Böðvildr, Beadohilde, Bodil was the princess of an evil king Níðuðr/Niðhad/Niðung who appears in Germanic legends, such as Deor

Deor

"Deor" is an Old English poem found in the late 10th century collection the Exeter Book. The poem consists of the lament of the scop Deor, who lends his name to the poem, which was given no formal title. Modern scholars do not actually believe Deor to be the author of this poem.In the poem, Deor's...

, Völundarkviða

Völundarkviða

Völundarkviða is one of the mythological poems of the Poetic Edda...

and Þiðrekssaga. Initially, she appears to have been a tragic victim of Wayland the smith's revenge on her father, but in later Scandinavian versions, she had a happy ending as Wayland's wife and as the mother of the hero Viðga of the Þiðrekssaga and medieval Scandinavian ballad

Ballad

A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...

s.

Deor

Although preceded by the Ardre image stone, the oldest surviving textual source on her is the 10th century Anglo-Saxon poem Deor

Deor

"Deor" is an Old English poem found in the late 10th century collection the Exeter Book. The poem consists of the lament of the scop Deor, who lends his name to the poem, which was given no formal title. Modern scholars do not actually believe Deor to be the author of this poem.In the poem, Deor's...

. It deals with the fact that Wayland has just murdered her brothers and raped her. It is suggested by the poet that things will turn out bad for her:

Welund him be wurman / wræces cunnade, anhydig eorl / earfoþa dreag, hæfde him to gesiþþe / sorge ond longaþ, wintercealde wræce; / wean oft onfond, siþþan hine Niðhad / on nede legde, swoncre seonobende / on syllan monn. Þæs ofereode, / þisses swa mæg! - Beadohilde ne wæs / hyre broþra deaþ on sefan swa sar / swa hyre sylfre þing, þæt heo gearolice / ongieten hæfde þæt heo eacen wæs; / æfre ne meahte þriste geþencan, / hu ymb þæt sceolde. Þæs ofereode, / þisses swa mæg!

Welund tasted misery among snakes. The stout-hearted hero endured troubles had sorrow and longing as his companions cruelty cold as winter - he often found woe Once Nithad laid restraints on him, supple sinew-bonds on the better man. That went by; so can this. - To Beadohilde, her brothers' death was not so painful to her heart as her own problem which she had readily perceived that she was pregnant; nor could she ever foresee without fear how things would turn out. That went by, so can this.

Völundarkviða

In Völundarkviða, she appears when her father Níðuðr has captured Wayland, and she receives from her father a gold ring that the smith had made for his lost Valkyrie lover. Wayland is hamstrung and put to work in her father's smity.

Wayland has revenge by murdering her brothers and hiding them in the smithy. He then set their skulls in silver and sent them to the king together with jewelry for the queen made by the boys' eyes. For Böðvildr he made a brooch of the boys' teeth.

Böðvildr visited Wayland's smithy to ask him to mend a broken ring. Then, he raped her and flew away in a feather construction he had made, leaving her crying with shame:

Hlæjandi Völundr hófsk at lofti, grátandi Böðvildr gekk ór eyju, tregði för friðils ok föður reiði.

Laughing Völund rose aloft, Weeping Bothvild went from the isle, For her lover's flight and her father's wrath.

Wayland, then flies to her father telling him of his revenge. The sorrow stricken king asks his thrall to go and fetch his daughter and Böðvildr has to tell her father the gruesome truth mirroring the tragedy told of in Deor:

41. "Satt er þat, Níðuðr, er sagði þér: Sátum vit Völundr saman í holmi eina ögurstund, æva skyldi; ek vætr hánum vinna kunnak, ek vætr hánum vinna máttak."

"True is it, Nithuth, that which was told thee, Once in the isle with Völund was I, An hour of lust, alas it should be! Nought was my might with such a man, Nor from his strength could I save myself."

Þiðrekssaga

The 13th century Þiðrekssaga has a fuller account in prose, where the ending is more that of a happy one.

Wayland sailed to Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 in a hollowed tree and eventually arrived to Jutland

Jutland

Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...

, where king Niðung was reigning. Wayland was soon challenged by Niðung's smith Amilias. Amilias forged a suit of armour and Wayland a sword, Mímung, with which he easily killed his rival. He thus gained great fame as a smith.

At the eve of a battle, Niðung found out that he had forgotten his victory stone and offered Böðvildr and half of his kingdom to the one who would get it before sunset. Wayland fetched the stone but, when he came back, the king's dróttseti (seneschal

Seneschal

A seneschal was an officer in the houses of important nobles in the Middle Ages. In the French administrative system of the Middle Ages, the sénéchal was also a royal officer in charge of justice and control of the administration in southern provinces, equivalent to the northern French bailli...

) asked for it. Wayland refused to give it up and killed the knight. Niðung banished him.

Later he tried to avenge himself by poisoning the king and Böðvildr but he got caught, was hamstrung and set to work in the forge. But he eventually killed Niðung's two younger sons in his smithy and made a whole set of tableware for the king with their bones. He also raped Böðvildr.

Wayland's brother Egill

Agilaz

Egil is a legendary hero of the Völundarkviða and the Thidreks saga. The name is from Proto-Germanic *Agilaz, and the same legend is reflected in Old English Ægil of the Franks Casket and Alamannic Aigil of the Pforzen buckle....

 came at the court. He was a famous archer and Niðung challenged him to shoot an apple from the head of his son. He could shoot only one arrow, but took three. After he succeeded with his first arrow, the king asked him what the other two were for, and he explained that had he hit his son, he would have shot the king with the others.

Wayland asked his brother to collect feathers, with which he made himself wings. He flew to Niðung and revealed to him that he had killed his sons and made his daughter pregnant. He then flew away. Egill was ordered by the king to shoot him down. But Wayland had tied a bladder filled with blood under his arm. Egill hit it, thus deceiving the king, and Wayland returned to Zealand.

Niðung died shortly after and his son Otvin succeeded him. The princess gave birth to a son called Viðga. Wayland settled a peace agreement with Otvin and he married Böðvildr, as they both had agreed before his leaving.

Toponyms

In England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 according to legend a Burial Mound

Tumulus

A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...

 on The Berkshire Downs

Berkshire Downs

The Berkshire Downs are a range of chalk downland hills in southern England, part of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...

 not far from Waylands Smithy according to legend this was Beadohildes Barrow, The mound has now disappeared, but was apparently excavated in 1850 when a jet ornament, a Kimmeridge ring and a bronze pin were recovered, From this it dated back to The Iron Age

Iron Age

The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...

 with suggestion that Beadohilde may have been a real person rather than being part of Folklore and Legend.

External links

• Austin Simmons, The Cipherment of the Franks Casket (PDF) Beadohilde is twice depicted on the front side of the Franks Casket
  Franks Casket
  The Franks Casket is a small Anglo-Saxon whalebone chest from the seventh century, now in the British Museum. The casket is densely decorated with knife-cut narrative scenes in flat two-dimensional low-relief and with inscriptions mostly in Anglo-Saxon runes...
  
  .