Domalde
Legendary King of Sweden
title: "Domalde" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["semi-legendary-kings-of-sweden", "human-sacrifice-in-folklore-and-mythology"] description: "Legendary King of Sweden" topic_path: "geography/sweden" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domalde" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Legendary King of Sweden ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox royalty"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| succession | Legendary King of Sweden |
| image | Midvinterblot_(Carl_Larsson)_-Nationalmuseum-_edited.jpg |
| caption | Midvinterblot (1915) by Carl Larsson, which depicts the offering of king Domalde |
| predecessor | Visbur |
| successor | Domar |
| issue | Domar |
| house | House of Yngling |
| house-type | Dynasty |
| father | Visbur |
| mother | second wife of Visbur |
| religion | Norse Paganism |
| :: |
| succession = Legendary King of Sweden | image = Midvinterblot_(Carl_Larsson)_-Nationalmuseum-_edited.jpg | caption = Midvinterblot (1915) by Carl Larsson, which depicts the offering of king Domalde | reign = | coronation = | full name = | predecessor = Visbur | successor = Domar | spouse = | issue = Domar | issue-link = | house = House of Yngling | house-type = Dynasty | father = Visbur | mother = second wife of Visbur | birth_date = | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | date of burial = | place of burial = | religion = Norse Paganism Domalde, Dómaldi or Dómaldr (Old Norse possibly "Power to Judge") was a legendary Swedish king of the House of Ynglings, cursed by his stepmother, according to Snorri Sturluson, with ósgæssa, "ill-luck". He was the son of Visbur.
Attestations
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Domalde.jpg" caption="The sacrifice of Domalde by [[Erik Werenskiold"] ::
The luck of the king is the luck of the land, and Domalde's rule was marked by bad crops and starvation. The first autumn, the Swedes sacrificed oxen at the temple at Uppsala, but the next harvest was not better. The second autumn, they sacrificed men, but the following crops were even worse.
The third year many Swedes arrived at Gamla Uppsala at the Thing of all Swedes and the chiefs decided they had to sacrifice the king. They sprinkled the statues of the gods with his blood (see Blót) and the good harvests returned.
He was succeeded by his son Domar whose reign was prosperous.
Snorri Sturluson wrote of Domalde in his Ynglinga saga (1225): ::data[format=table]
| :: |
Snorri included a piece from Ynglingatal (9th century) in his account in the Heimskringla:
Hitt vas fyrr, at fold ruðu sverðberendr sínum dróttni. Ok landherr af lífsvǫnum dreyrug vôpn Dómalda bar, þás árgjǫrn Jóta dolgi Svía kind of sóa skyldi.{{cite book |last=Marold |first=Edith |chapter=Þjóðólfr ór Hvini, Ynglingatal |chapter-url=https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=4400 |title=Poetry from the Kings' Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035 |series=Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. |page=16 |editor-last=Whaley |editor-first=Diana |date=2012 |publisher=Turnhout: Brepols |isbn=978-2-503-51896-1}}}}
:Translation: ‘It happened earlier that the sword-bearers [WARRIORS] reddened the ground with [the blood of] their leader. And the army of the land bore bloody weapons away from the lifeless Dómaldi when the race of the Swedes, eager for good harvests, had to sacrifice the enemy of the Jótar [= Dómaldi].’
The Historia Norwegiæ presents a Latin summary of Ynglingatal, older than Snorri's quotation:
::data[format=table]
| :: |
The even earlier source Íslendingabók cites the line of descent in Ynglingatal and also gives Dómaldr as the successor of Visburr and the predecessor of Dómarr: vii Visburr. viii Dómaldr. ix Dómarr.
Notes
References
- McKinnell, John (2005). Meeting the Other in Norse Myth and Legend. DS Brewer.
Sources
- Ynglingatal
- Ynglinga saga (part of the Heimskringla)
- Historia Norwegiae
References
- McKinnell (2005:70).
- "The Danish sources, for example, tell of many kings who bore the title Frothi (wise/fruitful)" remarked John Grigsby in the context of just such 'Royal Obligations', ch. 11, ''[[Beowulf and Grendel]]'' 2005: 124, noting (note 3) Frothi's appearance in [[Saxo Grammaticus]].
- "''Ynglinga saga'' at ''Norrøne Tekster og Kvad''".
- [http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/heim/02ynglga.htm Laing's translation at the Internet Sacred Text Archive]
- [http://www.northvegr.org/lore/heim/001_03.php Laing's translation at Northvegr] {{webarchive. link. (12 March 2007)
- Storm, Gustav (editor) (1880). ''Monumenta historica Norwegiæ: Latinske kildeskrifter til Norges historie i middelalderen'', Monumenta Historica Norwegiae (Kristiania: Brøgger), p. 98
- [http://wayback.vefsafn.is/wayback/20070508145441/http://www.heimskringla.no/original/islendingesagaene/islendingabok.php Guðni Jónsson's edition of Íslendingabók]
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