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Meaning & History
In John Greenleaf Whittier's poem 'Kallundborg Church' (1865), Helva is the daughter of Lord Nesvek and the love of Esbern Snare. Her father rejected Esbren's marriage proposal to her unless he built a church, causing him to bargain with trolls. Esbern Snare (1127–1204) was a Danish chieftain and crusader who, supposedly, had a hand in the building of the church Church of Our Lady in Kalundborg, Denmark. Helva in Greenleaf Whittier's poem might be based on Esbern's third wife Helena, the daughter of a Swedish nobleman.