egils saga'', ch. 1.

Family

Kveldulf was the son of

Bjalfi Bjalfi was a ninth-century Norwegian hersir. He married Hallbera Ulfsdattir, the daughter of Ulf the Brave and sister of Hallbjorn Halftroll Hallbjorn Halftroll or Hallbjorn Ulfsson was an early ninth century Norwegian hersir. He was the father o ...

and

Hallbera Ulfsdóttir Hallbera Ulfsdóttir was a Norse woman of the early ninth century CE. She was the daughter of Ulf the Brave Ulf the Brave (''Úlfr inn óargi'') was a Norwegian hersir who lived in Namdalen in the eighth century CE. He was the father of Hallbj� ...

, daughter of

Ulf the Brave Ulf the Brave (''Úlfr inn óargi'') was a Norwegian hersir who lived in Namdalen in the eighth century CE. He was the father of Hallbjörn Half-Troll and Hallbera Ulfsdóttir, who was the mother of Kveldúlfr Bjálfason. Thus Ulf the Brave was ...

and sister of

Hallbjorn Halftroll Hallbjorn Halftroll or Hallbjorn Ulfsson was an early ninth century Norwegian hersir. He was the father of Ketil Trout of Hrafnista. He is mentioned in the '' Ketils saga hœngs'' as well as ''Egils saga'' and the ''Landnámabók''. He was Norwegia ...

. He was thus first cousin to Ketil Trout of Halogaland and a kinsman of the latter's descendant, Ketil Trout of

Namdalen Namdalen ( sma, Nååmesjevuemie) is a traditional district in the central part of Norway, consisting of the municipalities Namsos, Grong, Overhalla, Røyrvik, Nærøysund, Høylandet, Flatanger, Lierne, Leka, and Namsskogan, all in Tr ...

. Kveldulf married Salbjorg Karadottir, the daughter of the

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

chieftain

Berle-Kari Berle-Kari (Berle-Kåre; non, Berðlu-Kári) was a viking chieftain who lived in ninth-century Norway. His home was at Berle (Old Norse: ''Berðla''), in present-day Bremanger in Sogn og Fjordane county. ''Landnámabók'' names him as the son of Ve ...

; he was thus the brother-in-law of the Viking

Eyvind Lambi Eyvind Lambi or ''Eyvind Lamb'' was a Norwegian Viking and hersir of the late ninth and early tenth centuries, known from, among other sources, ''Egils saga''. Eyvind was the son of the Viking Berle-Kari and brother-in-law of Kveldulf Bjalfason, ...

and the

skald A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: , later ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry, the other being Eddic poetry, which is anonymous. Skaldic poems were traditional ...

Olvir Hnufa Olvir Hnufa or ''Ölvir hnúfa'' was a Norwegian commander in a clan and poet of the late ninth and early tenth centuries, known from, among other sources, ''Egil's Saga'', '' Skaldatal'' and the ''Prose Edda''. Olvir was the son of the viking ...

. Kveldulf and Salbjorg had two sons, Thorolf and Grim (who was better known as Skalla-Grímr or "Bald Grim").

Opposition to King Harald

Kveldulf opposed the rising power of

Harald Fairhair Harald Fairhair no, Harald hårfagre Modern Icelandic: ( – ) was a Norwegian king. According to traditions current in Norway and Iceland in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, he reigned from 872 to 930 and was the first King of No ...

, king of

Vestfold Vestfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered ...

, but refused to join the coalition against Harald led by King

Kjotve the Rich Kjotve the Rich (Old Norse: ''Kjǫtvi hinn auðgi'', Norwegian: ''Kjøtve den Rike'') was a king of Agder, then one of the petty kingdoms of Norway during the late 9th century. Kjotve led the western Norwegian kings against King Harald Fairha ...

Agder Agder is a county (''fylke'') and traditional region in the southern part of Norway. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Aust-Agder counties were merged. Since the early 1900s, the term Sørlandet ("south ...

, and would not fight in the army of the kings of Sogn. He permitted his son Thorolf to join Harald's retinue and was permitted to live in peace despite failing to swear allegiance to the king.

Death

When Thorolf was killed by King Harald's men, Kveldulf was overcome with grief and "took to his bed." After having a request for compensation refused by the king, Kveldulf and his son Skalla-Grímr took revenge by killing Thorolf's killers before fleeing Norway for

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

. On the way, exhausted by his "berserker fit", the elderly Kveldulf died. Skallagrim built his farm at

Borg The Borg are an alien group that appear as recurring antagonists in the ''Star Trek'' fictional universe. The Borg are cybernetic organisms (cyborgs) linked in a hive mind called "the Collective". The Borg co-opt the technology and knowledge ...

, near where Kveldulf's coffin washed ashore.''Egils saga ch. 27.''

Notes

References

*Ellwood, T., trans.
The Book of the Settlement of Iceland: Translated From The Original Icelandic of Ari the Learned.
' Kendal: T. Wilson, Printer and Publisher, 1898. *Palsson, Hermann and Paul Edwards, trans. ''Egil's Saga''. NY: Penguin, 1976. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kveldulf Bjalfason Norwegian emigrants to Iceland 9th-century Norwegian people Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown