Alfhild (Alf and Alfhild)
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.
In popular culture[change | change source]
There are some differences in the story in later popular culture. Here Alfhild is almost always called Awilda. (Other spellings: Alwilda, Alvilda, Alvild, Alvilde, Alfhilda, Avilda, Alvida, Altilda, Ælfhild).
During the 1800s, Alfhild/Awilda was a popular subject for scrimshaw carved by sailors on whaling ships.[5]
The story about Alf And Alfhild has also been made into Italian operas.
In 1686, "L'Amazzone Corsara, ovvero L'Alvilda, regina de Goti", by Carlo Pallavicino.[6]
References[change | change source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 "Alvida de schone piraat" (in Dutch). Tekst en Muziek. 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-07-24.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Robert Ossian. "Alvilda". Rob Ossian's Pirate Cove.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cindy Vallar. "Alfhild: Princess and Viking". Cindy Vallar.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "The Danish History, Books I-IX: Book Seven". The Medieval and Classical Literature Library. Archived from the original on 2017-08-05. Retrieved 2021-09-13.
- ↑ "Fall 08" (PDF). Maryland Historical Society News. p. 8.[permanent dead link]
- ↑ Selfridge-Field, Eleanor (18 August 2018). A New Chronology of Venetian Opera and Related Genres, 1660-1760. Stanford University Press. ISBN 9780804744379 – via Google Books.