Sveigdir- Norse FigureMortal"King of Sweden"
Also known as: Sveigðir and Swegde
Titles & Epithets
Description
Second king of the Yngling dynasty, driven by an obsessive quest to find the dwelling of the old gods. After traveling as far as Vanaheim, he was lured into a boulder by a dwarf and vanished forever.
Mythology & Lore
The Oath
Sveigðir's father Fjölnir drowned in a vat of mead. The son who inherited his throne cared little for the kingdom. What consumed Sveigðir was Goðheimr, the dwelling of the old gods, the place Snorri identified with Ásgarðr. He swore an oath to find it and to stand before Odin himself. Then he left, handing the Yngling throne to others while he walked east.
Vanaheim
The journey took him far beyond Scandinavia. In Vanaheim, the land of the Vanir, he stopped long enough to marry a woman called Vana. She bore him a son, Vanlandi, whose name means 'Man of Vanaland.' But Sveigðir did not stay. The oath still held him. He left his wife and son and resumed his search for the gods.
The Boulder
One evening, Sveigðir and his companions came upon a great boulder. A dwarf stood at its entrance and called out to the king, promising that Odin could be found inside. Sveigðir ran into the opening. The stone closed behind him.
Þjóðólfr of Hvinir's verse in the Ynglingatal records how the stone-hall's ruler swallowed the god-deluded king into Durinn's people's dwelling. Sveigðir was never seen again. He had spent his life searching for the gods, and in the end something else found him first.
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