Fjölnir

Fjölnir was said to have drowned in a vat of mead while visiting Peace-Fróði, a similarly legendary king of Zealand, the Danish island.

[2][3] It could stem from the verb fela ('to hide'), with Fjǫlnir as 'the concealer [of the mead of poetry]', or it may have emerged as an abbreviation of fjǫlviðr ('the very wise').

In Reginsmál ('The Lay of Reginn'), a man who is clearly Odin uses Fjölnir to refer to himself as he is standing on a mountain addressing Sigurd and Regin.

Á hans dögum hófst Fróða friðr, þá var ok ár um öll lönd; kendu Svíar þat Frey.

Frey built a great temple at Upsal, made it his chief seat, and gave it all his taxes, his land, and goods.

Fjölnir, son Yngvifreys, réð þá fyrir Svíum ok Uppsala auð; hann var ríkr ok ársæll ok friðsæll.

Um kveldit var Fjölni fylgt til herbergis í hit næsta lopt, ok hans sveit með honum.

En er hann snerist aptr til herbergis, þá gékk hann fram eptir svölunum ok til annarra loptdura ok þar inn, missti þá fótum ok féll í mjaðarkerit, ok týndist þar.

As he came back to his room he went along the gallery to the door of another left, went into it, and his foot slipping, he fell into the vessel of mead and was drowned.

[8][9] Snorri also quoted some lines of Ynglingatal, composed in the 9th century: Varð framgengt, þars Fróði bjó, feigðarorð, es at Fjǫlni kom.

It also informs that Fjölnir was the son of Freyr, the father of Svegder and that he drowned in a vat of mead: Froyr vero genuit Fiolni, qui in dolio medonis dimersus est, cujus filius Swegthir [...][11] Frøy engendered Fjolne, who was drowned in a tun of mead.

His son, Sveigde, [...][12] The even earlier source Íslendingabók cites the line of descent in Ynglingatal and also gives Fjölnir as the successor of Freyr and the predecessor of Svegðir.

The tale is similar to that of the death of Fjölnir, son of Freyr, who accidentally fell into a vat of mead and drowned while paying a friendly visit to Fridfródi the ruler of Zealand.