IN NORTHERN MISTS 



" Avalldidida " (or " Valldidida "), which are attributed to 

 them, may be supposed to be connected with " Ivaldr " or 

 " ivaldi." He was of elfin race, was the father of Idun, 

 who guarded the apples of rejuvenation, and his sons, 

 " ivalda synir," were the elves who made the hair for Sif, 

 the spear " Gungner " for Odin, and SkicSblaSnir for Frey. 

 In Bede he is called " Hewald," and in the Anglo-Saxon 

 translation " Heavold." ^ The name " Vaetilldi " (nom. 

 " V^tilldr " ?) of the mother of the Skraeling boys recalls 

 Norse names; it might be a combination of "vaetr" or 

 "v^ttr" (gnome, sprite, cf. modem Norwegian " vaett," a 

 female sprite) and " -hildr " (ace, dat. " -hildi ") ; the word is 

 also written in some MSS. " Vsetthildi," " Vetthildi," " Vethildi," 

 " Veinhildi." 



The last tale of Bjarne Grimolfsson who got into the maggot- 

 sea (" ma'Sk-sjar) bears a stamp of travelers* tales as marked 

 as those of the Liver-sea. But even this feature seems to have 

 prototypes in the Irish legends; it resembles the incident in the 

 tale of the voyage of the three sons of Ua Corra (twelfth cen- 

 tury ?), where the sea-monsters gnaw away the second hide 

 from under the boat (which originally had three hides) [cf. Zim- 

 mer, 1889, pp. 193, i99]- 



It will therefore be seen that the whole narrative of the 



supposed to have survived orally for over 250 years, does not appear probable 

 (see next chapter). 



1 Moltke Moe has called my attention to the possibility of a connection be- 

 tween " Avalldamon " and the Welsh myth of the isle of " Avallon " (the isle of 

 apple-trees; cf. Vol I, pp. 365, 379), to which Morgan le Fay carried King Ar- 

 thur. It is also possible that it may connected with " daemon " and " vald '* 

 ( = power, might). The possibility suggested above seems, however, to be 

 nearer the mark. 



The Skraelings of Markland having kings agrees, of course, neither with 

 Indians nor Eskimo, who no more had kings than the Greenlanders and Ice- 

 landers themselves. On the other hand, it exactly fits elves and gnomes. The 

 Ekeberg king and other mountain kings are well known in Norway. The elves 

 of Iceland had a king who was subject to the superior elf-king in Norway. 

 The sid-people in Ireland, the pygmies and gnomes in other lands (such as 

 Wales) also have kings. This feature again points, therefore, in the direction 

 of the fairy-nature of the Skraelings, like the name " Vaetthildr." 

 20 



