Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
1l
t1
111
irl
iitl
I
Li
PART
2
,l|l
lt
Catharina Raudvere
ir
il,l
\,
li1
ir
,]
l
iri
ll
Introduction
The aim of the present survey is to give some glimpses of the cultural and
social context in early rnedieval Scandinavia that produced a system o{'
beliefs and rituals linked to the assurned special capabilities and extraordinary knowledge of certain persons. In this system, reference to witchcraft/ trolld|mr was considered a sensible and acceptable truth.
The world of the peoples of Scandinavia was geographically on Europe'.s
periphery, Llltima Thule as Roman writers regarded it. However, cultr-rrally
it was not an archaic isolated society as older, more ronlantic, scholarship
enrphasized (Burke 1992a:79). Recent writings on the Norse rvorld stress
the continental influences nlore and more (DuBois 1999).Through travelling and trade, groups in the Norse communities were in regular contact
with the Continent, as well as other parts of the world. Both nraterial culture and social structures show early influences from Europe. The period
covered by this study is to a large extent parallel to the process of
Christianization, approxirnately 800-1300 cr,, which involved significant
changes at all levels ofScandinavian society.The greater part ofthe sources
relevant to this study were written during the last of these centuries by
Christians. Labelling the time covered as either pre-Christian or Christian
confirrns
Christianization was
to
the
is
In this essay almost exclusive use is made of written Old Norse sources
from the Scandinavian Middle Ages, mainly of Iceiandic and Norwegian
This study was made possible by generous support from the Knut and Alice
Wallenberg Foundation- I anr also gratefr.ri for the kind hospitality shown rne durine the :rcaderrric yelr when this c'ssrry wls written by the members of the
Sclnclinaviuu I)cprrtnrcrrt, Univer^sity of (lllift>rrria, llcrkelcy, especi:rlly Professor
.fohn Lindow. Scvcr';rl strrtlics witlr rclcv;rrrt'c firr tlrc prcscr)t work huve bccn plrblishcd
76
origin.Forcomparativereasotlssollletextsinotherlanguagest'villbedh-protexts were
..,Jr.d.Wi,h the exception of runic inscriptions no written
althoueh,
christianicy,
of
il-rtroduction
the
drrced in ScandiDavia before
used their
the
Scandinavia,s
Irish,
the
and
.ffi*,i,r, the Anglo_Saxons
with a long
,=rrZ.ul., extensiv-ely. The texts rvrittetr in Old Norse deai
cenp..i"a tinre, but were principally conrposed during the thirteenth
culoral
"f
tury.Their relatio, ,o-rt-," f'""iot"'- ""ito the co,temporary tureislcomplicatednr:rtter.Thoughfornrandstyleindicateabackgroundthe
during
in oral rransnission, radical changes lllust have taken place
unreaiistic.
seems
transcription
vlerbatim
a
;;;;, of writing. To suppose
provide
narr.atives,
ntythological
and-the
,"gm
Tlwo rra.;or text groups, ,h".
oi the Oid Norse world
r-rs with the basic ,rr",.t1"1 for-an understanding
Lindow 1985;
and its belief systems (Andersson 1961; Clover 1985;
Ross 1994, 1998)'
Clunnies
discussi,g
ifr. n.t, grorl', oitexts is the varior'rs kinds of sagas'Without
said that
be
it
can
subgroups'
distinctive
into
the classifrcation of the sagas
sasas were
,ir.y.""t,i,uted the Ncxse forrn of history writing'-Nlost
by anonymous
,u.i,,.rr dorn'n in the thirteenth century and are generally
t""t' f'om the tirrre of the settlers'
c<rlonization of Iceland
nrrlral concePts.
.t.Ilcfocusofrnanysagasispower.rndpowerrelations..'lnlnanySenses
conflicts.The whole motitSesc rerts were a ,rrJd. of ..riiulrting political
ir-r a
vltion for establishing an old Norsc written literatlrre originated
history was forp.,li.,a rvhcn a clistinJt lcelandic identitv rvith a speciiic
cspcin harsh pohtical_conflicts,
i,.,.,l,rte..r. The Iceranders were i,vorved
.freestittc'
the Icelarrdic
ciallv rvith Norw:ry ancl l)enrllark, and in 1262-4
king and latcr
Nor-wegian
the
of
rule
the
p..iifr"a. lcelancl canle under
scveral discourscs of'
trndcr thc l)lnish crown. Therelore the tcxts reveal
individual identity' After tlrc
rrrrtioDal iclcDtity elo,rg with thosc of locJ atld
.l..iv .",,f",-..,.,.,t tl.r" I.,rd ,u.. princip,rllv clivicled bctrveett irlclepentlcrlt
ccl)ttlry wlls tirr
rlticfirrirrs, cvcrr thtxrgh thc tcrrdcrrcy irl'tlrc tlrirtccrlth
l:rtlclst':tPc
s.'rc tr'w flrrrilies t,, tl,rrrritr,rtc tlrc p,.,lrtittll:rttil soc'iltl sceltc'I'llc
ltistory.fltrrcs
f:rrrrily
to
tottttt't'tt'tl
s;rgrts,,l,,r,'ly
is rr si1{rrilit.:rpt cl)tity ip tlrc
.rlt ,ttl:llvsis ol- ltow Ict'l:rlltlit'
l;t.rr(Lt.ss ,rrr,l ( llrils wi, k1,,,,,, lr.,v,' r",r,l,'
:ttttl tltt'y rvl'itt':
rrrt'tttot it':' w('l(' str(l( (tlrt'tl lly 1',t't'1',r'r1'll\"ttttl 1"t'trt"llt'L"tt's
Scanditruuia
71
not
seen as a way clf gaining victory over enernies, or looking into the
or assisting women in childbirth. 'Yet, the sagas were copied in
future,
ccntury was
shitt
rrs
as
the estab-
lishrnerrt of (llrristi;rrrity in thc carly Mirltllc Agcs. Still, certain thenres can
bc obscrvctl irr Populrrr rt'ligiorrs tlist'oursc ()vcl' tl)e c'r'rtturics.
J'lrc sr't'ontl qrotrP ol-lt'xts rt'lt'r,.rrrt to tlrir strrrlv t'<lrrc'cnl lnytlr()logv,
rrrrrl ;rrt' rrrrrtlr lt'ss lrotrr,,LIt'nt',,tts irr lirlrrr tlt,rrr tltt' srtg,ts.'l'ltt' llrirrciPll
78
Scandinauia
79
Both t""t coll..iiors w,ere rvritte, down in the middle of the thir,..r,,h centlrry and both are pxrt of the same ideological project to estabfor
lish Icelandic cultural ,l.r,oro,',,y' Knowledge of rnythology was-c-ruciai
texts
these
of
the possibility of consrructing rnetaphors.The literary aspects
of
,rrr,r, b. stressed from the b.girr-rirg to avoid any nristrnderstanding
In
dogrnas'
theDr as religious documents or argulllents against christiart
the myths
rclarion ro the rhemes of the presen-t stucly it catl be noted that
in
the realr
tell irr an ahistorical perspecti;e how trollddmr had been used
of the gods since the dar"'lr of time'
'l-he Pocllr Ertrla in its standard eclitions consists of twenty-nine individCodex
rr:rl poet]]s written dowu anonyrrlously' The rna;or manu-script'
lost
being
after
1643
11,,*ii,r, was lrrore or less accicle.tally rediscovered in
by
arranged
,,r.i lo.g,r,r.n for so.ne centuries.The ir-rdividual texts are well
other
each
to
thc rtredieval editor rvho apparently saw the poelDs as linked
in the
irr I specific succession. f|r. ro"gi deal with mythological themes
hisof
daw,
rc:rlti of the gods as well ,, po.rrl abolrt heroes acting in the
preserved
of
,,)rf ffr. p,).",1. nrythological texts are unique irr the corpr'rs
(icrrrranic literature, whilie the latter group correspond to Continental
prrctic traditions as expressed i, Dos lliib.eltrngenlied tnd Beourl;.TheEddic
to revertl sot.ne of the characteristics of an
i.,.,",.,,, ure uenerally conside.ed
is an
,,l,le. or.1 lit.r..y forrn.The conlplex use of nrythological metaphors
content'
nrythological
irrriicuti<>n of the aucliencc's Jeneml awarelless of the
.M:r,y rexts refer to alleged
have precipireferences
these
ancl
ritual,
f,agan
-their
meani,g',
John
trustworthiness anc]
t.tccl a vigorous deba[ on
trrlnsnrission, it
of
oral
dyna,rics
creative
the
Given
(1993).
*iir",
[.irrtl.rv
instead' it
is irrrpossible to'clainr any age or Lltform lor the Eddic poetry;
1992)'
(Fi,rlega,
*,,u..,ro,r, for,rany individlal ,",odls of understa,ding
plays
trolldt5rur
i,, p.rlr.p, the nrost important lay of the coilection' l/qluspi'
the
of
phases
:rrr itttp.rtrttt part, ., ii i, usecl aud abused in the differe,t
lristory t>f thc urriverse.
ancl hisSrrrrrri Srurlusorr (c.117()-1 241) was a well-knorvn politician
rclarrnd
farllily
t()ri:rrr in his tirtre, lx>rn rr'l power ancl wealth. Through
I)et'rtc
- or
rivt.s lrt.w.s clccl,ly i,volvcci i. p.liticll attcl <>tlrer corlflicts.
ltrttitltt'trt'trt
irrvolvctttcttt Stttlrr-i ctrltivlrtctl
l)('l-l):ll)s lrcc,rus.i oi- tltis
('\t('l'lslvc
\vt'itirrgs ('()\'t'r 't v'lr icry trf'tlifltrcrlt
t
otttPllr;rtivcly
I
lts
itttt't-t'sts.
Nolst' lristot'y. Sttorri's lili't"r p:rlt ot- lris
tlrortglr
identical u,ith the texts of the Poetic Edda.Witbout the systenlatic and
pedagogical structure of Snorri's sLrrvey it wor:ld be diffictrlt for a nrodern reader to understand the many metaphors ancl hints about myths in
the Poelic Edda. Snorri's choice of forur is both traditional and innovarivc
sorlrces
1998)'The
Lir.rdow 1985; Fauikes 1987;Hallberg 1993;Clunies Ross 199'l'
etynrothe
i^nte Edda is of clisptrtable origin; sonle colnmentators claim
to
supposed
are
togical irrterpretatioi, of 'g."at-g1a1d1ot!e.1' (i'e' the texts
l-Ileans
edda
that.
clairn
L-r.'tt-re sorrr.. of old rviscl"our and 1o.") rvhile others
in public' distribute'
express
edo,'to
Latin
(from
the
writing
or
i,rspi.ation
...1i't').
!I(,nr-('\,
1,r,',1,r,,,it,,,',,(lV
for the tinre.The dialogr.re oihis Edda that takes the shape of a conrpetition about wisdom is a fornr frequently used in Old Norse literatr"rre
when it conres to draw up comprehensive overviews. Snorri gives the
inrpression that he was a le:rrned man in terms of his time. Marearet
Clunies Ross characterizes his strategy in forrnulating the pagan world
view as inspired by Continental ideals of style. The mythic narratives of
the Edda have, she writes, 'Aristotelian fbrrn, with well-defined beginnings, rniddles and ends, they are extended narr:rtives and they deal in the
nrain with myths of gods and giants on the horizontal plane' (1991 231).
The social setting of the Old Norse nwthoiogical narratives has a clanlike character and the gods are represented as living under fanrily-like patriarchal conditiorrs. Many texts reflect an ideology based on warrior ideals
frorn the npper part of a sociery rvith a distinct social hierarchy. Both poetry
and history were created for an audience in the upper parts of society and
were perfornrecl by a skillec'i poet. The cluestion of representation nrust
therefore be at the core when trying to e-\tract supposed nreaning tronr
them. Whose myths and whose history are we reading? To a large extent
they are echoes fronr the halls of the chieftains. Nevertheless, pictorial representations and archaeological artefacts fronr several centuries and from
vast geolJraphicll areas give clear indications that the stories, the characters
and the symbols were known to a rvidc range of conrnrtrnities all over the
Scandinavian peninsr:la.
ing the dangers of giving l petrificd irrrrrqc of ()ld Norse s()cietv anc'l its
conccpti()l)s (1<)()2t:2). lltrt witlt sottrr'cs rls sc:lr('('rrs rhc ()ld Norsc orres it
is ficcltrcrrtll'lrrrrtl to rrrrrint.rirr.rrr,urirrr;rtetl irrruq('tlr:rt givr's tlre frrll fluvotrr
of t'orrrplt'xity.
i
*J
ilO
There are difficulties with any attempt to formulate a definition of witchcraft as a universal category. The Old Norse concept of trolld6mr and
related terminology was frequently used and given meani.ng in specific
Scandinavian contexts. In order to avoid terms like 'witch', 'witchcraft',
'rnagic', etc., as far as possible, as they are loaded with r-niscellaneous nLeanirrgs frorn totally different contexts (tsurke 1992a:87f.), the emic terminology: trollddmr,seidr,galdr,at spi etc. is used and there is no need to establish
I taxononric structure that does not exist in the sources. Precise classifications
are inrpossible to formulate since the texts give contradictory statenlents not because the Norsemen had confused opinions, but because the concepts of trolld6mr and related ideas were used for explanations in so many
very different areas of life. The empiricai material of the present study is
divided into three sections starting with the belief system and conceptual
fiarrrework, following on with the ritual implications of trolld6mr, and ending with some examples of how the conceptions and rituals were dealt
with in the legal system. The earliest Christian laws deal to some extent
with pagan beliefs and practices in stating penalties for those who kept up
the old sacrifices or did not Ibl1ow the comrnandments of the new relision. Penalties for practising trolld6mr are also mentioned in this Christian
context and there are interesting parallels with some of the accounts in the
srrgas where cunning people are punished. There are certain analytical
irdvantages to using a broad terrn like trolld<|mr, when trying to avoid
hortrogeneous categories that contradict the emic use. In what follows a
picture of trolldimr based on readings of Old Norse texts is presel.rted, in
which emphasis is put on the idiosyncracies and the rnultiple use of terminology.A basic distinction is made in the disposition of this study between
(-()ntexts where trolldtlrnr is used for rnalevolent deeds and other situations
where it is connected to divination rituals wi.th supposed positive effects.
lrr other words, there is a spectrunl in the Old Norse construction of
tntlldtimr ranging from local political strategies to individual peasants' cot-lce rrrs about the conting year. It is the context of the narrative that deterruines whether ;i deed was to be considered as nralevolent or beneficial.
'I'he act or words were only a method. The distinction is definitely not
luc:ult as any indication of a dichotonry between so callecl black and whitc
rungii:.
As with'witchcraft in general', the history of trolldtimr is sometitrtcs rc1.r.'
rcscrrtcrl us wotttett'.s histttry irt the sense that it is a topic tttorc or lcss
t.xt lrrsivcly rclltctl to w()lnell ls victirrts rncl ruen es ;rcctlscrs. ()rrc of rtrltrry
pxrIrlcrrlrtit' ils])ccts ot'srrc'lr urr opiltiott is tlr:rt it flxcs tltc t-ottccptiotts ol
trolldritttr irr tlrt'rt';rlru of'soti:tl lt'l:ttiotts, lt';tvitttl ottt its religiorrs:ttttl itlcrr
It,git:tl
,lsl)('(
t tttlt
t'lltitltts ol
Scandinauia
g1
below', since accusations were to sonle extent part of elite politics (cf.
Sharpe 1992). Tiolld|mr is, in rnany popular .rrryr, emphasizecl as some_
thing'underground' and as hidden ro... o.r the contrary, mythology and
popular beliefs were used in literary motifs to express norms, ideas
and val_
ues,-not necessarily in exact reproductions but as metaphors and symbols.
In this sense, literature nrirrors sociery. Sagas formulated coliective social
melnory (connerto, 1989; Burke 1992a; Hastrup 1992a).The Icelanders
of the thirteenth century interpreted their conte,rporary situation through
the art of telling history.James Fentress and chrisVickiam write in their
essay 'Medieval ,remo.ries':'whatever they did with the
past, they were
writing in - and ususally for - worlds thar had their own ideas about the
nature of the usabie past, the current, functionally relevant past, and the
collectively remembered past' (1992: 1 46).
The rr-rral conditions are always present in the texts and most social
interaction occured within the local cornmunity. Although it was a small
scale society rhere were importanr and emphasized sJcial differences:
between free men who owned land,, benclv, ancl slaves, between chieftains
and their subjects, between the generations, and between men and
wornen. To this can be added a certain e,rphasis in some texts on
ethnic
difference. The social background to th._ tnild6nrr stories is still
very much
that of a pioneer sociery. The times of settlemerts and the formation of
liaisons between the fanrilies are apparently living traditio,s in
the sagas.As
in the case of the ,rythological narratives, I think it reasonable to assume
that there were several other r.vays of telling history than those variants
preserved in written texts today. 'The rnedieval world was as heterogeneous as tl-rat of toclly, or incleecl nlore so, ar.rcl it wor,rld be irnproper
to
attenlpt to scrre*rlizc t.o preciscly abotrt :lry .spcct of it, leasiof. all its
social ruernrrry'
([--e
19()2: 172i.
a,
Ages
Witchcraft and Magic in Europe:The Middlc
charactersintheoldNorsemythologicalnarrativestotrrembersofa
devils. From hter r.nedieval texts
nrtrch more diffuse gr;; oi a.,r-", and
such themes pl'ytd-.'. crucial part in
and Church prir-rtir-rg' *" krro* th"t
Church did not deny the
the didactic anrbitiotrs Jf-it" tttgo"'en' The
God was greater'
.l*irr.rr.. of such creatures, but the power-9f
of teits.This is not o'ly
collection
The old Norse ."r.f*'i, .-r,,riqrr.
becauseofitsrnagnitt'dt,bt'talsobecauseofitsvarietyinformandconltttttta to in the epics and other kinds of proseof
terrt. Magical deeds
^"
provid^e-lllany suggestions
text fron outside St"ld"""i', but do not
comparisons in rela-
1'hepresentr,rayi'-"tt'ctttredirrthreenlajorsections'Thefirstdeals
Basic concepts such as
witlr the belief system th" "]t'o''-' d'ed troUttinn'
The second section on
Ai.i, ,fr. frr-^r, ,orl ,r.d krro*l.dg" are cliscussed'
ii
hu,ratr
debatable'
CHAPTEI{
a;
ji
i
I
,:
rcl;rtccl tt> the protectiorr of fanrily interests, rvlrich is also a signifrc.rnt f-ealrrrc of the context of trclldrimr. No ritr.ral or perforrnance is necded; the
rrrotlrer',s action is exclusively oral, but u.ith :r strong conncction to comPlt'x conceptions oi fate. Through her fbresight the clinrax of thc s;rg.r is
.rrrticipltecl ancl her urger)r reqrrcst thereby corrsritutes a vital part oithe
rr:rlmtivc structure. Her rvords are like a sudden chilly breeze indicating
tlr.rt bad things will beconre worse. Hc.rwever, thc'rvarning turns out to be
litritlcss, sirrce clrettir'.s erernies will prove to be stronger; and not only are
rlrt'r'urore capable,but this is the way destinv hacl predicted thiru-rs ro be.
lly choosirrg this text as the lirst exanrple of Scandinavian trolid|nrr c<>nr t'pfi6r115 it can. be denronstratecl that thesc' ideas are I1ot necessarily prert'tttccl fi-arnecl by r,'ery sPectacular events. As .nve shall see titrther oir,^this
l,.rrticular saga also carries sorne highly drlrnatic narratives of perfbrnted
rrr,rlcvolence, lrut, generalh', artless st:ttcllrents are as inrportant in ixpressing
Irrrrrhnrental c()ltccptions lnd wclrlcl views.
