Fjölvar



Fjölvar is a being in Norse mythology, possibly a jötunn, with whom Odin spends time fighting and seducing women with on the island of Algrœn ("All-green").

Name
Fjölvar is an Old Norse name still used today; it was used in Old Norse as an adjective meaning 'very wary, very cautious'.

Attestation
Fjölvar is only attested once in Hárbardsljód (The lay of Hárbarð), which tells of Hárbarð (the god Odin in disguise) spending time with Fjölvar on the island of Algrœn ("All-green").

I [Odin] was with Fjölvar all of five winters [five years], In that island, which is called Algrœn [All-green]; We could fight and fell carrion, To test much, to try our luck with a maiden.

— 17, trans. J. Lindow, 2002. Hárbardsljód

This episode was recounted by Odin himself who alone slept with seven sisters on Algrœn in the poem Hárbardsljód (18), written in the 13th century and included in the Poetic Edda.

Theories
According to scholar John Lindow, since the þulur list Fjölvör among the jötnar, it is likely that Fjölvar would have been her male counterpart, and therefore also a jötunn.