Editing Dvalinn

{{Short description|Norse mythical character}}
{{Refimprove|date=December 2009}}
In [[Norse mythology]], '''Dvalinn''' ([[Old Norse]]: {{IPA|non|ˈdwɑlenː|}}) is a [[Norse dwarves|dwarf]] (Hjort) who appears in several Old Norse tales and [[kenning]]s. The name translates as "the dormant one" or "the one slumbering" (akin to the [[Danish language|Danish]] and [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]] "dvale" and [[Swedish language|Swedish]] "dvala", meaning "sleep", "unconscious condition" or "hibernation"). Dvalinn is listed as one of the [[four stags of Yggdrasill]] in both ''[[Grímnismál]]'' from the ''[[Poetic Edda]]'' and ''[[Gylfaginning]]'' from the ''[[Prose Edda]]''.

==Attestation==

===''Poetic Edda''===
In the ''Poetic Edda'' poem ''[[Völuspá]]'', Dvalinn is mentioned as a name in the listing of dwarves, and again in a later stanza as a leader taking a host of dwarfs from the mountains to find a new dwelling place:

:"The rocks they left, and through wet lands
:They sought a home, in the fields of sand"

In ''[[Hávamál]]'', Dvalinn is said to have introduced the writing of [[Runic alphabet|runes]] to the dwarfs, as [[Dáinn (Norse dwarf)|Dáinn]] had done for the [[Álfar|elves]] and [[Odin]] for the [[Æsir|gods]].

In ''[[Alvíssmál]]'', a kenning for the sun is listed as the "deceiver of Dvalinn", referring to the sun's power of turning dwarfs into stone. In [[skaldic poetry]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://skaldic.arts.usyd.edu.au/db.php?if=default&table=verses&id=65&val=|title=Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages|publisher=[[University of Aberdeen]]|access-date=May 11, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120410081929/http://www.skaldic.arts.usyd.edu.au/db.php?if=default&table=verses&id=65&val=|archive-date=April 10, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> "Dvalinn's drink" is used as a kenning for poetry, since the [[mead of poetry]] was originally created by the dwarfs.

In ''[[Fáfnismál]]'', during a discussion between [[Sigurd]] and [[Fafnir]] concerning the minor [[Norns]] (apart from the three great Norns), those who govern the lives and destinies of dwarfs are also known as "Dvalinn's daughters".

===Sagas===
In ''[[Hervarar saga]]'', Dvalinn is one of a pair of dwarves (including [[Durin (Norse mythology)|Durin]]) who forged the [[magic sword]] [[Tyrfing]].

===Sörla þáttr===
In the ''[[Sörla þáttr]]'', an Icelandic short story written by two [[Christianity|Christian]] [[priest]]s in the 15th century, Dvalinn is the name of one of the four dwarves (including Alfrigg, Berling and Grer) who fashioned a necklace which was later acquired by a woman called Freyja, who is King Odin's concubine, after she agreed to spend a night with each of them.

===Kálfsvísa===
In the ''[[Kálfsvísa]]'', Dvalinn is mentioned in a list of Norse heroes and their horses. Dvalinn rides a horse named Móðnir ("Spirited").

==Modern influence==
[[J. R. R. Tolkien]] took the name as [[Dwalin]] for one of the dwarves in ''[[The Hobbit]]''.
[[Rich Burlew]] has Dvalin as the first king of the Dwarves, an ascended [[demigod]] of the Northern Pantheon in ''[[The Order of the Stick]]''.<ref>{{cite web|last=Burlew|first=Rich|url=http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1016.html|title=1016 King of Indecision|work=The Order of the Stick}}</ref> In [[Joanne Harris]]' ''The Gospel of Loki'', Dvalin is the name of one of the [[Sons of Ivaldi]]. In ''[[Genshin Impact]]'', Dvalin is the name of one of the Four Winds in Mondstadt chosen by the God of the wind, Barbatos.

==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* ''The Sagas of Icelanders: A Selection'' (London: Penguin, 2001)

{{Norse mythology}}
{{Tyrfing}}

[[Category:Norse dwarves]]
[[Category:Swordsmiths]]
[[Category:Tyrfing cycle]]


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