Landvættir
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Landvættir ("land spirits" or "land
wight A wight is a being or thing. This general meaning is shared by cognate terms in Germanic languages, however the usage of the term varies greatly over time and between regions. In Old English, it could refer to anything in existence, with more s ...
s") are spirits of the land in
Old Nordic religion Old Norse religion, also known as Norse paganism, is a branch of Germanic religion which developed during the Proto-Norse period, when the North Germanic peoples separated into distinct branches. It was replaced by Christianity and forgotten ...
, later
folk belief In folkloristics, folk belief or folk-belief is a broad genre of folklore that is often expressed in narratives, customs, rituals, foodways, proverbs, and rhymes. It also includes a wide variety of behaviors, expressions, and beliefs. Examples o ...
and modern Heathenry. They are closely associated with specific locations and their wellbeing is presented as being required for the land they inhabit to be fruitful. In Old Norse sources, they are depicted as being potentially harmful and capable of driving away unwanted individuals and capable of being frightened through human actions such as usage of carved figureheads on ships or níðstangs. Good relationships between humans and landvættir were believed to be fostered through acts like leaving out food for them however upon the establishment of the church, the practice was labelled heretical and explicitly forbidden in the Norwegian
Gulating Gulating () was one of the four ancient popular assemblies or things (') of medieval Norway. Historically, it was the site of court and assembly for most of Western Norway, and assembled at Gulen. It functioned as a judicial and legislative bo ...
law codes. Landvættir have been variously connected by scholars to other beings believed to inhabit the land such as
elves An elf (: elves) is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology, being mentioned in the Icelandic ''Poetic Edda'' and the ''Prose Edda''. In medieval Germanic-speakin ...
, dwarfs and landdísir, with which they were potentially identified at different points in history. Their belief and veneration has been revived in the modern period as part of the practice of
modern Heathens Heathenry, also termed Heathenism, contemporary Germanic Paganism, or Germanic Neopaganism, is a Modern paganism, modern pagan religion. Scholars of religious studies classify it as a new religious movement. Developed in Europe during the ea ...
.


Name and etymology

() can be translated as "wight" or "being" and is derived from
Proto-West Germanic The West Germanic languages constitute the largest of the three branches of the Germanic family of languages (the others being the North Germanic and the extinct East Germanic languages). The West Germanic branch is classically subdivided ...
'*wihti' from from
Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-Euro ...
: '*wekti' ("cause, sake, thing"), from Proto-Indo-European "*wekʷ-" ("to say, tell"). It is thus cognate with and its descendants or and Modern English "wight". It is further cognate with , , and is the ancestor of , and . As a compound, has been variously translated as "guardian spirits of a country", "land-spirits", "landwights" or "nature spirits".


Medieval period


Offence through human actions

In Úlfljótslǫg, a law aiming to prevent upsetting landvættir:
Eyrbyggja saga ''Eyrbyggja saga'' (; ) is one of the Icelanders' sagas; its title can be translated as ''The Saga of the People of Eyri.'' It was written by an anonymous writer, who describes a long-standing feud between Snorri Goði and Arnkel Goði, two stron ...
depicts human waste is depicted as scaring elves, identified by some scholars as landvættir. In this account, Þórólfr Mostrarskegg sets aside a skerry that he names ("Shit-skerry") so that they would not defile with their faeces
Helgafell Helgafell may refer to: * Helgafell (Hafnarfjörður), a mountain , on the Reykjanes peninsula, south-west Iceland * Helgafell, a mountain , in Mosfellsbær north-east of Reykjavík * Helgafell, a mountain at , in Rangárþing eystra, south-cen ...
, which he held holy.


