Sörla þáttr

Sörla þáttr eða Heðins saga ok Högna is a short narrative from the extended version Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta[1] found in the Flateyjarbók manuscript,[2] which was written and compiled by two Christian priests, Jon Thordson and Magnus Thorhalson,[3] in the late 14th century.

It is a composite tale containing a story of how Freyja acquired a necklace from the Dwarves, how that led to a bloody war, and how Olaf Tryggvason brought peace to the land.

The story parallels elements of earlier stories such as Heimskringla (euhemerization of gods), parts of the poem Lokasenna (Loki's accusation of Gefjun sleeping with a boy for a necklace), parts of the Húsdrápa poem (Loki stealing the necklace Brísingamen), and the eternal battle Hjaðningavíg (various earlier sources).

One day, Freyja saw that the Dwarves were making a beautiful collar and she offered them both gold and silver in exchange for it.

Loki is then introduced and reveals that he was the son of Fárbauti and his wife Laufey, who was called needle because she was so slender.

Sörli and Erlendr went pillaging as Vikings as soon as their age permitted and one day they began to fight Sindri Sveigisson, the grandson of Haki at Elfarsker (the islands outside modern Gothenburg).

[5] The battle ended with the death of both Sindri and Erlendr, after which Sörli sailed into the Baltic Sea (Eystra salt) to harry.

When Sörli arrived in Denmark he saw a great longship, which king Halfdan was about to board in order to attend a royal meeting.

Sörli decided to kill the king and appropriate the great ship, in spite of his marshal Sævar's warnings about Högni and Hakon.

Hedinn took three hundred men, and sailed both a summer and a winter until he arrived in Denmark in spring.

Hildr's mother was Hervor, the daughter of Hjörvard who was the son of Heiðrekr Ulfhamr [es] of the Hervarar saga.

She gave him a magic potion and told him to crush Högni's wife with the prow of his ship and to kidnap Hildr.

In his dream, he heard Göndul reveal that she was a valkyrie and that she put him, Högni and their men under spells according to the wishes of Odin.