Sváfa

Sváfa is a valkyrie and the daughter of king Eylimi in Norse mythology. Consequently she was probably the maternal aunt of Sigurd, the dragon slayer, although this is not explicitly mentioned in "Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar" where Sváfa's story appears.

Her name means "Suebian", [http://www.sofi.se/servlet/GetDoc?meta_id=1017 Peterson, Lena. (2002). "Nordiskt runnamnslexikon", at "Institutet för språk och folkminnen", Sweden.] ] and it may not be a coincidence that a king "Sváfnir" and the kingdom "Sváfaland" also appears in this poem (it is also mentioned in the "Þiðrekssaga"), although they are never directly connected with her.

The Norwegian king Hjörvarðr and Sigrlinn of Sváfaland had a son who was a silent man and to whom no name could be given. When this silent man had grown up, he was one day sitting on a hill, and he saw nine Valkyries riding of whom Sváfa was the most beautiful one.

Sváfa called him "Helgi" and asked him if he wanted a gift with his newly-given name (which was customary), but Helgi wanted nothing if he could not have Sváfa herself. She then informed him of the location of a great sword engraved with snakes and magic runes. Sváfa had given Helgi his name and during his battles, she was always there for him, shielding him from danger.

After having won fame in battle, Helgi went to king Eylimi and asked the king for his daughter's hand. King Eylimi consented and so Helgi and Sváfa exchanged their vows. Although, they were married, she remained with her father and Helgi was out doing battle.

King Hróðmar's son Álfr wanted to avenge his father and had challenged Helgi to a holmgang at Sigarsvoll. During the holmgang with Álfr, Helgi received a mortal wound due to a troll woman's curse and Álfr won. Helgi then sent his companion Sigarr to king Eylimi in order to fetch Sváfa so that they could meet before he died.

Before passing away, Helgi asked Sváfa to marry his brother Heðinn. The brother asked Sváfa to kiss him, because she would not see him again before Helgi had been avenged.

Both Helgi and Sváfa would be reborn as Helgi Hundingsbane and Sigrún and so their adventures continued.

References

External links

* [http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/poe18.htm Helgakvitha Hjorvarthssonar] Translation and commentary by Henry Adams Bellows
* [http://www.northvegr.org/lore/poetic2/020_01.php Helgakviþa Hiörvarðs Sonar] Translation by Benjamin Thorpe
* [http://www.angelfire.com/on/Wodensharrow/helgi.html Helgakviða Hjorvarþssonar] Translation by Lee M. Hollander
* [http://etext.old.no/Bugge/helga0.html Helgakviða Hiörvarðssonar] Sophus Bugge's edition of the manuscript text
* [http://www.heimskringla.no/original/edda/helgakvidahjorvardssonar.php Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar] Guðni Jónsson's edition of the text with normalized spelling