Talk:Reincarnation/@comment-5571486-20140409225913/@comment-25762071-20180317193501

Some religions had/have multiple afterlives one could go to, which may or may not include reincarnation. Like the Norse had Valhalla and Hel as afterlives afterlife, but the oldest stories of elves really strongly describe ancestor spirits. There was even a 10th century king of Norway, Olaf II Haraldsson, who was thought to be reincarnated by his people.

According to legend, a previous king was known post-mortem as "Olaf the Elf of Geirstad," and he appeared in the dreams of a man, asking that his ring, sword, and belt be taken from his burial mound, and be presented to the current queen, Queen Ásta. This was done, and she soon gave birth to a son she named Olaf. Needless to say, when Olaf II Haraldsson became Christian, he wasn't amused when his subjects kept asking him about that time he lived before as an "elf."

Medieval scholar HR Davidson wrote this story is an example of mythologizing a rather widespread belief in reincarnation, not to mention the uncomfortable origin of belief in elves!