Alfhild (Alf and Alfhild)
legends in Norse mythology / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alfhild was a daughter of the Geatish king Synardus that lived in modern Sweden.[1][2] Historians do not know if she was a real person or a legend. If she did live, it was probably between the 5th and 12th centuries.[1][2][3][4] The earliest piece of writing that talks about her is the Gesta Danorum.[3]
When Alfhild was a young princess, the room she slept in was guarded by a lizard and a snake. These reptiles scared away suitors who were not brave. A Danish prince named Alf, who was also Geatish, came to Geatland and fought the animal guards and won. But Alfhild's mother told her to run away from Alf dressed as a man. She did, and she became a woman fighter called a shield maiden.[1][2]
She found a group of pirate ships that had lost their captain. She became the captain and made the other women part of the sailing crew.[1] The crew doubled in number.[2][4]
She was so good at piracy that she hurt a large part of the Danish and Finnish shipping economy.[1][2] She also sailed to Iceland once. Prince Alf then went to stop the fleet. At that time, he did not know that Alfhild was pirate leader.[1] He found them off the coast of Finland.
In the original story, Alfhild killed Alf, the latter underestimating the fleet's power, and then put his head on a spear and continued pirating. People know this from Norse hearsay in dining halls.
In Christian story, she knocked off his helmet.[2] This made her recognize him, and she stopped pirating and married Alf.[1][2] She then became queen of Denmark.[2] This version is probably wrong: It agreed with the things Christianity and patriarchy saw as good.