Sveigðir, ''Sveigder'' or ''Swegde'' (

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

"Waving One"McKinnell (2005:70).) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

of the

House of Yngling The Ynglings were a dynasty of kings, first in Sweden and later in Norway, primarily attested through the poem '' Ynglingatal''. The dynasty also appears as Scylfings (, ) in ''Beowulf''. When ''Beowulf'' and ''Ynglingatal'' were composed sometim ...

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 as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...

. He was the son of Fjölner, whom he succeeded as king, and he married Vana of

Vanaheimr In Norse cosmology, Vanaheimr (Old Norse for 'home of the Vanir'Byock (2005:158).) is a location associated with the Vanir, a group of gods themselves associated with fertility, wisdom, and the precognition, ability to see the future. Vanaheimr i ...

, probably one of the

Vanir In Norse mythology, the Vanir (; Old Norse:, singular Vanr) are a group of gods associated with fertility, wisdom, and the ability to see the future. The Vanir are one of two groups of gods (the other being the Æsir) and are the namesake of the ...

. Lured by a

dwarf Dwarf, dwarfs or dwarves may refer to: Common uses *Dwarf (folklore), a supernatural being from Germanic folklore * Dwarf, a human or animal with dwarfism Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Dwarf (''Dungeons & Dragons''), a sh ...

, Sveigðir disappeared into a stone and never came back. He was succeeded by his son

Vanlandi Vanlandi or Vanlande (Old Norse: "Man from the Land of the Vanir")McKinnell (2005:70). was, according to Norse mythology, a Swedish king who ruled at Uppsala as part of the House of Yngling. He was the son of Sveigðir, whom he succeeded as ...

Attestations

Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of th ...

wrote of Sveigðir in his ''

Ynglinga saga ''Ynglinga saga'' ( ) is a Kings' sagas, Kings' saga, originally written in Old Norse by the Icelanders, Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson about 1225. It is the first section of his ''Heimskringla''. It was first translated into Engl ...

'' (1225):
Snorri also quoted some lines from ''

Ynglingatal ''Ynglingatal'' or ''Ynglinga tal'' (Old Norse: 'Enumeration of the Ynglingar') is a Skaldic poem cited by Snorri Sturluson in the ''Ynglinga saga'', the first saga of Snorri's ''Heimskringla''. Þjóðólfr of Hvinir (Thjodolf), who was a poet ...

'' composed in the 9th century: The ''

Historia Norwegiæ ''Historia Norwegiæ'' is a short history of Norway written in Latin by an anonymous monk. The only extant manuscript is in the private possession of the Earl of Dalhousie, and is now kept in the National Records of Scotland in Edinburgh. The manu ...

'' presents a Latin summary of ''Ynglingatal'' written in the late 12th century and consequently older than Snorri's quotation: The even earlier source ''

Íslendingabók (, , ; ) is a historical work dealing with early history of Iceland, Icelandic history. The author was an Icelandic priest, Ari Þorgilsson, working in the early 12th century. The work originally existed in two different versions but only the y ...

'' from the early 12th century, cites the line of descent in ''Ynglingatal'' and also gives Svegðir as the successor of Fjölnir and the predecessor of

: ''iiii Fjölnir. sá er dó at Friðfróða. v Svegðir. vi Vanlandi''.Guðni Jónsson's edition of Íslendingabók

Notes

References

*McKinnell, John (2005). ''Meeting the Other in Norse Myth and Legend''. DS Brewer.

Sources

*''

'' *''

'' (part of the ''

Heimskringla () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland. While authorship of ''Heimskringla'' is nowhere attributed, some scholars assume it is written by the Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson (117 ...

'') *'' Historia Norwegiae'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Sveigdir Semi-legendary kings of Sweden