Hvit

Sorceress in the saga of Hrolf Kraki.

Hvit was the daughter of Finn, the King of Finnmark, which was a medieval name for Lappland. She married Hring, the king of Norway, but Hvit was his second wife. Hence, she was the stepmother of Bjorn.

Hrolf's saga portrayed the new queen as a wicked and manipulative sorceress. During Hring's absence, she tried to seduce her stepson into having an affair, but Bjorn rejected her unwelcome advances. Bjorn was already in love with a young freeman's daughter named Bera. The rejection angered her, and she used her power to transform Bjorn into a bear, then manipulated Hring into having his men to hunt down the bear.

Bera found Bjorn one day, while he was in the form of a bear, and immediately recognised him and followed Bjorn into a cave. There, he reverted back into a man for a short period of time. During those days, Bera became pregnant with triplets. Bjorn changed back into a bear, but not before giving specific instructions with regards to her safety and to his sons' birthright. Bjorn was eventually killed by his father's hunters.

Hvit tricked the pregnant Bera into eating Bjorn's flesh, so when her sons were born, they were not ordinary men. Bera brought up her sons until they grew into strong men.

Her first two sons left her, but the youngest of the triplets, Bodvar, stayed with her until he retook his grandfather's kingdom, and beat Hvit to death.

See Hrolf's saga for the full story, in Bjorn and His Sons.