Fjölvar

Fjölvar is a being in Norse mythology, possibly a jötunn, with whom Odin spends time fighting and seducing women with on the island of Algrœn ("All-green").

The inscription reads: Unnulv and Fjolvar traveled this stone after Djure, his father, Redulv's son, and after Harlau, his mother, Fjolvar's daughter at Viksta.

Name

Fjölvar is an Old Norse name still used today; it was used in Old Norse as an adjective meaning 'very wary, very cautious'.

Attestation

Fjölvar is only attested once in Hárbardsljód (The lay of Hárbarð), which tells of Hárbarð (the god Odin in disguise) spending time with Fjölvar on the island of Algrœn ("All-green").

I [Odin] was with Fjölvar all of five winters [five years],
In that island, which is called Algrœn [All-green];
We could fight and fell carrion,
To test much, to try our luck with a maiden.

— Hárbardsljód, 17, trans. J. Lindow, 2002.

This episode was recounted by Odin himself who alone slept with seven sisters on Algrœn in the poem Hárbardsljód (18), written in the 13th century and included in the Poetic Edda.

Theories

According to scholar John Lindow, since the þulur list Fjölvör among the jötnar, it is likely that Fjölvar would have been her male counterpart, and therefore also a jötunn.

References

Bibliography

• Lindow, John (2002). Norse Mythology: A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-983969-8.
• Orchard, Andy (1997). Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend. Cassell. ISBN 978-0-304-34520-5.

Further reading

• Larrington, Carolyne (2017). The Norse Myths: A Guide to the Gods and Heroes. Thames & Hudson. ISBN 9780500251966. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
• Bellows, H.A. (2004) The Poetic Edda. The Mythological Poems. Courier Dover Publications.
• Thorpe, B. (1866) The Edda of Saemund the Learned., transcribed by A. Odhinnsen.
• Nordisk Mytologi; Historiska Media och Katarina Harrison Lindbergh 2017.