Gandalf Alfgeirsson (

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...

: ''Gandálf Álfgeirsson'') was a legendary king of the petty kingdom Alfheim, in south-eastern

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

and south-western

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

He is portrayed in

Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of th ...

's saga ''

Heimskringla ''Heimskringla'' () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorre Sturlason (1178/79–1241) 1230. The name ''Heimskringla'' was first used in the 17th century, derive ...

''. Heimskringla relates that Gandalf was given the kingdom of Alfheim by his father Alfgeir. A Gandalf, normally taken to be the same, fought with Halfdan the Black for overlordship of what would become Norway under Halfdan the Black's son

Harald Fairhair Harald Fairhair no, Harald hårfagre Modern Icelandic: ( – ) was a Norwegian king. According to traditions current in Norway and Iceland in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, he reigned from 872 to 930 and was the first King of No ...

. They reached an temporary agreement to share Vingulmork between them. In a later episode, apparently after Gandalf's death, his three sons, Hysing, Helsing, and Hake, attempted to ambush Halfdan the Black at night but he escaped into the forest. After raising an army, he returned and defeated the brothers, killing Hysing and Helsing. Hake fled from the country and Halfdan became king of all of Vingulmórk (possibly all of old Alfheim). The stories of Gandalf and his sons was found in a place historically called Álfheimr which spans modern-day Bohuslän, in Sweden, rivers Göta and Klara, originating in

Trysil Trysil is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Innbygda. Other villages in the municipality include Nybergsund, � ...

, as well as Glåmma, both the east and the west fold of Vingulmórk (cf.

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

), the part of Alfheim given to King Guðrød Halfdanson by King Alfarinn as dowry, when princess Alfhild was married to the grandfather of

. Olaf Geirstadalv's mother was, if not identical to Alfhild, his aunt called Olöf.According to Þattr Olafs Geirstada alfs: http://heimskringla.no/wiki/%C3%9E%C3%A1ttr_%C3%93lafs_Geirsta%C3%B0a_%C3%A1lfs

Family

Gandalf's only known wife was Gauthild Gyrithe Alfsdottir. They had (presumably) four children, three sons and a daughter. * Alfhild * Hysing * Helsing * Haki

Ancestry

Gandalf's father was King Alfgeir.

References

External links

Yinglinga Saga, English translation: Of King Olaf's Death

* ttp://www.heimskringla.no/wiki/Ynglinga_saga Ynglinga Saga, Old Norse
Halfdan the Black Saga, Old Norse
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gandalf Alfgeirsson Pagans Norwegian petty kings Date of death unknown Year of birth unknown