'l'rolldimr ancl rrssocirrtecl e onceptiol)s were
t() il qreet extcnr part of social
( \'errts atrcl ttrttst thcrcfirrc bc plrrc't'rl irr tlrcir spccific ctrltural lontcxts. No
rrolld<inrr story is tirrrrrti irr ()ltl Norst' litt'nrttrrc rvitlrotrt l blckgrourrd c>f
, onHicts :rnrl rclutcil striltcsi('s. As rvill [rt' tliscrrsst'rl lrt'low, [rotli rhc pcrlrrt'ttr;trtccs rrrrrl tlrt'.ttttlsrttiotrs ,,tl'troll,ltirttt tlc.rlt s'itlr tl.rirrrirrrl tlrc riglit ttl
'It',rk irr ;ul irrrrlr()rit;rtivt' rrr,tlt'. Arrtlrolity,.rs tlist rrsst'tl ,rt lt'rrqllr [.,y il.r',..
I ttttoltt,,trtrl.l l,t'tttl(l('t\trrorl .tr'llrr','llt',I lrtrrrlrlrt'rl l,r, ., ,,,,'irr,,tttrtt.of'
84
the risht speaker, the rieht speech and_delivery, the rrght staging and props,
essay
a,rd tii. right time ,nJ p1...' (Lincoln 1994:90).ln an intriguing
iruplicathe
discussed
'Tte
has
Pilsson
Gisii
wircir'
tire
of
name
entitleci
tions of social dynamics of lcelandic society in the texts'
ln the Faruily Sagas borh sorcery and the accusation of lvitchcraft tend
to be described as powetful speech acts performed in particular contexts
'Contact zone'is an attelllpt to irlvoke the spatial alld telllporel copresence of subjecrs previously separeted by geogrrphic and historical disjnnctures, and whose trajectorles now intersect' By using the term
,contact,, I airn to foregrttund the interactive, improvisational dimensions of colo.ial .rr.o.ri'tt"r, so easily ignored or stlppressed by diffusionist accounts oi colquest and domilation. A 'colltact' persPective
tc-r
ertrphasizes horv subjecti are constituted ip and by their relatrons
cach other. (1992:7)
solne parts of the old Norse r,vorld view rvere kept and some rejected in
thc transformation into christian theology through a process of dernoniziition where anything conceived to be pagan was associrrted with the
r{c'il, I copresence in Fratt's terminology. 'There has to be consenslts'
'Ihcrc has to be' an it.pputation of inrnrorality'. as Mary l)ougl:rs says
rrlrotrt rhe techniques of rejection and control (1992: t35).The degrading
of-the olcl religion as sllperstition in theological discourse r1lso tllrlls otlt
ttt lrc crucill in the ipteiplay between contintiity '.rnd chanuc, and iri re lltiort t<t tltc c<lttstrttctiorr of tneanitlq. The sprrtial asFrects of Pratt's terttt
,l<lrttittttrtt.
Trolld6nrr
irL
Eorly Medieual
Smndinayia
85
u6
,-",.asoilasclearlydefinedinopposltlontothewildnessofnatLlre'Fron1
where
the same str-ucture is visrble in rhe 1egal systelll
Hastrup,s perspective
^"r,
status
a
with
existence outsicle society in every respect'
*",
correspondi,g
""ifr*.y
inferior to that of anirnals. It is debatabie how far these
view of ttolld(tmr a
can be taken, but when str-rdyins the world
"fi.Jii"r,
..it.i., contrivance with such dichotolr-ries is apparent'
ideological
The terrn 'conceptioll' is used irl this t""1; -to cover the.
franreworkarrdthecognitivebasethatformeclwhatwasconceivedtobea
is to be compared
."fr.*", syste,) li,kin'g cause anil effect.This abstractionfollorving
two Parts
the
rvith the ritual practic.i arrd legal cocles discussed in
not be of conception as a par.rrrpr.r.bh.
-rfl'.rt.r.t following disct'ssion^*ill
were
"iirri,
qualiry bui-of the different ways in rvhich they
;;.ilr;
Hastrup
Kirsten
.*fr.rr"a. When ivriting on 'the power of kr-rowledge"
en-rpirical level
.,beliefs" are rlot lir e,rpirical crrtegory, becaltse at
srates:.
-the
197)'This is certainly
belief can,ot b. ,epr.rt.d fr; k"owleJge; (1990a:
must be
true in a discussion of trolltl(trnr u'herc a recurring question
rnythological
in
lvhether practice .o...rpor.1.d to the itnages presented.
discourses' To put
narratives and other texts fbrmulatin! lnore nortletive
experience
itri, ,rro,t.,., rvay: the relatio.shi'p bei'ee" literature and lived
rllustbetakenintoconsideratior.wh.rrtheexpression'beliefintrolld'miis
usetlitisnotre|erringtoextraordinarySuperllaturalexpetietlcesbuttoa
into accollrlt that nrischief,
,u*.,-,-, of k,orvledg. .1-rd .*p1rir-rations ihatiake
in everyday life'
c'nr,ry and famine ,re.. frctoti to deal with
r.t'ere rllso positive aspects to
there
that
nrore
once
It must be stressed
point at inauspicious
trclLtlinr.Beliefs and actions dicl not only cause or
thi,,gs.Scjdr,thetnoreelaboratedivirrationritual,r,vasalsospokenofas
to predict the
.iffil",r, to p..fo.*ing trolldimr, and was used not only
1935;
(Striinrblick
Iuture, but also to gair.r power over e certaitl situatiolr
I)ilhnanrr1986,1992).Wh.t*"nranipulationancldcstructionfrornoneand
atlother' Know-ledge
perspective *., g.rcli advice and healing fronr
knor.t irr g :tlu :rys ltttbigttorts'
'l-Irc Conct'Pt of
Ttollditrlr
Scandinauia
87
found at all in Old Norse literature. Altogether different matters were the
foctrs of interest. "ft'olld6mr conceptior)s dea]t with certain persorls' abrlities
to have an influence on fellow humans and on natllre - for better or
worse. References to such abilities are given in various texts and cannot be
linrited to a particular qenre. Inclividual accounts of trolld|mr in nrost sagas
fit into a pattern of local conflicts; hence it rvould be incorrect to isolate
these texts from dreir social relations, ideas, and values. Lr sonre respects
trolld6mr is also a literary motif with a genuineiy wide use. Arguments in
srsa texts besed on trolld6mr had to refer to conurronly shared beiiefs and
irssunrptions to nrake sense and be valid.
-frolldr5rnr
is chosen here as an umbrella ternr to indicate the notions, riturrls, and sociirl interactions in the Olci Norse traditions relating to conceptions about the influence certain pcrsons had - by innate qualities or
Agcs
Witchcraft dncl Magic in Eutope :T'hc Middle
88
forn-t trolld1mn
sagas
"ri
;;;,
i.r*f.
Itseerrlsthatthevariotrscorrrpoundsserveclassignalsinthetextsandas
*"tt i' the wind'When analysing them it is
rernr and not very fruitful to rry to establish a
an advantage to use
"irora
or hutnans' l7ol/ is
ittilnrr'gJ,r.r1ogy'that stems fronr supernatural beings
beings in Old
supernatural
of
gtot'p
the trame of a rather ".g"tly defined
are demonic
1993)'They
Linclow
Norse nrythology (Hahirsen 1982a,b;
of as a
spoken
n-rostly
but
c.haracters
beings, sometimes ..,lng .' individuai
hu'tans
characterize
to
used
is
also
harrnful collective. Ho#rr.r, the ternr
withspecialcapabilities,andisevcnassociatedr'vithgiants'TQtnar'orrelated
Scandinavian
to the deacl. The *o.d i' also frequently used in early
etc' But
monsters
denrorrs,
devils,
Christian literattlre as arr equival"nt of
harnrony
the
to
threat
a
as
and
asir
mostly /roll refers to the enenries of the
Ross 1994)'
of Midgardr (Hastrup 19U1,'1990a, 1992b;Clunies
.words
directions, particseveral
in
point
associatecl *rtt, trlr.,tt,llnrr could
There was a
lo.ud'
out
speaking
ulariy those concernins knowleclge ancl
and persons
knowing'
and
rich variety in terrlrs ,elating to'knon'leJgc
as
described
generaliy
were
text.i
affiliatecl with tyolldinrr in oid Norse
to
understand'
to
know
both'to
ku"o,meaning
krrcr*1.dg.rble.The urrb ,to
have insighiin the old traditions and lore' and
know by heart, as u,ell as
iio U.t-r"". prop"rly,, i, .t th. core oithis senlanric field.When'knorv'or
.krrowledge,areusedinarrC)ldNorseContextthewordslraveafarmore
English'Thereforr' the enric
elaborate si.gnifrcation than is usual in modern
rel.ninder of the ilnplia
constant
(folk or local) terms will be used here, as
of knor,vledge in the original context'
cations
--i.e. to havc
R f..ro, .o,rld,b. said to Le -fiqlkunnigr or margk.wmigr, usecl ill :t
never
certainlv
was
this
But
much knolvledge about nrany thing.s.
woulcl always tell of thc
neutral way; the .o.r.1.""t"' of ""1] knowleclce
'l (r
trvo wolner)' (leirrit)r
thc
and
trltir-rrate purpose. ln iyrttygqla saga 15
si,rilar tcrtrlirlt>l.sy rts
and Katia, are both a..pi.i.i itr tertrts of a very
tit't'
it t't:rtrtcs t.
wlrcrr
Ilttt
rbilitics.
;;^1r thcir k,orvlc.lg.: ,,,r,1 their
ol
ttsc
thc
itt
'r'tt
irttetttiott
rrlrrifi'st.'['lrc
t1,.,.]i.,r"ry clifli,rcrrt chrr'rctcrs bccorrrc
kttowletlgt'
ltlwrtys,
rts
()ut
tlist'l<lsttrc;
ll
t() [re
kno,nvlctlgc lrlrv:rys tunls
ttol tlivt':ll)y ('\il(l
,.rrrl,l Ir..] lr<,tll trs.'r.1 lttltl tttisttst'tl' Ii1'rlr1'qq-'r 'rrl(rl tlt,t':
otrlv (lr.rt ()l)('()l tlttttl ts Itt'
tlt.st.t.iP(i.trrs ol'rvlr:tt tlrt'rvorrrt.rr ,'..,illy ,1,,,
89
tion with
rituals.
rnythological women.
Action and result were the focus of the ternrinology related to the knowl,'rlge able persons' activities, gerningar or
-fordceduskapr. Deed, did, a;nd advice,
r,ir), were loaded ternrs that flavoured the texts when used.To be-fr6dr meant
to be knowing and well inforrned in a general sense, but it also included the
tr':rtlitions of old (fiirn) ttrnes,Jontfrtidr, -forncskja and having access to the o1d
I'rrowledge, as we saw in the terminology used to portray what Grettir's
rrrother had to say. Fredi hinted at both the abstract aspect of knowledge and
l,'.rrning and the exercise of charms and spells. To predict the future, at -spl,
\\,r\ ull instrunlent to protect the coming season and the future of children.
'l'here is a general tendency to historicize extraordinary knowledge in
t )lrl Norse literature. Such instghts are represented as the innate traditions
,,1 trlcl tirnes,.fornfridr,.forneskia. A term llke
-fornJrcedl referred both to the
.rl)sn'ilct aspect of knowledge and learning and to the actual performance,
r , . t lrarms or spells.Terms in this semantic field pointed to some individu-
rl: lrlvilrg or exhibiting the capacity for discerning and the intelligent
rpplicltion of knowledge, or to the ability to act in situations where other
1r.r,[rlc with r.nore linrited rnental capaciry had reached their ]imit.
l'lrc rrrtrltipliciry of nreanings is a crucial feature of the trolld|my texts
rrr,l .r key to understanding theur.As mentioned in the introductory disr u\\l()n of thc sourccs, tlre s:rgr tcxts c;rn certainly not unconditionally be
r,.r(l :rs lristoricrl clocurrrcnts. As soci:rl nrenrorics thcy firnnulated an ideal
,rl trrrt's l)ilst ir) lvlri<'lr knolvlctlgc ot-tlrc <lld tl:rys w:rs l powerftrl resource.
',rrll, tlrt'y cxl)rcss rrttittttlt's ,uttl sl:uttlpoirrts. if-n()[ l('('rlnrtc dcscril-rtiorrs of
,
'rr(('l)ti()r)s .trttl rtttt.tls; nro,lt's ol ltorv to rll:rtt' (o tltt' l)ilst, ils rrrrrt'lt :rs
90
by minimal
to work out as a kind of fictive rituals: the narration of a
r itual
- sometinres in a forrlrulaic nrode and n-raybe accompanied by syml,.lic bodily nlovellrents - was thought to have the same impact as if actu.rllv perforrned (Raudvere 1c)93: 157ff.,301f.).sWhen fornrulated in words
rlrt. lrealins or destrllction was believed actually to take place.'In Old
l, t'l:rrrdic.qalrirreferrecl to a song, rlainly in the sense of"charrn" or"spell".
llrt' corresponcling vcrb wls,(,(//d, t() "chlnt" or to "cast spells".This linrrrrstic tlerivlrtion is:ur irrrportilnt kcy to tlrc senrlrrrtics of rnagic', Kirsten
I l.rstrrrp writcs (l()()O;r: 2{){)).'l'lrc ser.orrtl fi';rttrrc ('()nn()tcs tlrc pcrfirrrrrrrtivc
,r\l)('('t\ of- tlre rrst' ol'lvonls. ( ,r/r/r., sorrr-ts ()r l)()('try rvitlr spe r'i:rl p()wer, wus
tlrt' irrstrrrrrrt'rrt lirl tltr' |,1'slirrrrrt.t (l l.rlvorst.n l()lil) .fust .rs .r Poct r'orrlcl
t.rrrLrible effect. Spells describing ceremonies accornpanied
n)()vel]1ents seem
and
forms of narratives.
Sltctkirr.q
91
Srandinayia
()ut
92
Ages
enchant his audience, so a person with the right insights could use loudly
uttered rvords for protectioir, healiug, ot' cursing. ln gelleral, r,vhat rvas said
epistemological_ status.
were
Scandinauia
adclresses Gr6a, a rplrra w'hose son he clailrrs to be, asking for her assistance in
his quest to win iris bride. Frorn the first stanza it is evident that the younl
rnan is communicating '"vith the uqlua in her srave and commanding her to
arise.Tlre sanre situatiolr.is prevalent in Vpluspa 2tl where before ragnargk the end of the world - Odinn visits the grave of a uqlud to obtain the advice
he needs befbre lacing the flnal battle. In Grdgaldr the wise woman (lr6a
responds to her sorl'.s plea ancl gives hinr nine galtlrar for protection ag.rinst
enernies and harm, and ends her nronologue in this very motherly r.vay:
Never now go
rvhere danger appears;
ferent nretres used itr ditTerent qenres.Also trolld6mr had its poetics and distirrctive forms of expression ti lltld,thittr and galdralag Gt. 101)- A whole
'Lj6datal' and pr-rts
section of nretric ,p"il, ,t the end of Hiuamil is narrred
power{ul sones into the r.rrouth of Odinn. Carolyne Larrington characterir., th. sectiin in the lbllowing way:'The lj6datal is a iist of eighteen
spells, w.hose contellts are briefly sketched, but rvhose text is nevcr
I chanted you
spells.
given,(1993: 62).The themes for the area of use are giverr,but not spells as
lneant to
s-uch. It nrust be remembered as rne read that Hiuanill lvas never
of
the,lnearrings
be a docurnentation of spells, but a poet's visualization of
(trans. by
93
nrother'.s words
Robinson 1991:66)
lr,rrsc urrtl it r,vus r,vrittcrr rlow'rr irr tlre tcrrth ccntury, dcfinitcly
(.lrristi:rrr c()r)tcxt. lt rcrtls irr;r prosc trrlr)sl:rti()r):
l'lrol
;rrttl Wotlrrrr
rvooll;
in
94
Sunna, her sister, sang over it, then Friia andVolla, her sister, sang over it,
than Wodan sang over it, for he could do that well: be it dislocation of
bone, be it an ailment of the blood, be it dislocation of the linrbs: bone
to bone, blood to blood, iimb to linrb, as if they were glued.s
The gods are urged to sing over the wounded lir-nb and seemingly their
son5; as such had the assumed healing power.e In cornparison with much
later recorded spells a formal sinrilarity can be noted.The healing situation
or a confrontation - a rlreeting
between the healer and the patient and a confrontation of curing and
destructive forces. A parallel situation is constructed (the gods are riding
their horses and an injury springs up) which is followed by a threefold parallel structure: 'bone to bone ...'The first Merserburg Charm also shows
thernatic resernblances with Eddic poety.This Old High German text deals
with releasing prisoners and breaking up fetters by rneans of the spoken
word, a therne prevalent also in Eddic poetry. Here is Hdvamil 149, where
was aln-Lost always expressed as a nreeting
Odinn claims
Larrington 1996:35)
The few Old High Gerrran spells that are preserved are generated from a
distinctly Christian context and reveal another characteristic feature also
apparent in later charnrs: the seemingly unproblentatic nlix of pagan conceptions with references to Christ, the Virgin, the saints etc. The structure
seems to be an indication of continuity not only in form but also in the
understanding of the power of the spoken word. The text quoted above
shows striking conceptual and formal sirnilarities with the well-known
Anglo Saxon Journey Spell'that begins:
I protect nryself with this rod, and commend myself to the
grace of God,
Against the grievous stitch, against the dire strike of disease,
Against the gruesome horror,
Against the frightful terror loathsome to all men,
Against all evil, too, that nray invade this
lar-rd.
11
The charnr ends with a long catalogue n:rnring the HolyTrinity, Mary
ancl
characters fi'onr the Olci Tl'stanrclrt, anlolrq others. Spclls likc this constitrrtc
lrr irrdiclrtitlrt of a ('()-prcscllcc of tr;rtlitiorrs rrot orrly irr nrr'trt' lrrrrl gt'rrrc
bttt ;rlso :ts rt'gurtls rltc rc:tlity ol'tlrr' powerlirl lvortl. As llt';rtlrt'r
Strr:rrt
Srcndinauia
95
argues, a'charm can be viewed as a structure rather than a haphazard conglomeration of magically necessary ingredier-rts' (1985: 36).
A very special form of intentional use of the spoken word in order to
aclrieve destruction is nid, referring to both verbal genre and ritual practice
(Meulengracht Sorensen 1983, 1993; Hastrup 1990a: 200f.). It can be
defined as ritual insulting and verbal defarration, very often with rough sexual allusions.There are hints of the concept in various texts and in Christian
legal docu.re,ts. A well-known example of thrs harsh for,r of poetic creativity is found in Egik saga Skalla-Crimssonar (57). Already in the famous
poet's genealogies there are conlnlents about his ancestors which rnakes the
Egill went up onto the island. He took a hazel pole in his hand and
went to the edge of a rock facing inland. Then he took a horse's head
:rnd put it on the end of the pole.
Afterwards he nrade an invocation, saying'Here I set up this scornpole lilidstqngl ancl turn its scorn upon King Eirikr and Qtieerr
Gunnhildr'- then turned the horse's head to face land -'and I turn irs
scorn Lrpon the nature spirits llanduettirl that inhabit this land, sending
thetr astray so that none of thenr shall find its resting-place by chance
or design until they have driven King Eirikr and Queen Gunnhildr
fiom this land'.
