This article is about a son of Odin in Norse mythology. For other uses, see
Vali.
In
Norse mythology, Váli (
Old Norse) is a
god and the son of the god
Odin and the female jötun
Rindr. Váli has
numerous brothers including
Thor,
Baldr, and
Víðarr. He was born for the sole purpose of avenging
Baldr,[1] and does this by killing
Höðr, who was an unwitting participant, and binding
Loki with the entrails of his son
Narfi. Váli grew to full adulthood within one day of his birth, and slew Höðr before going on to Loki. He is prophesied to survive
Ragnarök.[1]
Early mistranslation or confusion has led to a single mention of a
Váli who is a son of Loki: "Þá váru teknir synir Loka, Váli ok Nari eða Narfi" from the Prose Edda,[3] translated as "Then were taken Loki's sons, Váli and Nari".[4] We find the original of the only reference to Váli as the son of Loki, while even the same text refers to Baldr's death being avenged by his brother (in Völuspá 33[5]) as well as Váli being the Son of Odin in Völuspá 51, which is repeated in Baldr's draumar.[6][7]
In the late period Gesta Danorum we also see that Odin is said to have a son with Rinda that will avenge his other son, Baldr's, death – though in this case the name of this new son is
Boe rather than Váli. In all these tales Odin goes out immediately – either through seduction, deception, or force – to sire this son.[a]
Similarly where each of these documents ascribe Váli the role of Loki's son we see only in the postscript or translation notes that this transformation was a punishment when in fact the gift of wolf's strength and rage is well attested as being granted by Odin to warriors known as ulfhednar, which would make his son Váli a
Berserker and a possible origin for the ulfhednar legend.
Finally we see a different description in
Hauksbók. In this version of Völuspá, stanza 34 begins: "Þá kná Vála | vígbǫnd snúa", usually amended to the nominative Váli in order to provide a subject for the verb;
Ursula Dronke translates it as "Then did Váli | slaughter bonds twist"[8] which presumably refers to Váli, son of
Óðinn, who was begotten to avenge Baldr's death, and thus it is likely that he bound Loki, while it is highly improbable that it refers to a Váli, son of Loki, who is attested nowhere but one line of the Prose Edda.[b]
Footnotes
^Note that an avenging son would not have been needed if Odin's goal had been only the destruction of the blind and defenseless
Höðr.
^The Prose Edda itself confirms the existence of Váli son of Odin and avenger of Baldr in two locations.[9]
^"From the branch which seemed | so slender and fair
Came a harmful shaft | that Hoth should hurl;
But the brother of Baldr | was born ere long,
And one night old | fought Othin's son." – Völuspá 33
^Dronke, Ursula, ed. (2001) [1997].
Mythological Poems. The Poetic Edda. Vol. II. Translated by Dronke, Ursula. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press / Clarendon Press. p. 76.
ISBN9780198111818 – via Google Books.
^Dronke, Ursula, ed. (2001) [1997]. Mythological Poems. The Poetic Edda. Vol. II. Translated by
Ursula Dronke. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press / Clarendon Press.
ISBN9780198111818.