Domalde
Domalde was a
Swedish king of the
House of Ynglings, in
Norse mythology. He was the son of
Visbur.
 |
The sacrifice of king Domalde at Uppsala as painted by Carl Larsson |
Snorri Sturluson relates that Domalde's rule was marked by bad crops and starvation. The first autumn, the Swedes sacrificed oxen at the
temple at Uppsala, but the next harvest was not better. The second autumn, they sacrificed men, but the following crops were even worse.
The third year many Swedes arrived at
Gamla Uppsala, and the chiefs decided they had to sacrifice the king. They sprinkled the statues of the gods with his blood (see
Blót) and the good harvests returned.
Snorri included a piece from
Ynglingatal composed in the
9th century:
{
Hitt var fyrrat fold ruðusverðberendrsínum drótni,ok landherraf lífs vönumdreyrug vápnDómalda bar,þá er árgjörnJóta dolgiSvía kindof sóa skyldi.[
1]:It has happened oft ere now,:That foeman's weapon has laid low:The crowned head, where battle plain,:Was miry red with the blood-rain.:But Domald dies by bloody arms,:Raised not by foes in war's alarms:Raised by his Swedish liegemen's hand,:To bring good seasons to the land. (
Laing's translation[
2])