Then he drove the pole into a cleft in the rock and left it to stand
there. He turned the head towards the land and carved the whole invocetion in runes on the pole. ll
As in the poetical and nryrholosical context of Hiuaruil there is no rnentrorr ofwhat words are uttered,only a considerable stress on the act ofspeakrrrs.'k> chase arvay the laduettir was obviously the best method of making
rlrt' king rncl clucern leave. when the spirits were displeased a place was
tlr.rrsht to be left witlr<>ut protection ancl peace. Egill'.s rid is not left r.rnanfbllows rt |.rrlttc'1ll of actiort ln(l cr()nnteractiorr. Queen Gr-rnnhildr
"rvt'rctl, btrt
r: rrot withotrt spccirrl lbilitics lrcrself arrd tlrc cvil-rrrintlccl rvontan sends
l,.rt'k rt spcll rturrirrst lrirrr. Irr:r strcsslirl sittrutiorr firrtlrt'r orr irr thc tcxt she
l.t't'Ps Iruill :rwrrkt' tlrc rvlrolc rriglrt Irv :rsstrrrrirrs tlrt. lirr.rrr ol'rr trvittcring bird
siltr't'tltt'rtt:rlir'iorrs (lu('r'n tunls orrl lo lrr.rr slrtrPt'slrilir'r'too (5()).
96
Most activities relating to trollddmr, positively or negatively, referred to conceptions of fate in one way or the other. The sagas tell of cerernonies and
rituals that ain'r to reveal what the future holds. The task of conducting
these ceremonies was linuted to the knowledgeable.
In Vatnsdela saga 1() auqlua is invited to tel1 fortunes at a grand Gast.The
knowledgeable woman is said to be from Lapland, a Finn.a. As will be discr-rssed further down, Saanri people are generally described in biased terms as
specially skilied in cunning deeds. She has nrainly positive things to forecast,
but young Ingimundr does not want to hear about his future in advance and
clain.rs not to believe in prophecies.Then the uqlud, unbidden, tells him that
he will become a settler in lceland and a lost token will be found as a sign of
her trustr'vorthiness.The scene is constructed as a confrontation befr,veen the
attitudes towards one of the fundanrental concepts in the Old Norse world
view: an individuall given destiny. Ingimundr'.s cornpanion repeatedly tells
him how vain it is to struggle against his destiny. But as always in a good
story the prediction comes true and the fight between the seeres and the
recipient turns out ro be an inrportant narrative instrunrent.
A multitude of conceptions describing interhuman relations were linked
to the ideas of fate and destiny. Power, control and domination rvere always
nlore or less under the surface when different fortunes are to1d.
Conceptions of trillddmr in relation to knowledge were also closely connected with conceptions of destiny (Hallberg 1973; Mundal 1971;
Lcinnroth 1976:123ff.).The predicted destiny of individuals, families, gods
and other nlythological beings - even of the universe itself at ragnarqk - is
constantly referred to in various kinds of texts and all of these were, along
with the material world, subject to the fina1 fatal destruction. There is a
strong relationship between conceptions of fate and O1d Norse nrythological narratives of creation ancl destruction.
The importance of destiny rnust llot be unclerstood to nrean that the
Norsemen held purely fatalistic beliefs. Rather it must be r.rnderstood in
terms of knowing the future, in order to keep it under some kind of control. l)ivination rituals and the perforn'rance of seidr, either by Odinn in
nlyths or execr-rted by invited specialists as in the example front Vatnsdtxla
-saga above,were expressions of ways of frnding the keys to hidden parts of
reality and measuring what was given.The results of divination nrarked the
lirnits of individual free will and after the divination ceremony strategies
could be made for acting within these linrits. Hence, prophecies, dreanrs
and dream interpretations, and curses were treatecl with the greatest concern. Many of therl also con.rprise reasonings on trolldinr aud extraordirtary knowleclge. Il.elating to late, or destiny, these wrtys of tellirrr-r iruplv tlrc
lirnitlrtiorrs tlrltt lrlve bccrt stlked otrt irrtlcl'rurdcrrtly o[- lrrurr:ur Irclruviorrr
Scandinayia
97
Abstract ideas about late and destiny are for-rnd in Old Norse literature
.rlong with very concrete configurations of beings that are supposed to
nrle over sliccess and failure. This inseparable blend flavours all the stories
,tt' trt5lldomy. Kirsten Hastrup and Orvar Lofgren have discussed rvhat they
, :rll 'the econonry of fortune' as a latent model in the social landscape of
Scrndinavia (1992). Such a model was a nrode of explaining the hardships
,rrrtl the very diflerent fortunes of life.Their article is based on much later
lirlklore recordings, but their arguntents can be applied to Old Norse
society as well.
I-inked to destiny, each individr"ral and each family had their share of forIrure, materially as well as in a more abstract sense. Fortune and the good
tlrirrgs in life were considered a constant, i.e. when somebody gained pros;,t'rity, sol11eone else necessarily lost it. Resources were lirnited.
(.onceptions of luck and fortune explained not only the current situation,
lrrrt also social structures in general and why there were more and less
l)11)sperous fanrilies. Fortune was something given and only trolldt5rur could
, lr.urqe what was settled. Not surprisingly, n'rore attention was paid to bad
lrr, k tl.ran to success.There were many stories about destructive evil forces,
l,t'rsonal i11-wi11, and greed.The notion of 'the economy of fortune'served
,rs .r rcpressive nrechanisnr and offered explanations for economic inequal-
rtv irr rural Scandinaviir. In this sense, it was also an instrument for social
()rltl'()l in an oppressive system that concealed power relations (Hastrup
.rrrtl l.ijf{-rrcn 1992:25O; Hrrstrup 1992b). What little was left could always
l'(. l,lkclt llw]y.
'lltr' notiort oIirrstlr[rility wils r)()t orrly arr ecorrorrric considcrlticll; to a
l,rrr'.t't'xtcttt it ulso t-ott, t't'ttt:tl t'rotit rrllt't'tiorr.Witlr trr,//r/rilrr, Ir>vc cotrlcl be
lrotlt :rrottst'rl :rrrt'l stillt'tl. Srrt lr rrotiorrs t'n'rrtt'rl sIr.tt't' lirr sl)('(-ulilti()l)s il[)()ut
(
9u
self or througl'r a cunning person'.s rnaterialized will. In this nroral econorrry enrotions :urcl social potver internringled to a great extent.
'There rre nrally references to destiny and fortune in Old Norse litera-
ture, either giving strength to an argunrent or for purely narrative purThere was also an abstract ternrinology of the subject (Hallberg
poses.
99
ln this latter aspect in not even always given a physical form, bLrt spoken of more diffusely as standing behind the family. Sometitues the-[,iq7a is
called spidk, indicating that the character had a function as a diviner for
the protection of the family. When appearing in a drearn she could be
calic'd dreanr-woman, draumkona.These aspects of late are very cotrcrete in
their bodily appearance, showing themselves for a short while, but leaving
no roorn for alterrrarive interpretations.
The norns, nttrnir, a.re perhaps the nrost well known in the group of
rnythological beings related to fate.They are spoken of as carving runes or
weaving destinies and fortunes. In nrythological narratives they are said to
clwell at the foot of Yggdrasill, close to the r,vell associated with insights
rrr.rd clandestine knowledge.ln Vqluspl they seenr to controi the destiny of
tlre whole universe, doonrecl to destruction. The wise maidens, rnL'1tilv,
rtrargs uitandi, are irt this text given individual symbolic nanres, (Jrdr,
Verdandi, and Skuld, popularly interpreted as 'Past','Present' ancl 'Future'.
O:rrolyne Larrington's translation is more faithful to thc original text:
lylgia
'l lrese two stanzas end the Vgluspi version of the creation myth and it is
lr.rrdly a coincidence that the'l'that speaks - the uglua r,vho is telling the
iclly appear in
sagas
too.
l)('twcert rrorrir establishing a destiny and the invited rglur reading the future.
ll)e text tells of a gathering at a wealthy fartnhouse to which three invited
.rrrtl lronotrreci wonren corne. C)f the three visiting wonren, olrc \&?Ilts to
l,rurish Nornu (icstr'.s niothcr for bad treatlnent by giving thc bov a short
lrlt', lvlrilc thc otlrcr t$() srvc thc siturrtiorr.'T'he varicty rrnrl rnixing oltr:rtnes
,rl rlrc ugr'rrts irrrlit':rtc tll;rt n()t too rntri'lr c:ur bc tir:nvn ti-orrt trrcrcly tltc usc
,rl.t r'crt:tirt tt'rnt. l;ottrs is on tlrt'irr(r'rrtiort,:tt'tiott:rtttl (()t)s('(lu('ll('('.
100
in Europe:1hc Middle
Ages
J'here are several other exanrples in the sagas of how Gmale figures of
rlrore or less nrythological character bring messages of times to come.
Darradarlj|d, a long poen.r in l,ljils saga 157, tells of a Good Friday shortiy
belore an important battle when twelve women on horseback appear
(Liirrnroth 1976:134;l)armshoit 1984; Kress 1993: 97f, Poole 1993).The
wolnen turn out to be valkyries and have come to give their support to
the yor.rng king. They seenr to have an irnportant influence on the oLltconre of the conring battie and give a horrifiiing image of things to come.
'fhe rnetaphor of weaving is used in a nronstrous mode. The introductory
lines and the first two stanzas of this strong imagery read:
Merr's heads were used for weights, rnen's intestines for the weft and
warp, a sword for the sword beater, and an arrow for the pin beater. The
wonren spoke these verses:
A wide r.varp
warns of slar-rghter;
blood rains
fi'om the beam's cloud.
A spear-grey fabric
is being spun,
r,vhich the friends
of Randv6r'.s slayer
with the
thc
101
the farnr and the cultivatcd soil. In the quotation above froni F,gi1-s .s4qa
Skalla-Cr{msson(1r were noted the flrtal consequences when the spirits abantk>ned a place. In this respect all these beings connected to a clistinct place
ilre part of the cosmological and social inside-outside conflict, as pointecl out
by Kirsten Hastrup (1981).As protectors these various beings formed a contr:rst to the clear-cut destructive forces fronr outsicle, like the trolls and thcir
kind. Nevertheless, there are evil-nrinded disir trtd the wrath of the rii-sir is
rrrentioned in Crimnismil 53 and spoken of rvith fuar: if the d{sir are against a
l]crson or a family only destruction can follow.The valkyries are occasionally
called Odinn's r/i-slr and associated with revenge and struggle.
When someone prospered, while others were troubled with setbacks, an
r'rplrnation was needed. -li'olld,trrr was Jn irrrportarrt cogrritive cJtcgor) in rn
episten.rological systeln where the very existence of such a knowledge protluced an acceptable explanation for public and private incidents.The clusal
r.onnections were obvious. Bad iuck could be as perceptible: 'a kind of contlgit'rus nroral disease, spreading lionr inclividual to individual throughout the
srrsrr', as l-ars Lonnroth writes about the events in Nil/s -iaga (1976:130).
'l'lre elrly (lhristirrrr rvritcrs of Sc:rrrrlirr:rvi:r tlid rrot :rtklpt tlre ()lcl Norsc
tt'rtttirtology firr tlrt' irrrrt'r tlrrllitics ot-lrrurr:rrrs, [rrrt iutnrtltr,'c.l ,r rrt'rv lvorcl
sorrl, s,i/, 6rrrtr tltt' Arrglo S,rrorr. l'lris is rluitc trrrtlt'r'st,rrrtl;rlrlr' sirrt t' tlrt' prc
102
Christian conceptions of hurnan mental capabilities were so radically different frorn the new religion's dogn.ras about the htulan soul. Indeed, they
were llot only difGrent, but at sorne points decidedly heretical.
The most important discrepancy r,vas the Old Norse belief that a person
could leave the ordinary body and act in a tenlporary new shape. This is
rrot or1ly the nrost fundanrental assurnption for nrost trolld1rnr stories, but
also essential to the conviction that the dead could act fronr the grave with
their old personalities.A persont tetnporary split into body and soul is not
a specifically Old Norse assumption. For centuries night riders,
shapeshifters, and r,vere-animals caused serious debates within the Church
about ho.uv to relate to these phenornena and about their ontological status. For the Clhurch Fathers, antollg them Augustine, the crucial qucstion
r,vas rvhether the devil hacl such powers that he could appear in any tlngible form, or help evil humans to transfornr thenrselves, only to draw
Christians away fronr the true faith.
There are two ternrs fundamental to the semantic field of shapeshifting,
hu.gr and
in
as soul, was
Scandinauia
103
,.,,r. *rr
it
easy
to
guess
Shapeshifting
l'lrcre were nlany nalnes for persons with the capacity to change their
',lr,rpe and temporarily act outside the ordinary body.'Shapeshifters'is used
lr,'r'c us an umbrella terrn for a wide rar.rge of characters in Old Norse liter.rtrrrc that were said to have the ability of letting their hugr ieap into a teml),)r'iu-y body or g:uise, hamr, i.e. of being a hamleypa, solreone who ieaps
l,,rsrs
10.+
in
carrying out diflerent deeds for himself or others in the shape of a bird, an
animal, a fish or a serpent. His resular body rvas left behind, only his soul
assunred ternporary shapes. This is also the prevalent case in most Old
Norse shapeshifting stories. No transformation with a corrrplete disappearance of the ordinary body is told oe sonre part of the body is always left
behind. It was thought to be a dangerous moment for the shapeshifter as it
gave his or her enernies an opportunrry either to steal or hurt the ternporary body.An analogous stigma would imrnediately appear on the ordinary
body. Hduamll refers to Odinn'.s ability to hinder the sor-rls of some night
hags (tinridu r) from getting back to their regular bodies when they are carrying out their nightly deeds (Schjodt 1990: 44f{.).
body behind for the new guise. This was also the nlortent to strike back
against an attacking hamhlcypa. A similarly interesting description of
shapeshiftirrg can be found irr the introductury prose of Vqlundarkuida,
another poerl of the Poetk Eddd, whereVplundr and his two brothers steal
the s'uvan skins from three wornen who are said to be valkyries. Nothing
more is said about the captr-rred wornen or their origins.They are forced to
rernain in human shape and rnarry the brothers.The rnotif is well kno'nvn
from several international fairv tales as well as from later Scandinavian folk
legends. Odinn's aggression against knowledgeable wornen is also emphasized irr Hiudmil 1 13 where erotic relations with a -fiolkunni,gri kono are
condemned. The rnythological narratives seem to form models for history
writing in the sagas where brute force and sexual dominion intermingle in
rrrale attenrpts to hinder fernale executions of trolld6mr.
A comparable episode can be found in Kormiks -sava chapter 1B where
the actions of a shapeshifter, along with the counter actions taken against
lrer, clearly illuminate some vital conditions of the human hugr and
shapeshifting. The saga tells of how the cunning won)an D6rveig has laid a
crurse on the younu rnan Komr.:rkr. lt is her imrnediate revenge since he has
c--attsed the death of l.rer two sol)s as a consequence of ongoing clan conrb:rts. Thc curse will rrnke it irul.rossiblc firr I(orrrt'rkr to lruve his bcloved.
lr<irvciljls r'ttrsc :uttl firrtlrcr ;l('ti()lrs ur(' Purt of l llrrgcr l)lttcnr ol conflicts,
Scandinauia
105
l)rotect her farnily honour. In this perspective her curse is the revenge on
lrcr sons'r-nurderer.The conflicts escalate and D6rveig pllrsues Kornrlkr to
thc sea.The ship is attacked by a walrus that attenrpts to overturn it and
l,rirveig is recognized as acting out of her body by her eyes. The men on
tlre ship press the animal down under the sudace and at the sanre tinre
lr(rrveig, at home, is said to be on her death bed. People around her later
tlraw the conclusion that her death was caused by the events at sea.The link
bctween the two bodies in this text, symbolized by Kormlkr's recognition
of her eyes, is so strong that the human body cannot ward off the injuries
rrrilicted upon the rvalrus. A relationship of analog- exists between the
\v()nlan and the anirnal * a recurring therue in nrany texts of shapeshifting.
'l he link between them serves both as the tool of trolldltntr and as a possible
rrrcthod of revenge. More than D6rveigt act of trollddmr itsel( Korrnikr'.s
( ()unteraction is the core of the episode. He makes use of his knor.vledse of
slrrrpeshifting and the analogous link - and so the originally evil action
lrlrns out to be the salvation of the attacked.This is a fundamental point
rvlrere literary descriptions connect with ritual praxis. Apotropaic attacks
,rsrinst evil-minded shapeshifters, returning dead or assaulting demons are
,rll based on the acceptance of sr-rch a connection between the bodies.
stmtegies of this kind are also apparent in later Scandinavian folk medicine
,rs ln obvious recurrent theme. In apotropaic rituals unfanriliar objects are
( ut, torn, or broken while waiting for an unveiling danrage in the neighl,ourhood to appear, and the cause of atliction is thereby found.
'l'he idea of the analogous links was vital to the Old Norse conccptions
ttf tr(rlldimr.It provided a theory of how the hu.qr of certain persons could
rvork over such long distances and also forn-red the strategy for a possible
\v:ry of averting the attack. Seemingly ordinary and harrnless objects could
l,e iclentified as carriers of insidious harm', to use Mary Douglas'.s terni for
tlrc invisible and contagious peril (Douglas 1992).The attacking objecr was
n()t a spectacular ob.lect but something so fanriiiar that it was sonretirDes
lr,rrtl to observe and thereby served as a narrative sr.rrprise.
Ari expressive terln of sorne frequency is sendingar, i.e. the figures sent by
1,t'ople with access to a strong hamr,hamrammr.The terr-n explicitly emphasrzes tlre perfbrrr-rative aspect and ritual practiccs o{ troLld6mr,thc activc- per-
106
night and cause hinr severe damage.When she is summoned it is for being
a night hag, rnara.-fhe end of this particular story is that it turns out to be
another knowledgeable wornan who is guilty and has rnisused her
capabilities.
Swrdinauia
107
lrurrrans and cattle. Like the ridur he rides the oxen and the farmhouse.
Finally, alrrrost hke a mara, he kills a shepherd.The bones of the shepherd
are crushed and the man is strangled to death. The only way to stop the
russaults is to dig the corpse out of the grave with great di11iculry and burn
it (ch. 59). Reburving acconlpanied with crentatiorl was a wf,y to stop the
lrlorse WorldVieut
rrnd events.
settlers
in Iceland.
ln rrrythological narratives, as well as history r,vriting, trolldtimr was a reasonable cause for events past and present. These stories were founded on
lrlsic assurnptions about human nature and rnan's relation to history and
Agcs.
Nevertheless, persistencc r:an be observed over a lonrr tir.ne, despite drarrrrrtit's<>cial chenscs, lcrr nrerry of thc vital conL:eptiolrs.There are striking
srrrrilrrritics bctwcctt ()ld Norsc rrrrldcs ol cxprcssinu trolldt5mr conccptions
.rrrtl tirlklorc rt't-orrlirrgs rtrrt'lt';rt tlrt't'rrrl oltht'nirrctecrrth ccntury and the
l,r'girtrrirtg o1'tlrt' twt'trtit'tlr. Witlr its t'rrrrrrirrg |coPlc, ('urs('s, urrd';rrrrrws of
rlr'slr-ttctiott'il ,rlso slrorvs llrt'Iosilrvt'.rsl)('(ts ot tlrrs lrr'lit'f'systcrrr: lrcrrlirrg
108
CHAPTER
phenomena, such as
l{cligron is by no means onlv a cognitive category. Religion is ro most peoplc, past and present, a lived experience acted out in physical motion. Faith is
('\pressed in actions and attitudes that cannot be defined as either exclusively
..rt'red or solely profane. I{eligion is not limited to any distingurshable realm
,rf'l'roliness. Many religious activities rnay tppear trivial and common, yet
('\press concepts that are vital for how individuals understand their world.
In Old Norse one single word, sidr, comprised the wide field of reiiriiorr, faith, moral, custom and tradition. It included both what were supl)()sed to be traditional conceptions and also the way things were thought
t,r lre done.The rnultitude of meanings gave this term a wide range of pos.rble usage: cognitive and practical as well as juridical and religious. The
tt'rrn certainly had a ser-nantic field of great variety.Actions done, planned
,,r'onritted in connection with trolldtimr are sornctirnes conunented on in
llr(' texts as being opposed to -sidr, which is then the appropriate n1ode. Sid/
rs :rlnrost always used as sontething positive, with a certain accentuation on
rvlrat is directly expressed.The concept is thoroushly based in the old lore
,rr(l customs, and therefore reliable. The word often appears in contexts
rvlrcre the question of lcelandic identity is crucial, with positive references
to the old days. However, the term was adopted by Christian authors in
\r:rrrclinavia during the processes of Christianization and here the religious
,rsl)cct wa( exclusively stressed.
