Svale was a son of the royal ombudsman Jon Hallvardson Smør.
In the mid-1420s Svale functioned as a riksråd and participated in settling numerous cases between Norway and Scotland.
He is further mentioned as a knight in 1442, when he was present at the royal coronation of Christopher of Bavaria in Oslo.
Together Svale and Sigrid had the son Jon, and the daughters Bothilda and Inga.
In addition, Svale had another daughter, also called Inga (whose great-granddaughter married into the Orm-family) by an otherwise unknown frille (concubine).