The Saga of Vanadís, Völva and Valkyrja

The valkyrja and the hero
Hervör alvitur –‘all wise’ and Völundur
In the heroic myths of the Old Norse Sagas and Eddas the hero can seldom be
separated from the valkyrja, they are essentially a pair. The valkyrja in these poems and
sagas is usually not a group being, she is very much an individual, an independent
woman. An exception may be Hervör, who is a close relative of the nornir, one of a
threefold valkyrja-entity.
Völundur and his two brothers are the sons of the king of the Finns, the Sámis. They run
on skis while hunting, like their goddess Skaði. At one time they come to the Valley of Wolves
where they build themselves a house by the Lake of Wolves. One morning they come across three
swan-maidens, sitting by the lake, weaving their flax. They have their swan-cloaks beside them.
They are valkyrjur, having flown from the dark woods of the south to the northern mountains.
Their names are Hervör alvitur (all wise), Hlaðguðr svanhvít (swan white) and Ölrún (Ale rune).
The three northern brothers take the three southern swan-maidens to their house, and
there they live for seven years, but in the eighth year the women start longing for the darkness. On
the ninth winter they have no choice but to fly away, to live according to their örlög. Two of the
brothers go looking for their women, but Völundur stays in the Valley of Wolves, waiting for the
return of Hervör alvitur. He fashions rings, one after another, from red gold, hammered against a
gemstone. He slips the rings over the branches of a linden tree, until it is all covered with seven
hundred rings, all made for his love, the wise valkyrja.
Völundur later suffers an abysmal fate, but his name lives on in the term
völundarsmíði, meaning ‘a beautifully crafted piece’. In that respect he is akin to the
dvergar, who were known for their unmatched skills in crafting, and they also crafted the
most famous of all rings of gold, Draupnir. The dwarf is always male, as the valkyrja is
always female, but I have not come across stories about dwarfs as lovers, except the one
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