As cliscussed in the previous chapter, even if a strictly structuralist interl,r('tltion is highly debatable, there is a certain conflict between the social
,rnrl the antisocial, order and chaos, inside and outside, as an apparent theme
rn trclld6mr myths, sa5Jas, texts, and even in early Christian laws. Likewise, in
t rtrt;rls trolldt5nt tnd extraordinary knowiedge function symbolically as a link
lrt twcen chaos and structure.This irnage of the struggle for knowledge can
, ,,r'respondingly be noted in the ciescriptions of ritual practice.'W'hen con',r,lt'rins rituals a sirrrplc nrorlel can be :rpplied, which regards them basically
.r\ ,r ('onrl)unicutit>rr irr t'nvo difk'rent directions, likt' two axes: horizontal and
r','r.lir'rtl.-llrt'vertic:rl direction is pcrh;rps tltc tttost obvious one: here rituals
(.ul [)c scert ls ttt:ttt'.s tlcsirt' t() (-()nlnlr.ulic:rtc r,vitlr srrpr:rlrtrrn:tt-t reahns in
(
'l
10
Trolld6mr in Early
it
conres
to the construction of
r-neaning.
In a ritual
powers are let loose that the human society nrust keep in control.
A ritual, as discussed by Paul Connerton, can be defined as a'rule-gov-
Pcfibrmin.q
St'idr is otte of ttlttty worrls trscd for ('ust()nr :rrttl pr:rxis irr t'orrrrcr't.iorr witlr
pc'rs()r)s of't'xtr-:rorrlirrrry krrorvlt'tlgc. lt is pt'rlr;tps tlrr' nrost ( ('lltl':tl rituirl,
A,Iedieual
Scandinauia
111
.rl)pears
112
in Europe:'l'he Middle
if
it
Agcs
comes
question.
Vqluspd, the most conrplex of al1 Eddic poerrls, reveals the history of the
universe from creation to apocalypse in 66 stanzas. The poet has put the
words in the mouth o{ a ugLua, a prophetess claiming to have access to
clandestine knowledge older than the universe itself.The uplua is speaking
otT and on in the first person addressing men and gods. Obviously she has
the insight into how to spd, to disclose what is concealed in the past and
the present. In the text seidr is said to be per{ormed at dilTerent significar:rt
phases of the progress and decline of the universe. In the very first stanzas
of the poern, i.e. the uglua's invocation, the wise wornan is claiming authority by knowledge from before tinre, when she was raised and nurtured by
the giants. Wrthout this connection to the demonic forces the crertion
nlyth cannot be told. Order is established to distinguish Midgardr from the
chaotic otherworld. Tinre, days and seasons are structured along with a
model for the good life, including &/rit rituals.Then, suddenly, in the nriddle
of the creation myth three maidens from the realn.r of the giants appear.
Nothing is told o[their mcssasc or rnission, and rrraybe ihe narrative purpose of their appearance is to rernind the listener/reader that Midgardr is
surrounded by destructive forces. Imr-nediately after the uglua's version of
the creation myth, another two females with fatal ambitions are introduced. The appearance of Gullveig and Heidr (the latter a narne conl-
Scandinauia
113
lrrisht one', is related to Freyja, the matron of the Vanir, 'uvho, Snorri
the one that originally taught the art of seidr to the Asir. The
s^rnle source tells that seidr was customary anlonJ the Vanir. Margaret
( llunies Ross has discussed at length the position of Gullveig within 'rwo
rrnjor semantic fields with the don-rinant operative rnetaphors of masculin, l.rirrrs, was
The middle part of the poem refers to a war antong the gods, between
two grollps named,lEsir andVanir.The text in this passage is obscure, prob.rbly corrupt. The origin of the rivalry is unclear, but broken oaths and
li'rrud are designated.The conflict turns ol-rt to be the beginning of the end,
w.qrmrpk,and seidr is said to be used successfully by theVanir in the struggle
.rsrirrst the ,4sir, and with their powerful galdr songs they turn or-rt to be
rrrrclefeatable.Although Odinn, the leader of the,4,sir, is usually acknowl..'dsed as the nraster of seidr, these stanzas indicate that this art originated
.uuong theVanir. Further on in the complex structure of conflicts scidr is
trscd again. Once dissension is there, the successive devastation of harmony
.rrr,l order is rnevitlblc.
6dirm is seeking the assistanc e of a uqlua before the final battle, i.e. the
tlcstruction of the world, ragnargk. Apparently he is paying the uglua for
Ircr divination with jeweller.v. A similar situation opens another Eddic
l)()en1, Baldrs draumar, where Odinn wakens a uqlua from the grave to
rlrrestion her.A uglua gling valuable advice to the living from her grave
rs also at hand in the opening of Cr1galdr. Vqluspd gives a hint of the
krrowledgeable womant technique: it is stated that she is sitting out in
tlre wilderness,lT probably making an iltiseta, seeking solitude ro obtain
visions. Her vision is lucid, although frightening. A11 she can see is
v;rlkyries and destruction. The uglua is briefly telling of the death of
lirrldr, the fina1 sign of the coming end. The following stanzas, 31-2,
,lcscribe the beginning of ragnargk, extended in Snorri's prose text
{ )yfi'apinning (33-5) .It rnust be noted, as (llunies Ross does in her extensivc analysis, that when destruction conres into the arena of the history
,rf the universe, it is also the introduction of active fen-rinine agents
(()lunies Ross 1994, esp. 187ff.).The way seidr is described in Vqluspi
,r('centuates not only the conflict between Otgardr and Midgardr but
.rlso the one within the category of gods; and the quest for knowledge as
vit:ll fbr the balance of cosmos. The gods are dependenr on the knowl.'tlqc fror-n the world of giants and trolls as a necessity for development,
.rrrd still its origin is tl.re seed of the end. Nevertheless, the evah-ration of
'r'i r)r throughout Zqrlrr.s1ll is rr.rore rlr less positivt:. Even though the fr-rture
,rs sccn by tlrc 1,qr/r,,r is rlrrrk it is enrlrhlsizccl as u 1'rowcrful rrrcthod of divtttrttiort, l)()t prinlilrily :r tct'lrrritlrrc firr rlcstruc-tiorr.'l'lris lppllrcllt lnrbigtrlly llt'twt'ctt ttt't t'sst(V rrtt,l (l('stru( ti()t) rs 1r11'y,;11r.'r,1 tlrr-ouglr<lrrt tltc
ItoIItlr\tttt- ttrrr-r-;rlivr's oI Ilrt' s,rr,,,rs Ioo.
114
l,Vitchcra-fi and
Frc
y.j a
ing some kind of affinity (Hyndlull<1d 1). But the vqlua's answers are quite
aggressive. Hyndla gives a long genealogy of various rnythological beings
and in stanza 33 she mentions the origin of uqlur, and classifies them
anlong knowledgeable people, seldr perfornrers and giants. There is no
ntention of gods, but instead Freyja'.s helper is rel:rted to the destructive
inhabitants of the outside world.
In Snorri',s Ynglin,qa saga 1,0 Freya is said to be the last sr.rrviving of the
old gods and the last to keep up the old fornr of sacrifices.This comment
could be compared to the imase of the age-old uglud n Vgluspi, and elsewhere, being the last with knorvledge of the old lorc. Ynalinga -sa3a is not
printarily a collection of myths, but a historical narrative in rvhich Snorri
places the gods as agents in the dawn of tirne. As will be notcd further on
in this chapter, it is not unusual that -scidr perfi>rnters lre saicl to be the last
of their kind. In many texts the prototype of thc uqrllr,l seenrs to be a very
old wonran, as a personification of agerolcl si<)r.
115
The process of passing on the knowledge of scidr appears to be of particular interest in some texts. Snorri refers to the nrvthological origin of seidr
inhis Ynglingd sdgd, the nrythical history of the Swedish kings, tracing their
genealogy back to Odinn himself. The source of his knowledge is said to
be the gods of fertility.When connected with theVantr seidr is not associated with poetry or old-tinre rvisdonr. Freyja taught the art of seidr to the
Asir.18 In this part of the text nothing about technique or what constiturtes
-scidr is rnentioned; if anything the focus is on the interplav between the
Asir and theVanir. Clunies I{oss has errrphasizecl the similarities in rnythological ftrnction between Gullveig in Vqluspi and Freyja in Ynglirrga sa.qa
(1991:2()3f .). Both texts indicate that -ieidr is a skill iacking among the
A,sir and it rnust be captured frorn the Vanir or the giants. Although
desired, it is obviously referred to rvith strongly negative connotations.
Other texts concisely call Freyla spidis or Vanadis. By giving her these
names the connection between Vanir, fertility and different aspects of
trolldtimr rituals is accentuated (N:isstrorn 1995).This is a reasonable connection since the divinatory aspects of -icidr are strongly connected to
luture prosperity.
Yet clandestine knowledge and divination abilities were not assumed to
be inborn qualities among theVanir either. In the Eddic poenr Hyndluljid
a conflict between Freyja and the uphtaHyndla is referred to.The goddess
is addressing Hyndla as if awakening her, calling her'sister'and thus clairn-
Srundinauia
)r'lth and poetry tend to internringle in the irrrage of the wise Odinn.
l'lrc god's.harsh qr,rest for knowledse is synlbolically shown in different
',tories of C)dinn's self-sacrifices, when parts of his own body are sacrificed
rrr cxchange for knowledge and runes. [n these texts the god of death is
I
t,rst
11,6
in Europe:The Middle
Ages
the ,4'sir frorn the Vanir where he had been kept hostage. Odi.r.t is said to
have enrbah-r-red it with herbs and galdr soogs, and spoken rvith the head in
tirnes of danger.The head is used technically in two ways according to the
myths: as a tool for divination when Odinn speaks with Mimir's head
shortly before ragnargk (Vqluspi 46 Ynglinga saga 4,7), or in scenes where
Odinn is drinking from Mirnir's well to acquire knowledge (Vqluspi 28;
Gylfaginning 8). Mimir, or rather the representation of his wisdom, and his
liminal position as a hostage and as a giant among the gods, syrnbolize the
point of connection between order and destruction.
Llke Vpluspi, Ynglinga s4g4 stresses that seidr originates from the Vanir
and that Mimir has an-inrportant position in the process. But it is Odinn
who is hailed as the master of seidr in the following chapters of the saga.
By perforrning seidr Odi.r, can make his enemies blind and deaf in battles,
or paralysed with fear and their weapons useless, while his own men, filled
with fury and strength, can take part in the battle without armour. This
state
of wild
berserksgangr.
Seemingly it is related to the shapeshifting theme: the conception that certain people and nrythological creaturcs can maintain tentporary operations
in the guise of an animal.
Snorri tells that 'Odinn shifted shape and lay as if sleeping or dead,
appearing as bird, or animal, fish or snake, and in a moment he could go to
to renlote places on his own or other's business'. And he 'could put out
fire, calrn, the,sea, and turn the wind with his words'.20 Further on in
Ynglinga saga Odinn'.s abilities due to access to knowledge achieve what is
irnpossible for.others.
Moreover, Odinn is said to be the foremost shapeshifter and to have the
ability to appear in different guises. Shapeshifting is a weighty theme in
Scandinauia
I17
It,',tltikr, and insights,fiqlkynngi. Many orhers learned from this a.d the
of trolld6mr became widespread and continued for a long tinre.
l,r,rr'tic:e
t )rrc of the heroic poems of the Poetic Edda, Siqrdr{fumil,provides a catan1'gnomic poetry close to the elaboration in Hiuairdt (Larrington
l't'ti; I\ar-rdvere 1998). The wise Sigrdrifa, categorized as a varkyria,
,r',rructs the young hero Sigurdr by means of powerful charms.Viciory,
lr' 11;11u and wisdom is pro,rised if her advice, rid, is kept. The stanzas
1',n, rr in the poem are hardly forr.nulas as such, rather sententious phrases,
, r, rr thongh the mode of forrnulating the advice has a distinct
riiualized
, lr.rr.rt ter.'w'ords are always followed by acting: what is verbally expressed
is
1,,1',11.'
Old Norse
and that the border to the realm of the giants must be crossed. In nrythological geography the border in between is symbolically marked by art
irnposing sea and a serpent. Few rnyths lack the conflict between the two
opposing realms. Journeys into the other world or visits to its borderlancl
are essential to achieve the advantages sought.Assisting himself or others is
also tlre therne of the final part of Hiuamil, the so called'Lj6datal', where
Odir., in eighteen galdr songs praises his own abilities (Larrington 19c)3:
62tT.).The god of poetry and knowledge speaks in.the first person, givirrg
a long catalogue of powerlul skills. L-itid, the sonqs ()dinn is in charge ot, ir
far fronr the suffering depictecl ir Hivdrn,il 13tlfI. arrcl Orirrrrrismil l . 'l'lrc
perspecti'r,e is that of helpinu lncl :rssistrrrs lnd l t'r:rfty uotl rtppcurs wlttt
has lcccss to lrt';rlirrg wourrtls, protct-tiort ;rguirtst cttcntics' ltttlcks, Pttttittl{
otrt flre, r'llrrrirl-I tlrt'st':r, nrisirrg tlrc tlt'rrrl, itt:rkittr{ l)('r's()l)s irrvtrlrrt'rrrlrlc rttttl
ry'seidr in Mythological
l,,tarratiues
I lr\ililt.
118
cornplicated question
a protorype or
paradigm of the seidr performer with relevance to actually performed rituals? The implications of the stated nrythological genealogy of seidr are hard
to specify when trying to corne to ternls with this complicated nratter.
As seen above, seldr is described in some texts as originating from the
Vanir, but Odirrn is represented as the master of seidr in many others.
Whether this mirrors a social conflict about the ritual responsibilities of
rnen and women in the Old Norse world is highiy questionable. As
FranEois-Xavier Dillmann has shown, when counted in the sources, men
upon seldr
catalogue
other
gods. One accusation more enrbarrassing than the other conres over Lokils
sneering lips to many of thenr with erotic allusions.To (ii)inn he says:
-scir)r
on
Sirtnscy,
:ttttottI rrtrtrtkirrtl,
l"i())
Scandinauia
1.19
,lclanration.
r('r'r('ssing r'rrltrrrt.. | )csPitt. tlrr. otrit,r'liorrs r-;riscrl ;rg:rirrst :r sirrrplistit. rrrotlcl ot'
120
the relation between textual imagery in nrythologicai narratives and existing social conflicts, a certain pattern is visible in the texts concerning the
genealogy of seidr.In various narmtives gender does play a vital part in the
construction of conflicts, along with other significant markers of 'otherness'.The seidrperformerwas an outsider in one way or the other.But the
fringed position of the performer was not exclusively marked by gender.
As we shall see in the examples fronr the sagas,the otherness of the seldr
performer was marked in various ways, among them a quite complicated
interplay between gender roles and social status. Characters were givcn a
marginal position when described as connected to trolldimr and seidr.
Being a woman is surely not a marginal position as such, but certain scenes
in the sagas focus on wonren acting in a way they usually did not, that is,
outside the conventional limits of supposed female behaviour.
Scandinauia
121
llujtill.sncs
lr, tttosl t'xtt'rtsivt'lrrtl rlc(;rilt'tl ir((()unt ol',r tr'ir)r (('11'nl()ny is tirtrrrtl irr
t lr,rPtt'r- ol /iir.i(,i {rl(rl lilllr)rl, ()n(. ()l tlrt,Vrrrl,rrrtl r.,r.,,,,r.lt"l'lrt' s,r{;r
tlrr l.trrtlr
122
with the Icelandic settlement on Greenland and the Norsenren'.s voytoVinland/Anrerica.The text was most likely written in the middle of
the thirteenth century (Conroy 19it0;Wahlgren 1993).In the centre of this
early chapter stands a travelling father Dorbjqrn and his daughter Gudridr,
temporarily staying on Greenland at Dorkell of the Herj6lfsnes farm.
It is with sorne hesitation that I choose this text for a more detailed discussion, although it has rnany striking similarities to other Old Norse texts
dealing with -seidr and divination. But too nrany tirnes this particular
account of the ceremony has been read as an accurate anthropological
description o{ a uglua's performance. Questions nrust also be raised concerning the pr.rrpose of the conspicuous image of the seidkona and what
was narratively eained from it. The significance of difGrence always seems
to be at the core when -sei dr perforrners are described.
The chapter opens with a description of the conditions at Herj6lfsnes
before the -seidrwas performed.The area had had a harsh period of famine,
and a change was urgently desired. T'he invitation to the uqlua was a plea
for alteration; her help was badly needed. As the most irnportant farn.rer of
the area it was Dorkell'.s responsibility to arrange for a divination ceremony.
According to the explicitly claimed custom, sidr, he invites the uglua to hrs
farm to predict the forthcor"ning period, a matter of concern for the whole
local communiry.'When the famrer adrnits the uglua into his house, social
space is created for the ritual. He is in charge of the preparations, and the
event as a whole is his responsibility. The rnvited woman is called spikona
and given the nicknanrc litil-uglua, 'little seeress'. She is said to be the last
surviving of nine sisters, and one r-nanuscript of the saga states that all of
them had been spdkonur.zT With this specifrcation the text stresses her
being part of an old tradition. It should be noted that the number nine
o...r., again, as it does on other occations when Odinn's capabilities are
nlentioned in mythological narratives.
The -seidr performance was part of a special event, a feast, ueizld, but
there was nothing spectacular about the situation. It is a time of crisis, but
there is no 'gothic' atrnosphere. The fortune-telling was obviously a social
tradition of the area and it was also part of a local ritual pattern to invite
the uglta to perfornr divination at the farnr.The outfit and the utensils of
the uglua are described as spectacular, i.e. her role as a perforrner is stressed.
The text states that at the end of the winter season she wanderedbetween
the farms. Hopefully springtime would be more prosperous, which was a
vital qr-restion for everybody. Different preparations were undertaken to
honour the arrival of the uglua and a nlan was sent to call for her. She
arrived at night escorted by the nrarr. l)uring his absence tl're flrrnr pcople
had made vrrri<'rus arrangenrents. A cornfirrtlblc hiqh scrrt, /rri.s,r'/i, wrrs
arrayecl firr hcr errd :r ti'ether bcrl w:rs ptrt urrclcr Ircr'.'l'lrc stltus ()f tlrc uqr/u,i
irr this tcxt is:tpp:rr('ntly clll)lrilsizctl rts lrcing ltiglr. Ilolvt'vt'r, itt otltet'tcxts
deals
ages
Scandinauid
123
iveli Dorbjorg lltil-uqlua rvas received at the farm, in line with the local
convention. It was the custom, -sidr, to receive a uqlua with reverence.The
importance of holdins her in great respecr is explicitly stated three times
in the chapter. Flonouring her with an escort contradicts the irnage of the
r,glua wanderin5; alone fronr farn.r to farrn that is stressed elsewhere in
other saga texts.
The text gives a colourful description at leneth of the outfit of the
lqrft.,a. She differs fi"om everything commonplace; her marginality is
e nrphasized by her costunle. This description by the Christian saia author
carr certainly not be read as'the general costunre of a uqlua'.I\ather it is in
line with the saga's scenery of a renrote place where paJan customs are still
practised.
She was wearins a black n.rantle
precious stones right down to the hen.r. About her neck she wore a
string of glass beads and on her head a hood of black lambskin lined
with white catskin. She bore a staff with a knob at the top, adorned
with brass set with stones on the top. About her she had a linked charn-r
beit rvith a large purse. In it she kept the charnrs which she needed for
her predictions. She wore calfskin boots lined with fur with long, sturdy
laces and large pewter knobs on the ends. On her hands she wore plloves
of catskin, white and lined rvith fur.
