Alver
King of the Swedes who left three sons, attested in the Gesta Danorum across two books.
Alver was King of the Swedes, attested in the Gesta Danorum across two books. Upon his death, he left three sons: Olaf, Ing, and Ingild (Gesta Danorum, Book Seven). A separate attestation in Book Eight lists an Alver among the sons of Elrik (Alrek) who, along with Ingi (Yngwe), Oly, and Folki, "embraced the service of Ring" as men "ready of hand, quick in counsel, and very close friends of Ring" (Gesta Danorum, Book Eight).
The two Books of the Gesta Danorum present what may be two distinct figures named Alver, or the same figure in different narrative contexts. The Book Seven Alver is a Swedish king whose death triggers a succession among his three sons and whose generosity extended to granting a government to an unnamed figure outlawed for "unbearable ruthlessness" (Gesta Danorum, Book Seven). The Book Eight Alver is one of several sons of Elrik who chose Ring's faction. The Gesta Danorum does not explicitly connect these two Alvers, leaving the question of identity open. What is clear is that in both contexts, Alver is embedded in networks of kinship and political allegiance that drive the narrative forward.
Appears in: Beings, Entities in Gesta Danorum (Books I-IX), Norse Tradition
On trail: Genealogies