Loading AI tools
Norse term for the lands of Celtic and Romance peoples From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In Norse legend, Valland is the name of the part of Europe which is inhabited by Celtic and Romance peoples.[1] The element Val- is derived from *Walhaz, a Proto-Germanic word whose descendants were used in various Germanic languages to refer to the inhabitants of the Western Roman Empire.
In the genealogy section of Flateyjarbók, there are two kings of Valland named Auði and Kjárr, who may have been a late reflection of Julius Caesar and the Roman Emperors in Norse mythology:[2]
Auði hafði Valland ok var faðir Fróða, föður Kjárs, föður Ölrúnar.[3] |
Auði ruled Valland and was the father of Fróði, the father of Kjár, the father of Ölrún.[4] |
Kjárr and his daughter Ölrún also appear in the Völundarkviða, where she is a Valkyrie who marries the hero Egil:
Þar váru tvær dætr Hlöðvés konungs, Hlaðguðr svanhvít ok Hervör alvitr, in þriðja var Ölrún Kjársdóttir af Vallandi.[5] |
Two of them were daughters of King Hlothver, Hlathguth the Swan-White and Hervor the All-Wise, and the third was Olrun, daughter of Kjar from Valland.[6] |
It is mentioned in Illuga saga Gríðarfóstra that Hringr, the king of Denmark and son of Sköld dagsson, was married to Sigrid, who was the daughter of Vilhálm - or William - king of Valland.[7]
In the Heimskringla by Snorri Sturluson, Valland is mentioned several times as the Old Norse name for Gaul. It was the country where Rollo carved out Normandy:
In Hrómundar saga Gripssonar, the hero Hrómund slays an undead witch-king named Þráinn who had been the king of Valland.
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.