Son.re details
rrrrkirrg trse of it, til-frrldlciks at hafa.The terrninology only indicates rhar she
rs saining knowledge with help fronr the substance. The wand and the
lrtrod are mentioned in other trolld6mr stories, although the latter usually
lirrrctioned as a;lrotection fronr the evil eye. No estirnation is expressed, or
hint of what was thought of this costullte, or what feelings it chalNothing is said about the looks of the woman, or if she was consrtlcred beautiful or uely. Likewise, nothing is said directly about her age,
lrut since she is the last of nir-re sisters it is very likely that she was supposed
(o be an aged won'ran. It is of course interestirlg to note that certain syrnl,ols recur when scidrrcnrL and scic)konur are described and to observe that
'r'ir)r pcrfornrers are saic.l to use a special kincl of equipnlent. But it must be
rt'rrrr:rrrberecl that all strch characters rtre nrade to stand out fi'orn the rest.
,rrry
I..'nsed.
I ltc literary uses of trolldtirrrr syntbolisnr clo not represent the ritr-ral pracrice
,,r.socirrl intemctiorr stcp by stcp.As u perfirrrrrer thc uq>lru was the rtranifesl.rl i, rtt ot'olrl-tit ttc lttrc.
/ririft.t.s,rq,,r titttr)rt tt'lls of',t lottrl r'itrr:rl l:rstirrg two tlrrys, ()r nl()r-c prcciscly
724
the uqlua with great respect, although Dorbjqrg litil-uglua's answers were
to her estimation of each person. The first night Dorkell, the
master of the farm, took her hand and 1ed her to the prepared high seat,
which once nlore stresses the importance of honouring the in-rportant
gtrest. A most intriguing scene is rvhen the uqlua is asked to look all over
the place, renna par augLutt, to set her eyes on people and livestock, and over
the whole settlement.The eyes of the knowledgeable is a recurring theme
in Old Norse literature, but it is the fear of their gaze that is emphasized in
other texts. In this sequence the gaze is asked for as something favourable,
but it could as well be hazardous. Once again we are confronted with the
ambiguity of the capacities of -seldr perforn-rers. Every character in the text
is dependent on the intention of the spikona. However, thrs first night
Dorbjqrg is sornewhat reluctant and mostly stlent,-fimilngr.After the greeting cerenrony and an introduction to the farm people, a special meal was
prepared for the uglua; first she was served a porridge of goat's milk and
then a stew of hearts from ail animals. No comment on the food is ofTered
in the text. The uqlua had brought her own cutlery, which was as remarkable as her clothing: 'She had a spoon of brass and a knife with an ivory
shaft, its two halves clasped with a bronze bands, and the point of rvhich
had broken off '.2e As with the cloths, no comnlent is given on the cutlery
according
either.
After the meal Dorkell, the farrr-rer, approached the uplua and asked her
what she thought about the place and its people. He aiso made an attempt to
bring up subjects everybody was anxious to inquire about. B:ut the uglua
rejected his questions and said that she could not answer until the next
rnorning after having slept.The text does not give us any indication whether
or not there is a connection between the rneal and her dreams. ISefore gorng
to sleep the uplua is asked if she is content, but she keeps hei silence.
Not until the next evening do the preparatiorls surrt again, lnd for the
first time the expression seidr is used in the text.Arrangements to promote
the seidr are said to be made, but no details are otTered. Before the scidr
could begin the uqlva asked for a wonran who knew the song that was
essential for the ceremony.But no such woman was available.After a while
Gudridr, the gucst, said:'I have neither: magical powers lfiqlkunnigrl nor the
gift of prophecy [i.e. I anr not a wiscwomlt:r,uisindanakoral, but in Iceland
my foster-n-rother Halldis taught me chants she called ward songs
fuardlokkurl.'3{) 3r, she refuses to take part in the actual ritual since she is a
Christian wonlan. Her father has left the farnr irnd stays ilway as long as
such pagan ceremonies are perfornrecl. With the exccption of Gudridr'.s
rather gentle protests at the beginning and hcr fathcrls rtbsence, the conflict
between the olcl religion ancl thc ncw is not explicitly crrrplmsizcd rn this
prrticul:rr tcxt. l>orkcl] is by rto n)c:lns rcprcscrrtcrl ils u l)ilgiu); trcvertltclcss
lre is tlrc orrt'wlro |crsrrrrtlcs tltt'yotrrrg \\'()nr.ln lo [rt'r'firrrrr tltt'sortg
Scandinauia
125
required for the cerentony. Although nothing is said in the text about his
to procure her, it is plausible ro think that he invites her out of
concern for his farm. As the leading man of the area he knows that the
period of fanrine rnust be broken.
In contrast to the preparations, the ritual itself is hardly described at all.
The women formed a ring around the hjallr and Dorbjqrg sat upon it.
Neither the activities of Dorbjqrg litil uqlua, nor rhe hjallr is explained, nor
if she nrakes use of her wand or anything else in her equipment. Gudridr'.s
sons, ky@di, is said to be the most beautiful ever heard. Considering the
detaiis already given in rhe text it is hard to agree with Strombdck in his
irrterpretation of the meaning of the vardlttA&a song. FIe argues that there is
rrn obvious trace of shamanistic trance in the ritual.31 But nothing is mentioned in the text about the uglua's soul or any journey of the soul, either
in ecstasy or with the body lying down in any kind of altered stare of consciousness.The song is just said to be sur-rg and there are no comments on
the eflect on the participants. Direct influences on the Old Norse world
view from circunrpolar areas is still a little-investigated field, though rnost
possibly interesting parallels are to be found. To label the performance of
rr'idr as shamanism in a post-Eliade manner seenls an all too phenomenological and simplistic approach. In contrast to phenornenological argunlentrtion, Thornas DuBois has recently offered linguistic evidence for Sami
.rnd,/or Balto-Finnic influence on the Norse practice of seidr (1991)).
It is unclear how long it takes to perform the sei dr. After the acrual ritrrll Gudridr is first of all thanked for her achievement.Then the rplza tells
tlrat the spirits, nittilrur, are pleased with her beautiful singing.The name
oI the spirits is not known from mythological narratives either. The uglua
rs able to tell that they are pieased to hear the singing. Suggestions have
lrcerr nrade that they should be interpreted as landuettir.'Help in exploitrrrq aninral wealth is normally credited to landucettir, or "gr,rardian spirits"
reasons
or men'
Disir and alfar are other beings associared with the
lr.,sehold, and as recipients of offerings and as the objects of rituals they
,.rrld plausibly influence futurc prosperity.They were all collective beings
livins u,der family-like conditions and could in some respects be said to
rrrirrt:lr the people of the fatm.The well-being of the larnrer was rhe prert'tltrisite of the latter. Ancestors who are concerned about the farm and
It'r'tility spirits are spoken of in the sanre nrode. Chasing away the landurettir rv:rs the qoll fbr Egill Skalh-(]rinrsson when he was perforrning his
(f<rchens 1993:310).
r',rrrcsonre lii<).
Aficr thc sirrgirrg 1l1g 1,qr/i,rr's irrrporturrt prcdictiorrs arc
to bc r.rrlde.The
,rrrly firr-t'r'rrst toltl ;rt lcrrgtlr is:rtrotrt (itrr)rit)rls splcrrdid tirtrrrc - tlmrrratic
lrttt Irt'tlsIlt'rotrs.'l'ltr' l)r'()l)lr('( y st'r'vt's tlrt' s.lnl(' n,u'r',rtiv(' l)ur'[)()\c lrs firrc-
126
telling, curses and drearns often do in Icelandic sagas; it outlines the forthcoming text (Conroy 1980: 119f.). The atmosphere is amicable and the
uqluabids Gudridr farewell and calls her'r-ny daughter'.This intimacy could
be conrpared to the scene at the beginning when the uglua greets the people of the farm according to her opinions about ther-n.The underlying tone
is that the perforrner of the ritual, the vglua,has some distinct influence over
the near future. Not only should the spirits be pleased to assure a flourishing summer season, but the uplua as well. Aggression against a diviner never
pays off.Then the scene is settled for the last part of the long ritual and perhaps the most important for the cornnron people - the opportunity for
other people fronr the farm to ask the uqlua what is on their minds. She was
quite talkative and the saga states that most of what she said turned out to
conle true.\X/hen the cerenrony was all over Forbjgrn, Gudridr's father, was
sent for, since he had left the farr-n while paganism was practised.
'What
was the author's purpose in providing us with this circunrstantial
picture of pagan rituals? The episode certainly stands out among other narratives of individual persons in Old Norse literature. One plausible reason
could be the wish to formulate a powerful contrast between the old and the
new religion, with the two Gnrales as icons for old and new sidr. Eir[ks saga
rauda as a whole could be read as a glorification of Gudridr as a favourable
character, thus emphasizing the sapJa as a Christian text. As many scholars
have argued, the main character in the saga is the young worlan Gudridr but
her dorninant position in the text has been interpreted in different ways.
Scandinauia
127
lr.rtl recently arrived from lceland.The Greenlanders seem to take the cererrr,,rry for granted, in all its phases and possibilities.
Irrstead of pointing to the contrast between Gudridr and Forbjgrg one
,,,rrlcl stress the fact that the ritual described is almost exch-rsively domirr,rtcd by women and that it is the collaboration between the women that
rrr,rkcs it a success.Without doubt both women are needed for the fulfil-
rtq
tr
r r
l'
I'l tt
tttc
s i t r,4tto
t r r t I
s rr/ Scit)r
/ lr'('r r,tq,t titlr),r is :t ttttitlttt' ltrll lt'rrgtlr rr'i<)r tt:rt't':t(ivt' ol-tlre wlrolr' ritu,rl t't't'tt(, tvltt'tt':ts olltt't .tt r ottnls ottly rlivt' ll,rr-ls ol tlt't:ttls llr,tt ttcvt't'-
128
follow a certain pattern. There were no settled rules for -scldr ritua1s, but some of the saga authors stressed in their texts sonle syrnbols
that seemingly nrust have been associated with such perforn-rances. Most
saga writers, in one way or the other, give seidr performers and characters associated with trolld6mr a n-rarginal position in the text. As there
were reservations about Eiriks saga raudd, other accounts of seidr are
theless
32
In
Vatnsdela
129
tlr,' Mtrslinr writer'.s chronicle. Before the chieftain is burnt on his ship a
l.rrrtl oldivination ritual is said to be perfornred by his conlpany with the
rrlr,rle crew participating. Songs are nrentioned and there is a woman at
('e l)tre of the perforntances.
Arr olcl won1al1, called'the angel of death', and her two daughters assist
rrr tlrc lor-rg preparations for the chieftaint last journey. A young slave
\\()nlrln is selected to accolnpany him and she plays an essential role in the
lr('
,lrlli'rent parts of the ritual. In the finai cerenrony she is lifted over a
rr,,,,tlcr) gate or franre construction and is thereby able to look into other
,lrrrrt'nsions of reality.As a kind of nrediator the slave girl tells that she can
,, , (lrc relln ol the dead and leaves nressages for the other participanrs.
llrt' sirnilarities rvith .rcidr and the cerc-nrony conducted by the farmer's
rr rlt' irr L/plsa l:ittr lrave crrught the attention of several scholars who point
rr tlrt'clinrtrirrq or lifting up as esscntili to tl-rc diviner (Steinsland andVost
|
'tS
I;
Arrtlr[.rr 1993).
Irrr'rurtrrtiorr :rrrci
stressed in
130
in Europt':The Middle
Trolld6rnr in Early
Ages
The seidr performer was obviously not conceived of as an ordinary person and this discrepancy had to be nrarked in the text. But the var:iation
between the individual sagas is so great that no fixed pattern can be established. For the saga writer a choice of dillerent possibilities was :rvailable. As
we have seen, the executor was a temporary lluest and the perfomrance
was at night. OId ase was one way to represent the oid lore, i.e, the ancient
traditions.
Along with age, ethnicity is the strongest nrarker of otherness, as when
the Celtic Kotkell family perforrns -scidr in Laxdela saga 35f{. (Sayers 1992:
133).When.finnir,i.e. Fir.rns and Saami people, appear they often serve as a
warning in saga texts. Trouble is bound to colne since these pc-ople rvere
believed to be more skilled in trolldtinw rhan others (Page 1964; Mundal
and Steinsland 19U9: 108).In Hilfdanar sdsd sudrta a Saarni n-ran is captured
and tortured in order to make hinr reveal clandestine things to the king.
However, violence is not the way to nrake the Saanti speak, rvhclse spiritual
strenpith lasts longer than
Scandinauia
131
strflicient to free the kingt nrind lronr what Snj6fridr has done to bind
lrim.When she dies the king r-nourns inconsolably fbr three years arrd her
body does not decornpose * until the king is advised by a knowledgeable
pcrson to change the cloth under the corpse. Her body inrnrediately
bcgins to change. When burnt the trr,rth is revealed; snakes, lizards, and
other foul animals corne out of her body.The inragery is significant for the
hybridity of the Viking age: local conceptions about ethnic neighbours
rrrcet Christian thenres of rejection. Since the early days of Cllrristi.rniw
tlernons and devils - and persons associated with such creatures - were
linked to foul aninrals. Physical contact in this case seelrls to be the solutiorl to revealing the true nature of tire Saami wife.
Historia
A,Lt:dieual
IrlLtrtuegiae,
()rre of the few exanrples of private religious cerenronies in Old Norse lit('r:rtlrrL' r;an be read irr the so called y'p/-sa pattr, an inscrtion of prose and
l)oetry in the longer Olali saga lius ltclga.It is a story of conversion and
tlcscribes King C)lafr'-s irrcogniro visit to r renrote farnr in the far north of
Norway.The disgtrisecl king and his conlpany lvitness a reinarkable ritr,ral,
rrr lvhich the rgl-si, a preservecl horse phallus, is r,vorshipped as a god. The
lcxt states that these people have no knor.vledge about the trtre f,rith.The
locll fertility cerelrony is performed by the people fron the firrnr :rnd,
,rt'r'orcling to the text, the ritual is first introduced, and then continously
Icd, by the fanuer\ witb. The private character and the fernale rctivitv
rrr:rkcs it a uniclr-re description.The pittr refers to:rn old frrra'di (poerrr) as
tlrc origin of the story end through the'thirteen strlnzes the egents in the
t('\t ure giverr indiviclrnl v<'riccs irr thcir rclation to thc cult of thc rrol-si.
Vrrior-rs lsp('cts of tlris tt'xt llrvc becrr :rnllyzcd lry (iro Stcirrsllrrd arrt]
Possi[rlc s()u11'('
132
Witchcra_ft and
cerenlony and what it is airned at, but only to notice their interpretation of
tlre farnrer'.s wife as a local uqlua w'Lth the ability not only to foresee the
Future, btrt also to rrrake it prosperous.
Actually two rituals are described. First, there is a preservation ceremony
during which the horse phallus is embalmed in a piece of linen-cloth with
onions and herbs. Secondly, there is the daily evening ritual when the
firnrer's wife takes the uplsl out of its coffin and brings it to the firrm
people. They sit together, they all take the uqlsi rn their hands, and each
nrenrber of the household sings an individual verse, kuctdi, to it.The phallus is simultaneously worshipped as a deiry and sacrificed. The cult object
is spoken to in terms of an oflering and the receiver(s) are named mqrutir.
The identity of these powers is disputable and has caused debate. Fertrlity
powers llke disir have been suggested, as well as the fertility god Freyr, and
Steinsland andVogt argue for giantesses.The llrst one to address the zglsi is
the farmer'.s wife. She greets it and praises its size and strength - and calls it
a'gift'to
the mernir.
Disgusted by witnessing this pagan ceremony, the Christian king throws
the rqlsi to the farm dog, which swallows it immediately. King Olafr
reveals his identity and,since the saga is the story of a saint,he converts the
rvhole farrn and the plrtr ends.
Of special interest to the present discussion on trolld6mr is the question
rr.hether the farnrer'.s wife could be regarded as a performing uqlua or not.
Steinsland and Vogt ofler two argunrents which relate the farmer's wife to
the actil,ities of auqlua (1981:103f.).The first one is the etymolosical connc'ction between uplr (wand), uqlua and uplsi. They suggest that the uglsi
rnight be the equivaient of the u,and in the cultic activities of the woman.
Ilut there are few exai.nples of wands ritually used by uglur and, therefore,
the second argunlent nrust be regarded as the stronger, which concerns the
following points. Certainly a nrost interesting detail is that the rituai seerns
not to end when the uplsi is thrown away by the king. The farmert wife,
although very upset, can complete her ritual r,vith a fornrula. In stanza 13
she asks to be raised over the door-frame so that she can rescue the ofTering that has been destroyed. The lifting up can be plausibly connected to
tlre ability at spi, of foreseeing, with the door serving as a nretaphor for
seeing into 'anotl.rer side'. Like Forbjgrg litil-vglva and the slave gir1, the
worran climbs the tree constrllction as a part of the ritual perforrnance.
Scdndinayit
133
tlrc rituals-
( irecnland. Nevertheless
.rs
the ceremony can be connectcd to a cert.rin pf,tIt'rn of ritual practices, as stressed before.T\no radically diflerent positions
, .rn be arsued for: either the zpl-ii ritual is a burlesqtre of the hicleous
nuurners of the pagans of the tar north, or it is a plausible n-rodel of local
re lisious lifb.
It is told that only the dar-rghter of the farnr recognizes rhe suest at once
.rs the king, but she does not revcal his true identity. Sir-rce tte text is or1
tlrc whole very well structured it is very ternpting to read this cletail as an
rrrrlrse of thc young generation'.s attitude resarclins the new religion in
()ntr;lst to the older generation'.s ancl the olcl religior-r.In this perspecrivc, it
.ur be noted that the farnrer's rvifb is looked upolr as stubbornly holcling
.rr to the heathen faith.At the beginning of the texr she is s:rid to be clonr(
lr,rrrtl, r-rot the most iurportant rvhen trying to gair.r public aLlthority ro
slrcrk.What rernained was'corrosive discor-rrse' (Lincoln I991).
'rlre fanrous Buslubean rhat appears in the fifth
chapter of iJd-sa -sa{a oft
llcrrttuds is a poem that emphasizcs the power of the spoken u,ord to a
lr,r.('lter extent than many other old Norse texts (Kress 191)3: 57ff.;
N.urnrann 191)3).The text is divided into three parts; the first sc-ven sranz.rs firllow each other, while the two last are anticipatecl by prose inserti.rrs. with its nine verses the text constitutes a Llnique exarnple in olcl
N.rse literature of how a saga writer has made use of the poetic fbrn-r of
.1,t'lls rrncl the sr,rpposccl por.ver of tar-reaching strong worcls. poetry
.rl)[)cur{ with sorrrc frecltrency in tlre prosc texts, but to nry knorvledge this
rt tltt' lttttgest ttsc of tltc spcll [rrrrrr in uny sitgu. With rts str()ng worcls r-he
slrt'll :tdtls irrtcltsity ro tltc corrHict irr tlrc clr:rptcr.Tlrc rr;rrr;rtivtl firc:trsgs 9rr
,r tlisPtrte [lctwt'ctt I(itrg Ilrirrqt';rttil ;ur oltl w()lniul. Iitrsl,r, krrorvrr firr ]rer
rvistlottt. IIcr PllrVt'r'is;r lrt.titiolr lo r.t.lt';rst'(lrt.tr.r,o intPt.isotrt.tl lrt.rot.s of'
lltt's;tg:r, <ltrt'ol'tltt,ttt llrt'Ltrrri's ()\\,il s()il, lltt'otlrt'r-ltt.t.lirstt,r.sorr. lirrt
134
tq.t'r.
It
lrr this text the recurring rrotif of the performer of trolldltmr as an old perwith access to ancient lore and alnrost lost knowledge, tp-fr, appears
again. Both before and after the poem explicit references are made to the
nevn, religion , ts in Crcttis -saga discussed above. Nevertheless, Busla is asked
to assist in a problenratic situation and the text reveals at this point an
anrbiguous attitude torvards the o1d religion.
