Domalde

In Norse mythology, Domalde, Dómaldi or Dómaldr (Old Norse: possibly "Power to Judge"McKinnell (2005:70).) was a Swedish king of the House of Ynglings, cursed by his stepmother, according to Snorri Sturluson, with ósgæssa, "ill-luck". He was the son of Visbur.
==Attestations==
The luck of the king is the luck of the land,"The Danish sources, for example, tell of many kings who bore the title Frothi (wise/fruitful)" remarked John Grigsby in the context of just such 'Royal Obligations', ch. 11, Beowulf and Grendel 2005: 124, noting (note 3) Frothi's appearance in Saxo Grammaticus. and 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 at the Thing of all Swedes and the chiefs decided they had to sacrifice the king. They sprinkled the statues of the gods with his blood and the good harvests returned.
He was succeeded by his son Domar whose reign was prosperous.
Snorri Sturluson wrote of Domalde in his Ynglinga saga (1225):
Dómaldi tók arf eptir föður sinn Vísbur, ok réð löndum. Á hans dögum gerðist í Svíþjóð sultr mikill ok seyra. Þá efldu Svíar blót stór at Uppsölum; hit fyrsta haust blótuðu þeir yxnum, ok batnaði ekki árferð at heldr. En annat haust hófu þeir mannblót, en árferð var söm eða verri. En hit þriðja haust kómu Svíar fjölment til Uppsala, þá er blót skyldu vera. Þá áttu höfðingjar ráðagerð sína; ok kom þat ásamt með þeim, at hallærit mundi standa af Dómalda konungi þeirra, ok þat með, at þeir skyldu honum blóta til árs sér, ok veita honum atgöngu ok drepa hann, ok rjóða stalla með blóði hans. Ok svá gerðu þeir.Ynglinga saga at Norrøne Tekster og Kvad		
Domald took the heritage after his father Visbur, and ruled over
the land. As in his time there was great famine and distress,
the Swedes made great offerings of sacrifice at Upsal. The first
autumn they sacrificed oxen, but the succeeding season was not
improved thereby. The following autumn they sacrificed men, but
the succeeding year was rather worse. The third autumn, when the
offer of sacrifices should begin, a great multitude of Swedes
came to Upsal; and now the chiefs held consultations with each
other, and all agreed that the times of scarcity were on account
of their king Domald, and they resolved to offer him for good
seasons, and to assault and kill him, and sprinkle the stalle of
the gods with his blood. And they did so.Laing's translation at the Internet Sacred Text ArchiveLaing's translation at Northvegr	
Snorri included a piece from Ynglingatal (9th century) in his account in the Heimskringla:
:Hitt var fyrr
:at fold ruðu
:sverðberendr
:sínum drótni,
:ok landherr
:af lífs vönum
:dreyrug vápn
:Dómalda bar,
:þá er árgjörn
:Jóta dolgi
:Svía kind
:of sóa skyldi.A second online presentation of Ynglingatal	
: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 at Northvegr	
The Historia Norwegiæ presents a Latin summary of Ynglingatal, older than Snorri's quotation:
Cujus [Wisbur] filium Domald Sweones suspendentes pro fertilitate frugum deæ Cereri hostiam obtulerunt. Iste genuit Domar [...]Storm, Gustav (editor) (1880). Monumenta historica Norwegiæ: Latinske kildeskrifter til Norges historie i middelalderen, Monumenta Historica Norwegiae (Kristiania: Brøgger), p. 98	
His [Visbur] son Domalde was hanged by the Swedes as a sacrificial offering to Ceres to ensure the fruitfulness of the crops. Domalde begot Domar, [...]Ekrem, Inger (editor), Lars Boje Mortensen (editor) and Peter Fisher
(translator) (2003). Historia Norwegie. Museum Tusculanum Press. ISBN 87-7289-813-5, p. 75.	
The even earlier source Íslendingabók cites the line of descent in Ynglingatal and also gives Dómaldr as the successor of Visburr and the predecessor of Dómarr: vii Visburr. viii Dómaldr. ix Dómarr.Guðni Jónsson's edition of Íslendingabók
==Notes==
==References==
*McKinnell, John (2005). Meeting the Other in Norse Myth and Legend. D. S. Brewer. ISBN 1-84384-042-1
==Sources==
*Ynglingatal
*Ynglinga saga (part of the Heimskringla)
*Historia Norwegiae
Category:Norse mythology