Dvalin was one of the great dwarves of Norse myth — a master craftsman who helped forge famous treasures, a bringer of the runes to the dwarves, and a figure whose name was given to one of the four stags that browse the world-tree and to the “sun” in the secret language of poetry. One of the most frequently named of all the dwarves, he is a maker, a rune-keeper, and a being of many roles.
The Master Craftsman
Dvalin (Old Norse Dvalinn) was among the most prominent and oft-named of the Norse dwarves, appearing in many of the old sources. Like his kind, he was a master smith and craftsman, and he was credited with a hand in forging some of the most famous treasures of Norse legend. In some accounts, Dvalin was one of the dwarves who crafted the necklace Brísingamen, the great treasure of the goddess Freya; and he was numbered among the sons of Ivaldi, the dwarves who forged treasures for the gods, including (in some tellings) the magnificent sword Tyrfing and other wonders. His name was a byword for dwarvish skill.
The Bringer of Runes
Dvalin held a special place in the lore of the runes — the magical letters of power and wisdom. In the old verses on the origin of the runes, it is told that the runes were known to and spread among the different races of beings: Odin brought them to the gods (the Aesir), and Dvalin brought them to the dwarves. Thus Dvalin was the dwarf who first knew and taught the runes among his people, the rune-master of the dwarf-race, a keeper of magical and esoteric wisdom as well as a smith of physical treasures. This made him a figure of knowledge and power, not merely craft.
The Stag and the Sun
Dvalin's name appears in two further curious contexts that show how deeply woven he was into Norse lore. He gave his name to one of the four stags that browse among the branches of the world-tree Yggdrasil, eating its leaves — the stags named Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr and Duraþrór. And in the secret poetic language of kennings, the sun was sometimes called “Dvalin's deceiver” or “Dvalin's toy,” from the belief that the dwarves, as creatures of the dark and the underground, were turned to stone if caught by the light of the sun — a fate said to have befallen Dvalin, the sun being his undoing.
The Many-Storied Dwarf
Dvalin endures as one of the richest and most frequently named of the Norse dwarves — master smith, forger of treasures, bringer of the runes to his people, namesake of a stag of Yggdrasil, and a dwarf whom the sun could turn to stone. He embodies the many facets of the Norse dwarf: the craftsman of wonders, the keeper of magical wisdom, the dweller in the dark to whom sunlight is death — a being woven into the very structure of the cosmos, from the runes to the world-tree to the turning of the sun.
Master smith, forger of Freya's necklace, the dwarf who brought the runes to his people — yet a creature of the dark, whom the sun itself could turn to stone.