Busla is not ar all preser-rted as an evil person and, fronr the saga author'.s
point of view, she is supportivc and loyal to her fosterson. Even so, what
she threatens King Hringr r,vith nrust fall undc'r the category of perforrned
nralevolence. The use of the spoken word in an attelnpt to break fetters
and release prisoners is not exclusively an Old Norse tradition. Release is
the tlrerre of the first Merseburg Charm and Bedei Historia Ecclasiastiu 4'.
22 as well as the Christian legend of St Paulis visit to and inrprisollrent in
sor-r
Ilor"r're.
35
what begins as a plea ends as a cllrse. The introductory prose gives sotne
interesting details about the character of Busla. No really negative words
are used, but her skills are apparently conceived of as ambiguous old-time
lore,
.l
lrr the following prose the king is very upset and atenlpts to attack Br_rsla
violence, to silerce her, to cut hcr ofr, calling her uintJ ucetty,
', r'il clemon' or'spirit'. But
Busla has bor-rnd hir-n with her ipell. He cannot
r rst' fronr his bed to attack her and the servants
around hi,-,, ,.. put to
',lr't'p. we recognize fiom other sagas the aggressive atte,lpt to stop the
Irr.wledgeabie when unfavourable lvords are uttered. Thus, in this case
rr.tlring can hinder the forceful words uttered bv Ilusla. She continues and
lrt'r' threats escalate. All kinds of supernatural beings are let loose according
rr, l1g1 curse, all the beings that wrll attack if Ki,g Hringr does not obey:llrsl.ls plea to release the prisor.rers. They are called trolls, elves (afii{,
lrrtrwledgeable norns (tqfranornir), a,d different narles lor giants ancl
,lt rrronic beings: hilar, hcrgrisar, hrimpursar
- beings presented ", ,t.ong..
tlr.rrr the power of the king.
Attcr this cascade the king rneets Busla's petirion half-way and asrees rc-r
r, lt'.rse one of the prisoners, his own son, but not her fosterson.
r'ith physicai
'lrr
that case, I'11 have to deal u.ith yor-r further,' said llusra. Then she
strrrtcd recitins the so-called 'Syrpa verses'which hold the nrost powerlirl rn:rsic, and which nobody is allor,vecl tc-r siug after sunset.40
Ilr,'tin:rl statrzlt is strpposeclly thc strorrscst rnil ilher plca is not lulflllecl
tlrt'kirrg rttttst t'itltcr solvc:t riddlc of six nlr)res or tlrc worst of []r-rsllls pre,lt, (lol)s r,vill c'orttc tltrt'. Aticr tltc vcrst' lr lirrc witlr lturir' lcttcrs is irrscrtcrl,
rr lrit lr rs strplrost'tl to [rt' tlrt' ritkllc. li:rt.irrg tlris
Prctlorrrirr;rrrt.c tlrt. kirrg
r',1\'('s tl[). Ncxt tllry tltt'1rt'isottt't-s,rti'tt'lt':tst'rl rrrrtl tlr<. li,llorvirrg r'lr:rPtt'rt( (()tlllts tlrlrt tlrt' tw() ttt('tr .tlrr,tYs lirllorvt'tl llrrsl.ri .rrlvr,t' irr llrt'ir lirtrrrt.
136
business.
l1ew context.
Spells r.vere thought of as useful for distinct purposes, such as attempts to
n.ranipulate lveather and love, and at hindering ar1 opponent, and they are
in tlrat sense close to the catalogues of Hiuamil, Sigdriliunil and other
Eddic poenrs. A conrparison could be made between Buslubcen and the
second Old High Gernran Mersebr.rrg Charrn. Both texts are constrlrcted
in terrns of a direct confrontation.The speakers are directly adclressing the
Pcrformed Malcuolence
of spell. Most ofter-r it ir.rvolves an act, elaborate or simple, or even a full ritttal. Some texts nrention the use of concrete objects, like blood or a piecc
olwoocl. Signs and syrnbols like runes can be included.The intricate question of the use of the runes rnust be discussed in this context.The senderls
use r>f the instmrnent(s) airrs at a result. Sornething nrust be changed irr
favour of the person who initiates the perfonrance, not necessarily thc
sender. Flor.vever, it nrust be renrenrbered that sirlilar rituals were used ftrr
gaining prosperity, healing, ar-r d protection.
It is therefore inrportant to ask: ntalevolence frortr whosc perspectivc?
T1're sagas, as any other texts, are never neutral. Most explicitly tl-rey tell of rr
slrrvey of events fronr a certain farnily'.s point olview, rrnr:rlglrrrrrted with lll
the loyalties, aninrositics, ancl tcrrsiorrs of thc sr()up. 'liolldr\rur rituals rrrt'
oftcn sttpposcd to bc exct-tttcd iln'r()lrg tht'r'rrt'nrics:rs:rrr irrrlit':rtion of h<lw
[r:rtl tlrcv r-cllly rrrt'. Ilvcrytlrirrg t'lst' irr r slgil t('\t rrr:rv Irr' o[rst'rrrt', btit tlrc
t'otttlit ts :rr.' :rlrl'.rvs lrrt itl itr tlre [11v1.
137
rrrother's knorvledge and once again the question can be raised whether a
l)rrrely negative characterization of what is done in the narne of trolkl|mr is
138
in
until
now.'+3
With her uttered rvords she takes away not only his luck and fortune, Sipl
ok grc-fd,but also all possibilities of help and wisdonr. Frotn Grettir'.s answer
we can gather that he knows that he has lost: 'No lvords have ever unsettled nre more than those that she spoke.'aa His reaction against the old
woman is very violent, not because she represents paganism, but because
sl.re is tl-rreatening him r,vith her knowledge. Most of all he is afraid of her
spoken lvorcls, beir-rg well aware of his rnother's predictions. He throrvs a
larse stone at her and her 1eg breaks. Helga Kress has noted the sitnilarity
between Grettir's behaviour against Durid and tl.re custom of stoning persons accused of trolldtSmr to death. The conflict with the knorvledgeable
trlnrs out to be a vital part of this plot too, only it ntust be noted that this
tinre there is no Christian opposition as in other scenes of the sagas.
Dorbjgrn is very disappointed w'ith the trip to l)rangey, but I>uridr carr
conrfort him; this is only the beginning of Grettir's hard times. I>orbjqrn
still thinks he has r.nade a lool of hinrself, e:Iger as he is for imnrediate
results. Nevertheless, a lclng tinre passes before the old wolran nrakes her
second irlove - the ritual. Since she is severely rnjured in her leg she is carried down to the beach, r,vhere her actior.rs are carefully described:
He did as she recluestecl, and when she reached the shore she hobbled
along by the sea as if follor.ving directions,until she carne to a tree lying
ther:e, a stub with the roots on, big enough to have to be carried on a
nran's shoulders. She looked at the tree and asked the men to tttrn it
over for her. The underside looked burnt and rubbed down. She nrade
them scrape a flat sudace where the tree had been rubbed, then took
her knife and carved runes into the root, stneared them with her blood
and recited spells. Then she walked backwards and withershins around
it, and spoke many mighty prolloLtncenlents upon it. After that she had
the tree pLlt to sea, prorlor.lncing that it should drift out to l)rangey,'and
nray it harm Clrettir in every *"y.''+5
The olcl wonran is consistently obeyed and the young nran is loyally giving
her assistance. Clandestine forces are guiding the fbstertnother. Her ttlovenrents in rvalking backr,vards, cottnter-clocklvise, rnake the ritual appear
strange, as ancient ancl exotic as the clothirxa of dtc uglra irt L'irift-s -sa.g,r
r,lrrda.The use of the woocl arrcl thc can,iug of nrncs rnight be cotttparecl to
lrlrrid, ritttal clellinr:rtiorr (r,n,hclr clestrltctive rtlllcs arc crtrvccl irrtr> a trcc)'
Aqain thcrc lrc rc:rsorlrblc rr:u-r:rtivc l)rrrl)()scs firr thc cottspit'ttotts scclrcry;
tltr';rtrtlror's irrtt'rrtiorr is.tpp:rr-t'rttly to rtt:tkc tltt'stolv s,'t'ttt tl,l,l:rrrtl oltl.
Scandinauia
139
l)istant'powers'seem to gLride Forbjqrg. She is well prepared and can perform an elaborate ritual.'was the snrearing of blood iomething spectacular
to the saga audience, as it is to a modern reader? was it . *ry
making
"r
the christian audience understand how cruel the pagan rituals were?
It is an elaborate performance, well prepared in several stages. Duridr is
probably operating with a piece of wood that has previously been used for
trolld6mr. The fosternlother uses her sensitiviry
,rrak.r no
"rd blood, the over-hasry
nloves. Her instruments are the wood and her own
carving of
runes and her spell, the spoken word. She sends a tangible object agalnst
tl.re victim. She is the performer, the mediurn, through *t i.t the wishes of
the assigner are sent, although Dorbjgrn is ignorant of ho* and why he has
to rely on her. Some texts stress the importance of physical contact when
trclld\mr is performed, such as vatnsdela saga 44 r"h.r. Dorkell can make
the text discussed rhe nroment of touch seems to be the iurningpoint for
cvents to so in a new direction.
Powerfi.rl forces are let loose and the results are bound to be quickly evitlcnt. Grettir twice tries to avoid contact with the piece of wood, having a
sense of danger,but the third time it is brought to the house by the thrill.
when chopping it up for firewood Grettir is wounded and is thereafter a
wcak and vulnerable target for his enernies. Duridr's deeds have fulfilled
rvhat Grettir's mother had foreseen in her dreams ancl warned her son
rr[rout.
There are both sirnilarities and differences when Duridri deeds are com1r;rred to the seidr performed by Irorbjgrg litil-uqlua on Greenland. The
srrnre terminology is used for their capacities. Divination is performed,
cal, trlations and predictions are made, but the intention behinJ the act differs
, .nrpletely. Crettis saga tells of an exclusive private ritual where the goal
is
.nly to harm and eliminate the enemy. Furidr's ritual is a private ceremony
lirr the benefit of an individual and her kin, an affair of interpersonal and
rrrtcrfamily conflict, not an event shared by a local communiry.
140
the local community. It is interesting to note how the family acts together
in these rituals and how they are treated as a group, not primarily as individuals. The succession of knowledge is evidently conceived of as kept
within the fanrily, to give a flavour of uninterrupted transmission. In some
sense Kotkell himself takes the lead as head of the family, but there is no
obvious gender division in the performances expressed in the text. No
action is commented on as unmanly or with any equivalent terrn, but
rather as immoral and, above all, foreign. The family is said to be from the
Hebrides and to be newcomers to Iceland.'When introduced, these people
are given a description with negative connotations: 'all of them skilled in
witchcraft fmjqkfiqlkunnigl and accomplished magicians lmestu seidmen )'.16
Their foreign origin is emphasized in the episode and ethnicity serves here
very clearly as a marker of otherness (Sayers 1992:133ff.). Soon they are
involved in local conflicts and Kotkell is offering the family's skills as a way
of establishing allegiances in the new place. The family is said not to work
particularly hard to support itself, which might indicate that they were also
suspected of using their abilities and trollddmr knowledge to gain prosperity
without hard labour. Such abilities are labelled'magical rnilk theft'in later
Scandinavian fblklore and were literary and iconographic motifs on the
Continent during the Middle Ages. In the Christian context both theological discourse and more didactic anrbitions to explain the origins of evil
were focused on the devil as a character. Such a figure could be used to
visualize the sum and substance of the message existentially and ontologically as well as mythologically. The very existence of devils and demons
was constantly confirmed by the Church in sermons, ceremonies and
iconography. The attributes of these creatures that were irnpressed during
the process of Christianization and further on during the Middle Ages
have their origin in ancient Greece and the NearEast.All over Europe the
Christian mission could identifli the demonized gods with the devils and
fiends with cloven hoofs, tails and horns. Many stories, motifs and themes
in the Old Norse literature are adaptations from a widespread Continental
corpus of texts and pictures.
-fhe Laxddd text does not give any details of the ceremonies,but rather
a striking and detailed picture of the conflict pattern behind thenr. First,
the fanriiy members are accused of theft and of being knowledgeable, pi6;fnadr okJjqlkynig,and are condemned to outlawry. However, there is never a
fornral trial at the Alpingi, since Kotkell and hrs farnily imrnediately take up
the struggle against the accusation by performing -seidr with dramatic cor.rsequences. Kotkell raises a seidhlallr and the whole fanrily gets Lrp to sing
gdldr songs. As a result a stornl arises and causes the death of Kotkell'.s
antagonists at sea.The fanrily uses the scidlldllr, ar.r object of obscure cc>nstrlrction th:rt is also nrentionccl in l:iriks stqa rrltr)rr,.rS tlrcir collcctivc
ctlttil.rtttt'ttt.'I'lrc text strcsscs thlt tlris olr-jcr't is r'lirrrlrr'rl lry tlrc [ro'tirnrrcrs,
Scandinauia
141
make use of local conflicts just as they are used themselves by people in the
* in transactions between the families:
neighbourhood
Forleikr then approached his tenants, Kotkeil and Grima, to ask them ro
to discredit Hrftr [Dorleikr's enemy]. They agreed
readily and prornised to ger righr to work.48
take some action
For the second time the family performs a seidr ceremony together. The
song is said to be very beautiful but also strange. It is directed towards a
certain person, who understands the purpose and therefore forbids his
people to leave the house during the night. But to the young son of the
house the sounds of the seidr are irresistible and he walks out ;f the house
only to fall dead irnmediately. This is quite similar to what happened to
Fidrandi in ltidranda pdttr,who was enticed out of the house anJ kiled by
the d{sir. ln Laxdela s4g4 norhing is said about which powers or beings
actually kiil the boy - just that the sounds of the rorg horrr the Kotkells
overpower him. The scene - with the foreign family singing outdoors in
the night, while the local people have entrenched therruelves inside the
u,der the ground they found bones, which were brackened a,d
horrible, along with a chest pendant and a large magician'"s staff
lseidstafr
nrikilll. People therr dc'cided that a prophetess ruusr have been buried
here luq>lulti<)i,:r prophctcssls sravel.J"he bones wcre urovecl to a relllote
pllcc littlc ti-ccltrlrrtt'tl l,y rrrcrr.'r"
App;rrctrtly
tltc
por"vt't
142
renrains of the uglua could be moved, but their power could not be completely destroyed.
The trolld6mr and seidr story in l-axdela saga is skilfully woven around a
series of actions and counteractions.The accusations of theft and extraordinary knowledge lead to a spiral of conflicts with violent deaths and great
anger among the local people.The final revenge and the punishments of the
Kotkel family are undertaken by the local people without any formal trial.
No general classification of seidr can be made according to the temrinology in use, since only a vague distinction as to the intention of the rituals is adopted as a narrative tool by the saga authors. Still, cornpared to
Eiriks saga rauda 4 there are some similarities of interest, even if the purpose
of the acts are entirely di{Ierent. In both texts the scenes of the seidr
cerernonies are focused on the singingon the hjallr,bot there is no technical information. Obviously the equipment is of less interest than the power
and effect of the spoken word. In both texts the trolld()mr knowledge is
considered to be of old times and associated with geographical fringes,
Greenland and the Hebrides.
to1ld6mr in Early
Madieual Scandinauia
143
,lt't
t;rrnr
144
anirnals. The same type of verses and spells are found in large numbers in
later Scandinavian folklore. The Anglo Saxon charms also give r-nany
examples of spells against physical illness caused by elves and demons: elf-
longing emerges:
Long I waited
on Lyfaberg
day on day I waited for you;
now it has happened,
that
assist
halls.53
The verb ffia is not very common in Old Norse, but in later Scandinavian
languages it is quite frequent and forms several compounds like /r75a and
lAuja in association with trollddmr and healing. The iatter form is used by
Christian writers before and after the Reformation as a broad ternr for ali
kinds of paganism and superstition. In Old Norse the nouns taufr and ly.f
can reGr to knowledge of healing, but are mostly used in their negative
meaning of damage or destruction.
Egik saga Skalla-Cr{mssonar 72 gives a lucid example of the process of
action and counteraction in a healing procedure per{ornred by Egill himself. A young woman is laid up in bed, weak and feeble, due to runes cut
against her. She is described as the victim of a rejected suitor, who had
failed in his attempt to handle the runes. Instead of raising love he had
caused her illness. Apparently the knowledge of rune carving was not easily accessible. Due to his sufficient knowledge, Egill finds the runes, cut on
a fish-bone, in the woman'.s bed and immediately burns it. Thereafter, as a
confirmation of the faiiure of the unskilled carver, Egill sings:
145
New runes, apparently more powerful, are cut by Egill and the young
wonlan is freed from her paralysing weakness. Egill is said to be generously
rewarded by the family, in the sarne manner as the direct piyment or
I anticipated,
Scandinauia
There is a distinct physical contact between the helper and the wonran in
need. The runes on the hand serve as mediators for the healing power.
Nothing is said here about whether a,y special ritual was needed-to get
help from the disir, but it seems that the powerful spoken word couldte
accompanied by some kind of ceremony in favor,rr of these protective
Let the woruan who c:rnr.rot bring forth her child g. ti> the grave of a
wise rrrarr,:rrrd stcl-r thrcc tirrrcs <lvcr thc grlrvc,:rrrtl thcrr sly thcsc worcls
thrcc tirrrcs:
146
Loue
Texts dealing with the atnorous aspecrts of trolld\mr ;rre nruch l1lore scarce
than those concerned rvith the clestrLlctive. Interestingly they mirror the
sanle attitLtdes and methods as the descriptions of perforrr.red nralevolence
and
As in nuny spells, words and ritual gestures are combirred, in this case
along rvith frequer-rt triads of repetition.The visit to the grave oithe helper
is, as discussed above, a metaphor used in Eddic poetry. When it cornes to
the ritual aspects of the AIrglo-Saxou chartn quoted above, it could be
interprered in two ways - either as genuirtely descriptive, indicating that
panpi. actually went to such a grave, or in ternrs of the introcluctory lir-re
telling of the rvise rvonrant grave functioning as a form of invocation giving legirinracy to the following three lines. The latter way of reading the
teit would indicate a rather obvious sinrihritv with the fortnulaic elements of Eddic song tradition.
Trolld6mr and
117
Larrington 1996:67)
Gerdr cannot resist the porverful runes fiorn the suitor and uives trp her
resistance.A tone of cruelry and violence is present throtrghout the poetlt.
The young wolnan is exposeci to thc clprice of n sttpr:rior titrcc.Acttrllly it
is prtt .r r1ri,.'sti6n oFlxrr.rsiug lovc, btrt of brr':rkirrg tlorvtt tItc ()tllcl'l)('rs()ll's
tu
148
ln
Larrington 1996:72)
Manuilar and manrilnar are both terms with erotic connotations hinting at
the ability to arouse love by the force of trolldtirnr insights (l)./rlsson 1990:
1751if .). The same aggressive atnrosphere snrrouncls 6hs he16is: poerrr
Helgakuida Hjgruardssonar 15 where the hcro Atli is irrvolved in l verbal
duel with thc giruitcss Hrirrrgcr<)r.'l'lrc torrt'is vcry rrgurcssivc rrrrtl wc c;rrr
149
is
yoLl,
.('5
o;f
Perfonning
Tiolld6mr
As this chapter has indicated, both nrythological narratives and sag;as give
tlescriptions of more or less eiaborate rituals perforrned in an attenlpt to
:rchieve knowledge of otherwise hidden matters.To some extent the deeds
of the gods seern to have formed a prototype for the understanding of the
origin and effect of trolldtimr. In sagas some historical and contemporary
individuals were conceived to have the extraordinary skills to conduct
stch trolld|nr rituals. Knowledge was sought from the outside, from
s()Llrces that could be destructive of the social order. The demonic beings
of the realm of the giants are often involved, as if knowledge could not be
lvith harmony only or be fully operative unless also i.n contact rvith
rlisharmony.
