great bird
nature_spirit sky Icelandic single tradition · 1
A great bird with many smaller birds is described as driving away a possible invasion from Harald Bluetooth. This being is one of four figures that most Icelanders understand by the term landvættir.
When
- First attested
- 1200 CE
- Attested period
- 1200 – 1300
- Historical notes
- Mentioned in Heimskringla version of Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar.
Relationships
- co occurs with
- large bull, bergrisi, óvættir, dragon, Landvættir
Mentioned by
Sources
wikipedia (1)
Source passages
“then a great bird with many smaller birds, next a large bull followed by landvættir and finally a huge bergrisi with an iron staff followed by many other jötnar. It is unclear whether all these protective beings were considered landvættir”
#7255 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001