Yes, it's a pun on Vladimir, if that wasn't obvious ;)

Hval meaning whale, and dimir being russian suffix

This piece remind me of a great quote of Dr. Carl G. Jung;

But what if I should discover that the least amongst them all – the poorest of all beggars – the most impudent of all offenders – yea the very fiend himself – that these are within me? And that I myself stand in need of the arms of my own kindness. That I myself am the enemy that must be loved.