The .luridical and political decisions of the plnl meetings were acconl1,:rnied by lil6t offerings perfbrmed according to the established custom of
society, sldr. While bl6t was conducted among influential men, that is, by
tlre godi in local society, -seidr seems to have taken place less formally at
l,rrnrs. It was also a ritual of a highly ambiguous character.The perforrners
.rre described as odcl and significantly diflerent in one way or another,
,r..'cr:lrclins to age, ethnicity or social position. Anrongl the perforrners
w()lllen play a nrorc uctivc role than otherwise in Olc-l Norse literature.
Wlrcthcr this irrdicrrtcs tll:rt w()lr)elr took 1r nr()re dircct prrrt in .srir)r and
,livirlrtiorr ritu;rls otrtsirlt'tlrt'tt'xts is lr rrlrttcr tor tlc[r;rtc. Sorrrt'tcxts sittr:rtc
tltc ritrr:rls itt rt'tttolr' l)l.rt t's, lrr,'sttttt:rhly t() str('ss tltt' irtt:rgt' <lf'lrr,rttrt-t's
15i)
from days gone by. Many rituals are performed in order to destroy and
harm, sometimes on behalf of a person other than the performer. On the
other hand, from tirne to time the saga texts stress that the knowledgeable
were invited to perform divination rituals, seidr. Insight into the conditions
of the forthcoming year was a fornr of knowledge that was eagerly sought
after. Seidr and related ceremonies could also be seen as private fertiliry rituals in accordance with the needs of a rural sociery.
Vital pre-Christian conceptions can be observed in rnuch later documentation of Scandinavian folk beliefs and folk medicine as regards both
form and content.The authority of skilled persons'use of the spoken word
for destruction or healing is apparent over a long period of tinre. In popular discourse this was not explicitly expressed as an opposition against the
Church (although clergymen after the Reforrnation definrtely regarded it
as such) but as a way of handling rnore or less clandestine powers.
Cornpared to the world of the Norsemen very little is known about the
ritual practices of other Germanic peoples on the Continent. When it
comes to trolld6mr, there are no texts comparable to the Eddas or the sagas.
FIowever, correspondences can be observed with Old High German and
Anglo-Saxon poetry, especially in the use of charms and spells. Not only in
rletrics and form, but also in content and ideology, this corpus shows
striking similarities wrth different Old Norse modes of expressing trust irr
the power of the spoken word. Many of the Continental spells combinc
uttering with bodily nlovenlents in a way that is familiar front
Scandinavian traditions.
CHAPTER
As social memory the sagas dealt much with the administration ofjustice,
irrcluding accusations of trol.ld6mr. In Iceland time and social space were
cxplicitly allotted for trials. The rules for these events represent a circunrstlntial process of formalization, when a local conflict was to be solved in
lrublic. Any accusation or other issue should always be brought to public
krroweldge in due time before negotiations could start. Since the code of
Ir,ruour is so visible as an irnportant matter in the saga texts. it is interesting
to speculate on what was thought of people who took the law into their
,rwn hands.The killing of a person connected wtth trolldt5mr was not always
Iollowed by revenge or legal proceedings; rather, the spontaneous revenge
rvrrs in some cases conceived to be a praiseworthy deed.
The Old Norse texts reveal several different strategies regarding people
rvlro were sr,rpposed to perform trollddmr and cunning deeds. Some of them
rvcre dealt with directly, while others faced formal trials. The cases were
tlrcrl treated like any other criminal case and followed an established set of
rrrles. Compared to other aspects of social organization the sources provide
tlrc modern reader with quite a lot of useful information.
ceremonies
lrr corrtrast to trolld|mr, the concept of law was a cortlllonly accepted and
rrsctl abstract ternt. Tiadition recounts that law was brought to Iceland
lrorrr Norway with some of the first settlers, landnimsmenn (Fix 1993b).
llro early laws of the Norsemen were orally transmitted and are only
l.rrown as echoes in the first written legal documentation, Crigis, and in
rlr(' sxgas (Dennis, Foote and Perkins 1980). However, names of insticutions
.rrrtl posi.tions used Iong after the introduction of Christianiry give hints
.rlrotrt the organization of the oral law. It is generally assumed that the laws
\\'('r'c anlor1ll the first texts in Scandinavia to be written down. Crigis,liter.rlly'(irey (]oose'because of the erey cover to one of the nranuscripts, is a
rrrrxctl collection of lcg:tl rtranrrscripts oltthe so-callecl Icelandic colulrlorlrvt',rltlr (Fix 1993u).'['lrc tcxts wclc brought toscthcr in l flrst conrl.rouncleci
lor n1 t,"r1r'tps us crrrly ;rs tlrt' lrrtt' twclftlr ('cntrrry,:rrrtl cxprcss thc lcgal cotle
lr()nr tltc titttc ol tltt's:r1,,,rs. Ilowt'vt'r, tlrt'llrtto':rirrr lrt rllrys p:rst rvlrilc tlrc
t52
Scandinauia
153
for
years,
Denmark.
The arnbition o[ rhe sagl writers was to link their contclnporary tinlc
to the world befbre these changes. Before the subrnission to the
Norwegian king in 1262-4 there was no state or general state authority ill
Iceland. A certain idealizing romanticism flavours the accounts of tinrc
past, but based on the conviction that a social order existed from thc
beginning. l\egions were ruled by local chieftains, godar.The relationship
between the ruler and the local inhabitants formed the basis of a social
network that included both law and religion, among other social activitics.
Free men could rnake a treaty of rnutual loyalry with a godl that both parties could annui. The possibilities of local variation nlust, therefore, always
colour any reconstruction of the lcelandic judicature.
o-f
the Latu
When the sagas speak of law it is not a national code for lceland that is
referred to - as was the case with the Scandinavian codes of the latcr
Middle Ages - but local agreements with a more or less explicit coltlrcction with a general assembly for the whole island. I)espite other nlrtjor
changes, the sociai organization of the law remained to a large extent rlll(l
for a long tinre unchanged and the developtttetrt of tnore fcrrtrlal lcg:rl
institutions was a later process. I)ower rclatiorrs wcrc always very visiblc irr
the social operatiols surrotrndirrg crinrc uncl prrnislttttcnt. Irr tlrc legrrl sys
tcnr of tlrc or:rl r'ulttrrc thc llrwspcrrkt'r, /qrq.iirqrrlr(,()r, nlcrllorizctl :ttttl
rccited tlrc l;r'nv;rt.joirrt rrrt't'tirrgs of'tlrr',grrr)rtr. Illt'ttt'tl lirr:t pt'riotl of-tltrt'c
the
The Alpingi, the general annual assembly, was the foremost uni$,ing
political factor in the absence of state authority.According to tradition the
institution was founded in 930 and meetings were held for a few weeks
cvery summer. The legendary history of the foundation of the Alpingi
gives the original number of chieftains as thirry-six. A special area with no
permanent buildings was reserved for the assembly. It was a clearly defined
social space fbr the leading members of sociery as well as a gendered space
since women could generally not speak befbre the Alpingi. The nreetings
r.vere certainly not of a purely legal character, but of religious, social and
cconomic importance too. The Alpingi was an important opportuniry for
trading. It was also a tirle when political power was negotiated and agreenrents of different kinds were made. Long after the establishment of the
( lhurch and national legal codes, this kind of multipurpose meeting kept
rts relevance for local social life all over Scandinavia. A legislative assembly
:rlso rnet on these occasions, constituted by the most prominentgodar.This
to
l)r()cesses, power was consolidated in the thirteenth century into the hands
,rl'rr few fanrilies. Snorri Str-rrluson's life ancl death is a good exar.nple of this
,lt'vclopnrent. Born as he was into the ruling elite he could rchieve lrlore
rv.'llth and influcncc through nrarriage, i-rut was rrt tl're surrre tirrrc alscr
rnvolvccl irr rrcw t'orrHic'ts. [{is cout;rcts with tlrc Norwcgirrrr kirrg c::ttrsccl
,,rrspir'iort lborrt lris loy:rltir's:trttl un csc';tl:rtiort of tlrc corrflir't lctl to Slrrlrrils
nrru'tlt'r'irr l2-ll.l)trirrri tlrrs |t'riorl tll('.(()()()r() wt'rt'rttlt'tl by orrly l fi'w
154
members of the dominant families. This was the harsh reality, far fronr the
idealized accounts of the landnim pertod when the thirry-six godord rvere
Scandinauia
155
In the
The most elaborate narrative in the sagas of a fornral trial against a person
suspected of per{orming trolldt5mr can be read ir.r Eyrbygqla saga 16.In relation
to the rest ofthe corpus this text nrust be regarded as an exception because
of its length and details.The sequence is focused around guilt, responsibiliry
and punishrlent. It suggests a given set of legal rules and a social organization in which trollddmr crimes could be punished and disputes settled.
Eyrbyggja saga 1.6 opens at the heart of a conflict. Further events lead to a
severe accident that is considered in the neighbourhood to be caused by
trolldtimr and one woman is under suspicion.The erotic implications of the
trttlld6mr practices in chapters 15 and 16 that cause youni Gunnlaugr bodily harr-n have been discussed above.The intrigue focuses around the struggle between two wonlen with contradictory attitudes towards their
trolld|mr skills.These two knowledgeable wolllen do not:rct exclusively on
tlreir own but on the periphery of other major fandly conflicts.This confir:nrs the idea that a trolldt5mr conflict never appears on its own. There are
nrany layers of dispute and nruch tnore vioience will occur before the saga
('olr1es to its end. Still, these two chapters on trollddmr can be read as a
conrplete story in its own right.
Both women are old enough to have grown-up sons. Katla is still goodkroking but not very ruuch liked by the local people and her son Oddr is
siven an entirely negative characterization:'boisterous and very talkative, a
trouble maker and a slanderer'.66 Geirridr on the other hand is just said to
bc mdrgkurnrlg,'knowing a lot', and is shown to be willing to pass on her
irrsights generously to the younger generation.
Katla keeps repeating her invitation to the yolrng man to stay overnight,
lrut she is always rejected. Her sneering and insinuating rvords to
(iunnlaugr when he refuses to stay the fatal night reveal her coarse manrrcrs and lack of qualities: 'She asked him whether he was going to
Mivahlid [Geirridr\ placel again "to stroke the old wotnan's groin" '.67
[-or the young nran the antagonism between the wornen leads to disastt'r; he is found unconscious and severely wounded in the nrorning, after
tryirr* to travel on his orvn during the nieht. From a legal point of view
tlrcrc is an incident antl l victinr, ancl behincl hinr a whole fanrily.The local
rrrtcrprctati<rn is th:rt (itrrrrrl:ru{rr is l.rurt by trolld6nr.lJr-rt there are no witr)('sscs, orrly nrrrrotrls, :rrttl :rn irttrir':ttc corrflict to bc s<tlvcd.
( )tltlr,;rttirrg orr lrr'lr.rll ol'lris rrrotlrcr, ptrts tlrc lrlutttc ort (icirrir)r, tcllilrrr
lrt'o[rlt' tlr;rt slrt' ltrrs ,r((,rt kr'tl (itrrrrrlrrugl irs rr rttqlrt lr:rg, /i()i/ ltotttrttt.'l'l'tc
156
Ettrope
:'lhe Middle
Ages
relatives of the injured therefore want to bring the case before the pirg and
they act in a given sequence in accordance with custolll: 'Forbjqrn rode to
Spreading gossip concerning seriotts luatters was certainly not an hollourable thing to do and the chapter closes with a harsh remark:'Snorri antl
Dorbjqrn's case was quashed, which brought thern dishonour.'7o The nrisuse of the spoken word was considered a rrajor crinre attd only dishontltrr
could come from such behavior-rr.
All the actions of the fornral trial took placc in wcll-clefirred ptrblit'
space eud were, as such, clearly obscrvrrblc :rctivities.J'hc irttirrrrral trill lr:rtl
rrrorc oF tltc clrarlctcr of :rrr uct of rcvcngc utttl oficrt took pl;tt'c irr tltt'
vitirrity of-tlorrrcstit-ltrt';ts.'l'ltc irrlirrrrr:rl st'ttlctttt'ttt w;ts tl()t strt'rtrtttrtlt'tl lly
Scandinauia
157
conflict only a person with equal insight and capacities can help them.
(leirridr is called for and fronr a long distance Katla can see that the complny searching for Oddr has increased by one person:' "That will be the
rroli, Geirridr, coming with therr,'said Katia,'and simple illusions fsjinhuerfirrg, i.e. deceiving of sightl wrll not be enough now." '71 Knowledgeable
rrnd sensitive as she is, Katla feels that this time things mrght go in a direction unfavourable to her.
When Geirridr and the ltren enter the room they immediately put a
skin bag over Katlat head as protection against her evil eye. They find
( )tldr and hang him at once. As he is recalcitrant it is comrnented by the
r'('vengers that all his trouble is due to his evil-minded mother. The
r1'sponse conres immediateiy:' "Maybe he doesn't have a good mother,"
s:ricl Katla,"but I never wished him to get such an evil end because of me.
It's rny will that you all get an evil end because of me, and I expect that
rvil[ bc the case."'72 As always in the sagas the curse will later ttlrn out to
lrc cftective.
I(:ttllr rrrakcs ;r r'orrltcssion tlr:rt sl'rc was tl'rc t:rrrc causing Gtrnnlaugr darn,rqt' :rrrtl tlrc qtrcstiorr of'r-lrrilt is thcrcby scttlcd. Apparcntly, thc revengers
lill tlrc s:rrnc rolr':rs tll('witn('sst's irr u lirrrrr:rl trill. llrrt befirrc shc is killcc'l
slrt' llys yt't :ur<rtlrt'r ( ur\(', ,i('r,rr'()i; tlris tirrrc orr Arrrkcll. Iivcrr if'hcr' 11:rzt' is
158
rendered harmless by the skin bag there are still powerful words to be used
and until the last moment the knowledgeable fights back against her enenries. Katla is stoned to death and the chapter ends:'The news quickly
travelled everywhere, but no o11e thought it was sad. And so the winter
passed by'.73The sagas nlay be laconic, but they are certainly not neutral in
in
Laxdela
-saga chapters 35ff. were discussed in the previous section; and there is also a
lega1 afterrnath to their activities (Miller 19i16: 110ff.). The Hebredian
fanrily was accused of theft and -fi7lkyngl because they gained prosperity
without any seeming effort, which irnplied the use of trolld6mr. The
episode starts as if a formal trial is going to take place. An old woman
stands behind the accusation but it is her son who is the formal actor' As a
man he can sumlnon the Kotkells in public:
F6rdr rode to Kotkell's farrr with nine other nten. Kotkell's sons were
not at home. Before witnesses, D6rdr charged Kotkell and his wife and
sons with theft and sorcery ffiqlkyngl, an offence punishable by outlawry for life lskigangr).74
Ski,qqangr figuratively speaking nleant that the person was doomed to walk
the woodlands and not stay in populated areas. It distinctly nleant that the
suggests.
Scandinauia
159
to have proved how effective was his curse'is the short comsaga.76 Hallbjqrn's destructive gaze and the powerful words in
his mouth show him fighting not only to the end, but even later still. He
is, as planned, drowned by the revengers. However, the sea does not keep
his body and washes the corpse ashore. Hallbjqrn has no peace and shows
himself to the living and causes trouble as a revenant.The conflict goes on
from the other side of the grave. As noted befbre, no sharp distinction can
be made between the livrng and the dead when it comes to action and
counteraction in trolld6mr cases.
The last surviving member of the Kotkell family, Stigandi, remains free
for some tinre. He is condemned in public as an outlaw, but manages to
keep away. The saga calls hirn iltile,qumadr, which has associations in two
different directions - socially with outlawry, and ritually with being
thotrght of as a performer of utilegd/ittisata and -seidr. In both meanings he
belongs to the wilderness outside sociery. In either aspect he had no
expectations of protection frorn anyone. A seidr performer and an outlaw
could be killed like an animal.
Stigandi is captured through crafty trickery (ch.3B). Somehow it is
known that he is meeting a wonlan sent out to watch the cows while they
graze. She is forced by nreans ofviolence to betray Stigandi: D6rdr had her
threatened to try and find out thc truth. When suitably frightened, the
wonran revealed that a man calne to her, "a large man, and handsome, he
seenred to me." '77 The harshness of the conflicts is shown in these few
sentences and rvhen Stigandi is finally captured, while resting with his
woman. The sarne procedure takes place as with the execution of his relatives. The revengers are afraid that Stigancli will cause the same damage
with his fatal gaze as did his brother, and are very careful when they put
the skin bag over his head. But this tirne there is a small slot in the head
are thought
ment in the
bag and the gaze of the -seidmadr causes the surrounding land to ianguish
if
as
There was a tear in the sack through which Stigandi could see the slope
opposite. It was a fertile brt of land, green w'ith grass, but suddenly it was
as if a tornado struck it. The land was transformed and never again did
grass grow there. It is now called'the Fire-Site'.78
llere we find another exan-rple of a place given its name after trolld|nu
incidents; nan-ring the lanclscape preserved menlory. The place nar.ne here
ttrnctions in the sanre way as a nronLlnrent of stone. Stigandi is finally
stoned to cleath. An outlaw hacl no nrore pr()tection, either socially or
lcgally, than rr wiltl lrclst. Killing an outlaw wils cvcll rc'nvurclctl.
So, wh:rt d<l thc two irrfirrrrr;rl trilrls hrrvc irr ('()nllll()n urrtl wh:rt nr:rkcs
tlrcrn diflt'r' fi'orrr tlri' lirlrrr.rl?'l-lrc irrtirrrrr:rl tri;rls lr:r.l rr t-lt':rr t'lrrrluctcr as
:rt'ts of'Iriv;r(('11'v('n1,,('. ll ,,rrr lrr'rrott'tl tlr;rl irr llrt'Priv,rl('.lr'('nil tlrrlirru tlrc
160
inforrnal trial against Katla, she takes part in a debate with her accusers
ending with hei cursing thern while the innocent Geirridr remains silent
thror-rghout the negotiations. Secondly, there are no indications in the texts
that the informal disputes are rnade public. It does not seem to have been
considered dishonouiable to execute persons proved to be associated with
trollil|mr.The latter is a critical point since the formal trial dernanded evidence or at least a trustable jury to pronounce a sentence.
In the narratives the theme of trial could be used ahnost in a mocking
way, or at least jocularly, and even the disobedient dead could face a trial.
The recently dlparted retained a strong relationship to the living, a bond
that the latter sometimes wanted to cut. ln Eytbygla r.1gd chapters 54-5 a
group of drowned people start to return in the evenings in their wet
.totfr.r.Each night they draw closer and closer to the fire.The closer they
come, the more problems arise and the peopie of the farnr fall ill and some
die.'Six people di.d thlr time, and some people fled because of the hauntings and the ghosts.'79 The situation beconres il1ore and more chaotic and
deip.r"t.. A man known for his wisdom advises the people to have 'a11 the
revenants prosecuted at a door court.Then the priest should say mass,consecrate *ater and hear everybody's confession.'80 This is done and finally
there is peace and the sick start to improve. Evidently the methods of both
the new and the old faith could heip in critical situations.
The descriptions of the drowning and stoning of people found guilty of
trolliltlmr agrei with what is written in Crigis and other later legal texts.
Katla is stoned to death and in Haralds sagd hirfapra some eighty seidmenn
are burnt to death. These rnethods of execution aiso appear in Christian
laws.
Grettis saga 82 can serve as an
161
coward and "greatly despised for his deed when people realised that he had
overcome Grettir with sorcery fulorningarl"'.81 It is not the killing of Grettir
that has brought the case before the Alpingi, but the use of gerningar. Not
even against an outlaw rs trolld6mr regarded as acceptable behaviour.
