Sceaf

In Norse mythology, Sceaf, (or Sheaf or Sheave) was a mythological child figure who came to the coast on a ship, with a sheaf of grain.

According to some traditions, he founded a kingdom in Denmark. Alternatively, he landed on the island Scani (Scania, Skåne, Scandinavia) with weapons and became king there.

King Sceaf stands at the start of many mythological family lines of Scandinavia.

The legend basically goes as follows:

Sceaf had appeared in a small boat as an infant off the coast, and was carefully nurtured by the people of that country. He was a beautiful child, and born in a rich family, as evidenced by the weapons around his small vessel, and the bronze shield that lay with him as well as the large sword and well-made knife at his side, and the expensive ring armor at his feet. Lacking a name for the child, the people of the land named him Sceaf, meaning "sheaf," after the sheaf of grain that he used as a pillow.

Sceaf was fostered by the people as one of their own, and later ruled over them. When grown up, he used his sword to extend his dominion, forcing the rulers of his neighbours to take him for a lord. Sceaf fathered many sons, and gave his kingdom to his eldest son when he grew old. Before his death he gave some unusual directions to his heirs:

"From the sea I came, to the sea I return." At his instructions, his heirs placed his dead body in a boat, with his sword, knife, armor and shield, the weapons of his birth, and pushed it out into the ocean for the winds and currents to take. The boat floated off, and Sceaf was never seen again.

The Viking tradition of ship burials is sometimes said to come from this legend.