Vanlandi

thumb|right|200px|Vanlandi was burned by the river Skúta/Skytaa/Skutån ("shooting creek"). In the summer, the creek hardly merits the name and today it is called Skuttungeån.
Vanlandi or Vanlande (Old Norse "Man from the Land of the Vanir"McKinnell (2005:70).) was a Swedish king at Uppsala of the House of Yngling in Norse mythology. He was the son of Sveigðir whom he succeeded as king. He married a girl from Finnland, but forgot about her. In revenge, the girl arranged so that Vanlandi was hag ridden to death. He was succeeded by his son Visbur.
==Attestations==
Snorri Sturluson wrote of Vanlandi in his Ynglinga saga (1225) (note that the translator has rendered Finnland as Finland and Svíþjóðar as Sweden ):
Vanlandi hét son Svegðis, er ríki tók eptir hann ok réð fyrir Uppsala auð; hann var hermaðr mikill, ok hann fór víða um lönd. Hann þá vetrvist á Finnlandi með Snjá hinum gamla, ok fékk þar dóttr hans Drífu. En at vári fór hann á brott, en Drífa var eptir, ok hét hann at koma aptr á þriggja vetra fresti; en hann kom eigi á 10 vetrum. Þá sendi Drífa eptir Huld seiðkonu, en sendi Vísbur, son þeirra Vanlanda, til Svíþjóðar. Drífa keypti at Huld seiðkonu, at hon skyldi síða Vanlanda til Finnlands, eða deyða hann at öðrum kosti. En er seiðr var framiðr, þá var Vanlandi at Uppsölum; þá gerði hann fúsan at fara til Finnlands, en vinir hans ok ráðamenn bönnuðu honum, ok sögðu at vera mundi fjölkyngi Finna í farfýsi hans. Þá gerðist honum svefnhöfugt, ok lagðist hann till svefns. En er hann hafði lítt sofnat, kallaði hann ok sagði, at mara trað hann. Menn hans fóru til ok vildu hjálpa honum; en er þeir tóku uppi til höfuðsins, þá trað hon fótleggina, svá at nær brotnuðu; þá tóku þeir til fótanna, þá kafði hon höfuðit, svá at þar dó hann. Svíar tóku lík hans, ok var hann brendr við á þá er Skúta heitir. Þar váru settir bautasteinar hans.Ynglinga saga at Norrøne Tekster og Kvad		
Vanlande, Swegde's son, succeeded his father, and ruled over the
Upsal domain. He was a great warrior, and went far around in
different lands. Once he took up his winter abode in Finland
with Snae the Old, and got his daughter Driva in marriage; but in
spring he set out leaving Driva behind, and although he had
promised to return within three years he did not come back for
ten. Then Driva sent a message to the witch Huld; and sent
Visbur, her son by Vanlande, to Sweden. Driva bribed the witch-
wife Huld, either that she should bewitch Vanlande to return to
Finland, or kill him. When this witch-work was going on Vanlande
was at Upsal, and a great desire came over him to go to Finland;
but his friends and counsellors advised him against it, and said
the witchcraft of the Finn people showed itself in this desire of
his to go there. He then became very drowsy, and laid himself
down to sleep; but when he had slept but a little while he cried
out, saying that the Mara was treading upon him. His men
hastened to him to help him; but when they took hold of his head
she trod on his legs, and when they laid hold of his legs she
pressed upon his head; and it was his death. The Swedes took his
body and burnt it at a river called Skytaa, where a standing stone was raised over him.Laing's translation at the Internet Sacred Text ArchiveLaing's translation at Northvegr	
Snorri also quoted some lines from Ynglingatal composed in the 9th century:
:En á vit
:Vilja bróður
:vitta véttr
:Vanlanda kom,
:þá er trollkund
:of troða skyldi
:liðs grímhildr
:ljóna bága;
:ok sá brann á beði Skútu
:menglötuðr,
:er mara kvalði.A second online presentation of Ynglingatal	
:And Vanlande, in a fatal hour,
:Was dragg'd by Grimhild's daughter's power,
:The witch-wife's, to the dwelling-place
:Where men meet Odin face to face.
:Trampled to death, to Skytaa's shore
:The corpse his faithful followers bore;
:And there they burnt, with heavy hearts,
:The good chief killed by witchcraft's arts.Laing's translation at Northvegr	
The Historia Norwegiæ presents a Latin summary of Ynglingatal, older than Snorri's quotation:
Iste [Swegthir] genuit Wanlanda, qui in somno a dæmone suffocatus interiit, quod genus dæmoniorum norwegico sermone mara vocatur. Hic genuit Wisbur [...]Storm, Gustav (editor) (1880). Monumenta historica Norwegiæ: Latinske kildeskrifter til Norges historie i middelalderen, Monumenta Historica Norwegiae (Kristiania: Brøgger), p. 98	
He [Sveigde] sired Vanlande, who died in his sleep, suffocated by a goblin, one of the demonic species known in Norwegian as 'mare'. He was the father of Visbur, [...]Ekrem, Inger (editor), Lars Boje Mortensen (editor) and Peter Fisher
(translator) (2003). Historia Norwegie. Museum Tusculanum Press. ISBN
8772898135, p. 75.	
The even earlier source Íslendingabók cites the line of descent in Ynglingatal and also gives Vanlandi as the successor of Svegðir and the predecessor of Visbur: v Svegðir. vi Vanlandi. vii Visburr. viii Dómaldr.Guðni Jónsson's edition of Íslendingabók
==Geography==
Geographical note: According to the article Skuttunge in Nationalencyklopedin, the creek skutá passed its name onto the village of Skuttunge and the parish of Skuttunge. The area does not only contain raised stones, but also 45 grave fields (most from the Iron Age), including a dolmen. The creek is today named after the village.
==Notes==
==References==
*McKinnell, John (2005). Meeting the Other in Norse Myth and Legend. DS Brewer. ISBN 1-84384-042-1
==Sources==
*Ynglingatal
*Ynglinga saga (part of the Heimskringla)
*Historia Norwegiae
Category:Mythological kings of Sweden
Category:Witchcraft