In Norse mythology

Norse mythology

Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...

, Dyggvi or Dyggve (Old Norse

Old Norse

Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....

 "Useful, Effective") was a Swedish

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 king of the House of Ynglings. Dyggvi died and became the husband of Hel

Hel (being)

In Norse mythology, Hel is a being who presides over a realm of the same name, where she receives a portion of the dead. Hel is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson...

, Loki

Loki

In Norse mythology, Loki or Loke is a god or jötunn . Loki is the son of Fárbauti and Laufey, and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. By the jötunn Angrboða, Loki is the father of Hel, the wolf Fenrir, and the world serpent Jörmungandr. By his wife Sigyn, Loki is the father of Nari or Narfi...

's daughter. Dyggvi was succeeded by his son Dag the Wise

Dag the Wise

Dag the Wise or Dagr Spaka was a mythological Swedish king of the House of Ynglings. He was the son of Dyggvi, the former king. According to legend, he could understand the speech of birds and had a sparrow that gathered news for him from many lands...

.

Attestations

Snorri Sturluson

Snorri Sturluson

Snorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was twice elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing...

 wrote of Dygvvi's father Domar

Domar

In Norse mythology, the Swedish king Domar of the House of Ynglings was the son of Domalde. He was married to Drott, the sister of Dan the Arrogant who gave his names to the Danes...

 in his Ynglinga saga

Ynglinga saga

Ynglinga saga is a legendary saga, originally written in Old Norse by the Icelandic poet Snorri Sturluson about 1225. It was first translated into English and published in 1844....

(1225):

Dyggvi hét son hans, er þar næst réð löndum, ok er frá honum ekki sagt annat, en hann varð sóttdauðr.

Dygve was the name of his son, who succeeded him in ruling the land; and about him nothing is said but that he died in his bed.

About Dyggvi's mother Snorri had more to say:

Móðir Dyggva var Drótt, dóttir Danps konungs, sonar Rígs, er fyrstr var konungr kallaðr á danska tungu; hans ættmenn höfðu ávalt síðan konungsnafn fyrir hit œzta tignarnafn. Dyggvi var fyrstr konungr kallaðr sinna ættmanna; en áðr váru þeir dróttnar kallaðir, en konur þeirra dróttningar, en drótt hirðsveitin. En Yngvi eða Ynguni var kallaðr hverr þeirra ættmanna alla ævi, en Ynglingar allir saman. Drótt dróttning var systir Dans konungs hins mikilláta, er Danmörk er við kend.

Dygve's mother was Drott Drott *Druhtinaz is a Common Germanic term meaning a military leader or warlord and is derived from *druhti "war band" and the "ruler suffix" -īna- *Druhtinaz (Old English: dryhten, Old Norse: dróttinn, Old English-Middle English: drihten, Middle English: driȝten) is a Common Germanic term meaning a... , a daughter of King Danp, the son of Rig, who was first called "king" in the Danish tongue. His descendants always afterwards considered the title of king the title of highest dignity. Dygve was the first of his family to be called king, for his predecessors had been called "Drottnar", and their wives "Drottningar", and their court "Drott". Each of their race was called Yngve, or Yngune, and the whole race together Ynglinger. The Queen Drott was a sister of King Dan Mikillati, from whom 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...  took its name.

In his Ynglinga saga

Ynglinga saga

Ynglinga saga is a legendary saga, originally written in Old Norse by the Icelandic poet Snorri Sturluson about 1225. It was first translated into English and published in 1844....

, Snorri Sturluson

Snorri Sturluson

Snorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was twice elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing...

 included a piece from Ynglingatal

Ynglingatal

Ynglingatal is a skaldic poem listing the kings of the House of Ynglings, dated by most scholars to the late 9th century.The original version is attributed to Þjóðólfr af Hvini who was the skald of a Norwegian petty king named Ragnvald the Mountain-High and who was a cousin of Harald Fairhair...

composed in the 9th century:

Kveðkat dul, nema Dyggva hrör Glitnis gná at gamni hefr, því at jódis Ulfs ok Narfa Konungmann kjósa skyldi; ok allvald Yngva þjóðar Loka mær of leikinn hefr.

Dygve the Brave, the mighty king, It is no hidden secret thing, Has gone to meet a royal mate, Riding upon the horse of Fate. For Loke Loki In Norse mythology, Loki or Loke is a god or jötunn . Loki is the son of Fárbauti and Laufey, and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. By the jötunn Angrboða, Loki is the father of Hel, the wolf Fenrir, and the world serpent Jörmungandr. By his wife Sigyn, Loki is the father of Nari or Narfi... 's daughter in her house Of Yngve Yngvi Yngvi, Yngvin, Ingwine, Inguin are names that relate to an older theonym Ing and which appears to have been the older name for the god Freyr .... 's race would have a spouse; Therefore the fell-one snatched away Brave Dygve from the light of day.

The Historia Norwegiæ presents a Latin summary of Ynglingatal, older than Snorri's quotation:

Hujus [Domar] filius Dyggui item in eadem regione vitæ metam invenit. Cui successit in regnum filius ejus Dagr [...]

Likewise Dyggve, his [Domar's] son, reached the limit of his life in that same region [Sweden]. His son Dag [...]

The even earlier source Íslendingabók

Íslendingabók

Íslendingabók, Libellus Islandorum or The Book of Icelanders is an historical work dealing with early Icelandic history. The author was an Icelandic priest, Ari Þorgilsson, working in the early 12th century. The work originally existed in two different versions but only the younger one has come...

also cites the line of descent in Ynglingatal and it also gives Dyggvi as the successor of Dómarr and the predecessor of Dagr

Dag the Wise

Dag the Wise or Dagr Spaka was a mythological Swedish king of the House of Ynglings. He was the son of Dyggvi, the former king. According to legend, he could understand the speech of birds and had a sparrow that gathered news for him from many lands...

: ix Dómarr. x Dyggvi. xi Dagr.

Sources

• Ynglingatal
  Ynglingatal
  Ynglingatal is a skaldic poem listing the kings of the House of Ynglings, dated by most scholars to the late 9th century.The original version is attributed to Þjóðólfr af Hvini who was the skald of a Norwegian petty king named Ragnvald the Mountain-High and who was a cousin of Harald Fairhair...
  
  
• Ynglinga saga
  Ynglinga saga
  Ynglinga saga is a legendary saga, originally written in Old Norse by the Icelandic poet Snorri Sturluson about 1225. It was first translated into English and published in 1844....
  
   (part of the Heimskringla
  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 Snorri Sturluson ca. 1230...
  
  )
• Historia Norwegiae
  Historia Norvegiæ
  Historia Norwegiæ is a short Latin history of Norway written by an anonymous monk. The only extant manuscript, in the private possession of the Earl of Dalhousie and kept at Brechin Castle, Scotland, is fragmentary; what we have of the Historia is found on folios 1r-12r...