The proceedings of the Alpingi are described in chapter 84. Qngull
clainred a reward for killing an outlaw, as custorrl stipulated. Instead, it was
decidecl that he was responsible for killing by means o{ trolld|mr.lt is also
stated in Crdgis 7 that it is considered a crirne to pay a person to perform
tntllddmr. As a consequence, Qngull was now deerned an outlaw himself
and had to leave the same sr-lfirmer,never to return to Iceland.At the same
nreeting a new law is said to have been nrade that outlawed all knou4edgeable nren,-fo rneski wnenn.
Several of the episodes referred to above irnply a 'contact zone' where
old and new norms were amalgamated. The trial constitr.rted a 'spatial and
ternporal copresence', as discussed by Mary Louise Pratt (1992:7). The
introduction of r,vritten Christian laws into the early Scandinavian kingdonrs in one way rnarks the end of this essay. The Continental Christian
lesal traditions brought changes to the procedures of law and justice along
r,vith the influence of Mosaic and canonic law. Local traditions of legal
lt.lnrinistration became less relevant. Nevertheless. the world view behind
('ertain kinds of accusations shows striking similarities with the sagas.
'l'rolldtlmr
was apparently considered a serious crime in Christian times.The
rndical changes and differences must have worked together for a long tinre
rn a form of hybridization.We can recognize a stress on the spoken word,
the talk of cunning deeds, and an apparent awareness that an accusation of
trolld|mr could serve as serious defamation. The victims of trolld|mr coold
bc people and cattle, as well as material goods. The early Christian 1egal
tcxts state that spreading superstition should be pr-inished by fine, but it is
r()r vcry cleer whrr supcrstition wJs ('or)('cived.rs.The laws vary in giving
tlitli:rent fornrs of penalties and as in the saga texts the terminology varies
irr a way that indicates a variation in degrees of tntlld6mr.It is spoken of in
\'('ry lleneral terms as a threat to the true Christian belief. The Srvedish
l),ildlagen rrrentions wornen\ use of nails and hair as instrunrents for evil
,lceds, and the older l3orgarpingt law from Norway speaks of men sitting
out in the wilderness to seek visions and raising the trolls.82
(lisli Pllsson suggests that the decline of accusations of trollddmr as a
rrrotif in sasa texts was not connected to the introduction of Christianiry
lrrrt c:urne'as a result of increasecl social clistance, that is, with the developrrrt'rrt of ir-rcreasingly usynrnretrical power relations', and (he ci:ntinues at
tlrc orrl r:lf lris essly) 'wrs l conse(plcl)ce r>f changes in the political organis.rtrorr of tlrc (lorrrrrrorluvt',rltlr, tlrcsc clrlrrgcs bcirrg thc rcstrlt of inherent
t ontrrrlit'tiorrs irr lt'l.rtrt)ns .lnr()l)g t lricftlirrs ;rrrd firllor'vcls' (199 1: 157,
l{rl-i) . lt rs:r rlrst('r'nru', olrsr'rr'.rlton sitttt'tltt't'c ru't's() nlluly sirrril:rritics
162
between sasa texts and Christian larvs.The old gods were transforu.red into
clemons, but nrany vital conceptions obviously retnained the satne.
Shapeshifrers, the power of spells and destruction by nleans of, trollddmr
*ere t.eated by Christian authors for centuries as if they objectively
No/es
they were evil but real. But now a new theological entify wes
Chapter
I.
Bibliographical
llotc
Poetic Edda),
or editorial differences fronr the originals of rcxts quoted hcre nray Lrc
reflected in the translations cited; thc general uinr has been to usc thc nrost
reaclily available and r-rp-to-clate texts arrd translations.
est:rblish such a distinction have been nrlcle. For Katherine
Morris (1c)93) this difterence constitutes thc' basis lbr her str-rdy.
2. Attenrpts to
3. Cohn
erlces to editions ancl translatiotts of relevartt texts. Krrlrrriy'ri-sntrisk l&sikort-fi;r rtotdisk rnid-
lclildcr (2nd edn 19U1-8 in 18 volurrres) goes nrorc into det:ril, but the articles are
written in Scandinavian lanp;uages. Mcdieuat.firlklttrc: an cntl'rlLtpcdia ttl'nrytlu, Icgentls, tdlcs,
bclids, and clsttrrrs (200()) edited by Carl Lindahl ct al.tn rn'o volunres 55ive e detailecl
overview over popular culture and populer religion of the European Middle Agcs.
(19138) covers rrticles and lnonoJohn Lindor.vs bibliography Scantlinduiarr l4ytlrcloa:',
graphs published world wide and in nrost l:rnguages.
Sorle perioclicals that publish esseys relevant to the ()ld Norse freld can be tnen-
lttttl
tions of sallas are teken lronr The Conrplete Sagas of the Icelanders (henceforth CSI), and olEclclic versc lrom the trurslatiol olLarrington (sec uncler
1.
Hiuamil 142
acconrpanicd by tcxts
nrrc'l Schnrsclorl l9illJ;
Sirrrpson l9lJt3, md with special enrphasis <tn trolldirnr. Alvcr 1971r, b; Alvcr
lntl Selberg
ot
7.
NIolc.r
164
13
M6dur ord
ber
70. Hivamil
1,49
Dat
ka'n
bgnd
svi ec gel, at ec ganga t-ui,
sPrettr nl6r affotom floturr,
enn afhgndonr haPt.
Trans. ar.rd ed. Grendon 1909: 177 ,414:
Ic rnE on pisse g,vrde bellice, arrd on godes helcle bebeode
at
wid
12.
firrrrril:r 6k
Ii'r- st't
tl
Vitt er orpit
fyrir valfalli
riG reidisky,
rignir bl6di;
ni
er fyrir geirum
grir upp kominr.r
vefr verpj(rdar.
er prr vinur fylla
raudunr vepti
Randv6s bana.
I: 113f.
rrlrlti svi:'l
Vqhrspi 19-20
Asc veit ec standa, hcitirYggdrasill,
hlr badrnr, ausinn }rvitaauri;
padan koma dpggvar, prrs i dala falla,
stendr iE yfir, grcrnn, (Jrdar bmnni.
eru dreyrrekin
dqrr at skgptunr,
165
Irt'ssLr
rrit)i :i lrqrrrtl
jirrrvlrr)r
yllir',
en (,)rurr'r h :r.'l:tt'tr-;
skulttttr sl.i sr.'t't,)tttn
sit.r,t
vt'l
lrt'ttrt.r
166
Nbtes
large playing field, and the woman (especially the divorced or widowed
woman) sr-rfhciently ambitious and sufEciently endowed with money :rnd
power seerns not to have been especially hinderecl by notions of maie :rnd
leice lopti 1:
ec svh vittnc, at Peir vi11ir fara
sinna heint hama,
sinna
Chapter
heirl
huga.
16. The rtrost cletailed narrations describing the ritual perforntances of scidr are:
Eiriks sqqa rauda
-saga
saga
2;
Hr\lli
3; Vigd-Clums sa,qa 12. Severai other texts are of interest and sotne of
t[e1r u,ill be discussed in rvhat follows. For a rnore or less cotuplete catalogue of
texts relevant to -vrir)r see Dillnrann 19U7. Generrl discussiotrs on -icldr Striinlblck
soqn krakd
1935; l)illmami 1982, 19U7; Mundal and Steilsland 19ti9; Hastrup 1990a: 197tr,
Clurries l{oss 1998: 321; l)uBois 1999: 1211T.
17 . Vqllrspi 28: Ein sat hon i1ti.
'l
8. Snorri, Ynglinga -sa.qrl .1: Hou kenndi fyrst nred Asrrm seld,scmVgtttttn var titt.
19. Solie OId Norse texts :ue of special illterest: In the Pocllc Edda: Vpluspi,
Hit,drnil :irtd Crlttnisrnil; ancl Snorri'.s Etlda and the first chapters of his
Yn,glirryd -saga. E,specially the latter deals:rt length rvrth these nrore clandestine
20. Snorri,
claur)r,
Sigrdrilinill 13
Husritnar scalttt kunna, ef pir vilt hveriom vera
ucc)svinuari gutua;
prr
prr
or lr.rusi Hcr,lJrruptrit
oc 6r horni Hodclrofhis.'
22 Snorri, Yn,qlingLt sqqaT:;rt eigi p6tti karlrnprlnutn skanlnrlaust vid
var gydjunum
23
Srrorri,
21
Lokascnrn 21'.
lt
f;rrl, ok
ipr6tt.
7: Vhru peir n:est honum ttur allan fr6dieik ok fq)lkyrilrgi.
kennc'l su
Ynglingd.sa.qa
167
'( )r'rtlrirrly [1.'trv,'cn \v()t)t('r) s tlt' .jrrt-t' st:ltus irtl(l tlt' f:tt to st:lttls (its it is rcpr-c
st'rrtt.rl irr litt'r'.rr'\',ln(l (\'('t) ltistotit.rl tt'rts) lltt'tt'.tppt.tt: (tl lt.tr"t'llt'ttt:t vt'rV
2(r. The chapter has been interpreted lroni rnany points of view. For sonrc inrptrr-1991:
tant studics of the various approaches, see Strcinrbrick 1935; Pilsson
164f. (with enrphasis on Gudridr); I)illmann 1,1)92 25fi.; Muncl:rl and
Steinsland 198t): 99 (divination as healing) l)uBois 1999 1211T.
27 . The Hiuksb(rk nranuscript gives this rnfornr.rtion.
28. Tians. Kunz, CSl l:6. Eiriks saga rauda,l: Dl var hon svl biin, at hon hafbi yfir
s6r tuglarnqttul blin, ok var settr steinl11l1 a1lt i skaut oflrn; hon hafdi I hilsi s6r
glertplur, lanrbskinnskofra svartan t hqfAi ok vid innan kattskinn h",it; ok hon
hafbi staf i hendi, ok var 5 knappr; hann var birinn nred messinsu ok settr
steinunr ofan um knappinn; hon hatti um sik hnj6skulinda, ok var l.lar I
skj6dupungr mikill, ok variiveitti hon par i tgfr sin, pau er hon purfti til
fr6dleiks at haf). Hon hatbi 1 foturn kiilfskinnsskira iodna ok i pvengi langa,
ok I tinknappar miklir 1 endunum. Hon hafbi t hgndur.n s6r kattskir.rnsgl6fa,
ok vlru hvitir innan ok lodnir.
29. Trans. Kunz, CS/ l: 6. Eiriks sdgd rdudd 4: Hon hatti messingrrsp6n ok knif
tannskeptan, tvih6lkadan af ein, ok var brotinn af oddrinn.
.10. Trans. Kunz, CSI I: 6. Eir{ks saga rauda 4: Hvlrki em ek lqlkunnig n6 visir.rdakona, en f6 kenndi Halldis, 6stra nrin, rn6r 1 islandi pat kvrdi, er hon
kalladi Vardlokur. (Manuscripts vary betrveen uardl okkur and uar dlo kur.)
Dag Stronrbick rvrites: 'Varr)lokkur syftar pi den speciella sins, sorn anvinclcs for
att iterkalla den schamanerandes sj:il till den i extatisk utrnattning liggande kroppen'(Strcimb:ick 1935: 139 'Vardlohkrrr reGrs to the special song used to recall the
soul of the one shamanizing to the body lying in a state of ecstatic exhaustion').
.12. Trarrs. Kersharv 35-6. Noma-Ccsts pittr 11: bar 16r pl unr landit volur, er
.11
kallaclar viru splkonur ok spidu m6nnunr aldr. Irvi budu rnenn pcim ok
gerdu heim veizlur ok glfu peim gjafir at skilnar)i.
.1J. Trans. Pllssorr and Edr,vards 28. Qruar Odds sdg,t 2: Hirn fcrr l veizlur ok sagdi
nrcinnurn fyrir um vetrarfar ok forlog sin.
i-l. Trans.Wawn, CSI IV: 11. Vamsdtxla s4ga 10: Finnan var sett hirtt ok bfiit um
I'rana vegliga; pangat gengu nrenn til fr6tta, hverr 6r sinu riuni, ok spurdu at
crrlguum sinum.
i5. Trans. McKinnell, CSI II: 2U5. V[ga Glilms saga 12'. Dcitti mikit unclir, at hirsfreyur
lignadi hcnni vel unr heradit; sagdi ngkkut vilhalt, sem henni vlr beini vcittr.
f(r. Tnrns. McKinnell, CSI II:286.Viga ()lints sa.qtt 12:'Eigi rtla ek p6r rrir allg6<)an pykkjr bcinnnn fyrir skirtu pess:r.'
l'7. Trrrrrs. l)r'rlssorr urrtl lllw;rrcls ?05. Brj.srl .srqgrr of HL'yrurt\s 5: Irctt:r kvckl it slnra
korrr llrrsl;r i [rrrt lrt'rlrcrqi, scru Hrirtqr konuttgr svlf i, ok lr(rf trpp brtrr p:'r, er
sir):rrr cr kiillrr,) lltrslrrlr,r'rt. ok lrctir lrrirr vir)fi:t'q or<)it sit):ttt, ok ,.'rtt [r:tr i Irtirrg
orr^l ok ill,lr:ru s,'rrr krrstrrrrrn rrriirrrrtrrrr t'r'[r.rrllcys:r i rrrrrrrrri.rt lr.rf,r.
168
38
Nolc-s
hoegorrrr.tr grrrgi.
err eyru pin
aldregi hevri
ok augu pin
17. Laxdo:la -raga 35:kvidu par hart)snirin fi-cdi; pat viru galdrar.Trans. Kurrz. (.'SI
5: 50:'Then they chanted powcrful itrcantations; they wcre sorcery.'
4it Tians. Kunz, CS/5: 53. I-axdtrla sa,ga36: F6r Dorleikr ni 5 fund landseta sirrrr.r,
irthverf sniist.
39.
50
hlsrti
i ha{blru;
pri .krl pcr stinn:r
sem
synu verra,
en ef pir vilt vid mel,jar
nlanns ga1l1n1an hafa,
villi't pir pa v.'g.rrirrs:
ec)a viltu pulu lengri?
40 Trans. Pllsson and Ecl.vards 207. Btisa saga ok Herrauds 5:'Di skal taka p6r fram
betr,' segir tsusla. H6f hin pi upp pat vers, Syrpuvers er kal1at ok mestr galdr
cr i f6iginn ok eigr er lofat at kveda eftir dagsetr.
41
Crettis saoa 78: Ef pir vil1 min riil ha[r, p:i vil ek rlda, hversu rned er farit.
Tians. Scudder, CSl ll: 168: 'If you want my advice, I must also decide how
you should enrplo1, it.'
12. Grcttis saga 78'. hversu heilladr.ltlgir peir nlunu vera. Trans. Scudder, C-'S/ II:
1 (ru:'hou' providelrce favours thcur'.
13 Trans. Scrrclder, CSI II: 169. Crettis sagd 7u: Ni mrli ek pat um vid pik,
(lrettir, at pir s6r heillurn horfinn, allri gipt ok g:efu ok allri vqrn ok vizku, r
pvi meir. sem l.lir lifir lengr.
11. Trans. Scudder, CS1 II: 169. Crettis saga78 ok vid engi ord hefir m6r meir
brugdit en pessi.
45. Trans. Scndder, CSl II: 170. Crettk saga78: Nir var svi ggrt, sern hon beiddi, ok
er hon kom til strandar. haltradi hon frarn med srnun, svl sem l-renni vrri
visat til. Dar l1 fi,rir henni r6tartr6 svl rnikit sem axlbyrdr. Hon leit I tr6it ok
bad pi snia fyrir s6r; pat var senr svidit ok gnidat q<)ruur megin. Hon 1['t telgja
1 litinn fletveg, par gnidat var; sid:rn t6k hon knif sinn ok reist rirnar 1 r6tinni
ok raut) i bl6di sinu ok kvar) yfir galdra. Hon gekk gflr.rg rrrrclstr:lis unr tr6it ok
hrfbi par yfir nrgril relnnt ulnln,cli. Eptir pat l:r:tr horr hritttl:r tr6rlLl ir sjir ok
46.
nrclti svi fyrir, lt pat skyldi rckl irt til I)rrrrrucy.j:rr, ok vcrt)i ()rctti allt Ittcitt at.
Tpls. I(u12, (lSI 5: .17. I-rr.rr/rr'/rr rrr((r 35:qrll vurir [r:rtr rrrjt,rk tlt,rlktrrrrris ok irrir
rrrt'strr st'ir'\nrt'tut.
Hittamil
114'.
56 P6r i hvilu
sern i hlhneldi,
en i
169
51
52
53
Sigrdrilimill:
54
1,
Si.qnlr{fum,il 9:
pi
57.
pl
6il.
69.
Wid lrtbyrde.
hire cilcl nGclan ne rll:epl, gange t6 gewitenes mannes birgenne, ancl strppe ponne priwa pi byrgenne, ancl cwepe ponne prirva pis
SA r.r''ifiI:rn, s6
7o
w<>rc'l:
Dis nr6
71.
72
58. Skinismil36:
'Durs rist ec P6r oc |:ria stafi,
e'rgi oc tr:di oc 6Poia;
svir ec pat af rist, settr ec p:rt h reist,
59.
60.
(tl
62.
73.
74.
ling.
63. Hiuamil
1,61:
svitrtra ttrrt-ts
64. Ilirbar<)slitid
65.
er ec v6lta P:tr
Ilcl,qakui dn Hj qruardssonar
frl
verour.'
1,5:
'Atli
ok
Chapter 3
(r(r. "Il'lrs. (]rrirrn, (,'S/ V: 142. I;yr|1,qqi,r -irr(rr 1(r: ltiv:tt);ttttrtt)r rrrikill ok rrr:'rltrgr,
slysirrrr ok rtiqs:ttttt.
:'r lurfir
hrinit.
CSIV 55. l-axdela sagd 38: htr henni naudga til st{rnlr, ok u'
hon verdr hrrdd, pi segir hon, at rnadr kemr til fundar vic) lrlna, - 'sr'r cr
mikill,' segir hon,'ok synisk n'r6r v:rnligr.'
7lJ. Trarrs. Kunz, CSIV:55. Laxdela.sa.qa 38: ok getr Stigandi s6t gdmnr nrcgirr i
hlidina; par var fagrt landsleg ok graslodit; en pvi var likast, sern hvirtllvirrtlr
komi at; sneri um jgrdunni, svi at aldregi sidan kom par gr:rs upp. lr:rr hcitir
77.
Trans. Kunz,
nr-l
2{l:
pl
56. Odtlnirnrgritr 9:
'Svi hillpi P6r hollar vettir,
Frigg oc Freyia oc fleiri god,
senr
171
llrennu.
79. Trans. Quinn, CSI V: 202. Eyrltygqla saga 54'. l6tusk pir cnn scx rrrcrur i
hridinni; en sunlt folk ilidi fyrir rein.rleikum ok aptrgprrgunr.
S0. Trans. Quinn, CSI V: 202. Eyrby,ryqja saga 55: en sckjr pi urerrrr :rlla i
c'lurac16mi, er aptr lengu; bad prest veita par tidir, vigja vltn ok skripte rrrqrrr,
11L1ltl.
l"i
l.Trrns. Scudder, CSI II: 178. ()rcttis.s4ga 82: Q)ngLrll ver irpokk:rt)r'rriqrk ;ri[rcs.
sunr verkrrnr, pcglr ltt rrrcnrr vissu,:rt
(lrcttir h:rft)i
vcrit.
lil. l'hc'(lhristcrrlt'l'ol lltc olrlt't llrrqrr[rirrr1ls l'rw, N,rr(r'r .qnttlt lot't I:.}7]: rrr.tr)r'
sittrrr trti, ot v;t'kLr troll ulr; l).rl.rl:r$'tr, /(yr(rr/rrr/(r'rr l l: nr:rt)r silt.t'r rr(r, ot lr
v:r'r'kir troll ttp.