Harming and scaring humans

Landvættir are often depicted as deeply connected to a particular place and as being willing and able to harm people who live there if the landvættir do not consider them welcome.
Landnámabók (, "Book of Settlements"), often shortened to , is a medieval Icelandic written work which describes in considerable detail the settlement () of Iceland by the Norse in the 9th and 10th centuries CE. is divided into five parts and ov ...
for example describes how two brothers, Ingólf and Hjörleif, went to settle Iceland from Norway. Ingólf performed
blót (Old Norse and Old English) or (Old English) are religious ceremonies in Germanic paganism that centred on the killing and offering of an animal to a particular being, typically followed by the communal cooking and eating of its meat. Old Nors ...
s often while his brother did not. Hjörleif was later killed by his
thrall A thrall was a slave or Serfdom, serf in Scandinavia, Scandinavian lands during the Viking Age. The status of slave (, ) contrasts with that of the Franklin (class), freeman (, ) and the nobleman (, ). Etymology Thrall is from the Old Norse ...
s at
Hjörleifshöfði Hjörleifshöfði () is a -high inselberg in southern Iceland. It consists of palagonite. The mountain is located on the Mýrdalssandur outwash plain about east of Vík í Mýrdal, and was an island in the Atlantic Ocean. Name The name was give ...
which Ingólf attributes to his lack of adherence to heathen customs. Later, the book states that no one dared live where Hjörleif settled because of the landvættir. Consistent with other accounts, this depicts Iceland as inhabited by landvættir and has been further argued to represent a belief that they may harm settlers if the appropriate ritual precautions are not carried out. Alternative suggestions have been made such as that the landvættir were angry because of the spilling of blood on the land they inhabited or that they had been frightened by it and so the land would not prosper. They further feature in saga literature, for example in the
Heimskringla () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland. While authorship of ''Heimskringla'' is nowhere attributed, some scholars assume it is written by the Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson (117 ...
version of
Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar ''Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar'' is the name of several kings' sagas on the life of Óláfr Tryggvason, a 10th-century Norwegian king. Latin lives of Óláfr Tryggvason were written by Oddr Snorrason and by Gunnlaugr Leifsson; both are now lost, b ...
when they drive away a possible invasion from
Harald Bluetooth Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson (; , died c. 985/86) was a king of Denmark and Norway. The son of King Gorm the Old and Thyra Dannebod, Harald ruled as king of Denmark from c. 958 – c. 986, introduced Christianization of Denmark, Christianity to D ...
: After this, the man in whale-shape swims around Iceland and each time he reaches a new part he is driven away. First by a large
dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...
followed by snakes, toads and lizards who blew atter, or poison, at him, then a great bird with many smaller birds, next a large bull followed by landvættir and finally a huge bergrisi with an iron staff followed by many other jötnar. It is unclear whether all these protective beings were considered landvættir, given that the bull is explicitly said to be followed by landvættir, however, the four figures are what most Icelanders understand by the term. It is further unclear if the imagery of these four beings is drawn from traditional lore, but scholars typically belief it is heavily influenced by Christian imagery of the
Four Evangelists In Christian tradition, the Four Evangelists are Matthew the Apostle, Matthew, Mark the Evangelist, Mark, Luke the Evangelist, Luke, and John the Evangelist, John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four canonical Gospel accounts ...
. It has been noted that in an account of this same event from
Jómsvíkinga saga The ''Jómsvíkinga saga'' ("''Saga of the Jomsvikings''") is a medieval Icelandic saga composed by an anonymous author. The saga was composed in Iceland during the 13th century. It exists in several manuscripts which vary from each other. There a ...
does not reference the magic-worker or the landvættir.
Knýtlinga saga ''Knýtlinga saga'' () is an Icelandic kings' saga written in the 1250s, which deals with the kings who ruled Denmark from the early 10th century to the time when the book was written. There are good reasons to assume that the author was Óláfr ...
, however, retells the account from Heimskringla and refers to the beings instead as óvættir ("evil spirits"), consistent with it being told from a Danish perspective. In
Egils saga ''Egill's Saga'' or ''Egil's saga'' ( ; ) is an Icelandic saga (family saga) on the lives of the clan of Egill Skallagrímsson (Anglicised as Egill Skallagrimsson), an Icelandic farmer, viking and skald. The saga spans the years c. 850–1000 ...
, when in Norway,
Egil Skallagrímsson Egil or Egill is a masculine given name derived from Old Norse. It may refer to: Characters *Egil (Hymiskvida), farmer in the poem ''Hymiskvida'' *Egil, brother of Volund, hero of Völundarkviða and the Thidreks saga *Egil One-Hand, hero from the ...
erects a níðstöng, a horses head on a stake, as an insult to the landvættir. He curses them to not be able to find their dwellings until they have driven
Erik Bloodaxe Eric Haraldsson ( , ; c.930−954), nicknamed Bloodaxe ( , ) and Brother-Slayer (), was a Norwegian king. He ruled as King of Norway from 932 to 934, and twice as King of Northumbria: from 947 to 948, and again from 952 to 954. Sources His ...
and
Gunnhild Gunhild (with variants Gundhild, Gunhilda, Gunhilde, Gunhjild, Gunilda, Gunnhild, Gunnhildr, Gunnhildur) is a Germanic feminine given name composed of two words meaning "war" (gunn and hild/hildr). Notable people with these names include: * , al ...
from Norway. The two are forced to abandon Norway the next year, although the saga intentionally leaves the cause unclear.


Association with fertility

In
Landnámabók (, "Book of Settlements"), often shortened to , is a medieval Icelandic written work which describes in considerable detail the settlement () of Iceland by the Norse in the 9th and 10th centuries CE. is divided into five parts and ov ...
, one account describes a ("rock-dweller") making an agreement with a man named Björn, who had few goats after fleeing from a lava flow. After this, a billy goat appears and has many children with his nanny goats, making him rich from all the livestock he owned. It describes that landvættir could be seen with Björn by those who had
second sight Extrasensory perception (ESP), also known as a sixth sense, or cryptaesthesia, is a claimed paranormal ability pertaining to reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses, but sensed with the mind. The term was ado ...
. It has been proposed that in this context, are synonymous with landvættr, supported by the idea that landvættir live in stones, mountains and hills. It has been further suggested that in return, Björn may have been expected to make food offerings, as is recorded as being performed by women for landvættir in Heimslýsing ok Helgifrœði, a homily found in the
Hauksbók Hauksbók (; 'Book of Haukr') is a 14th-century Icelandic manuscript created by Haukr Erlendsson. Significant portions of it are lost, but it contains the earliest copies of many of the texts it contains, including the '' Saga of Eric the Red''. ...
. In this account, the women take food to stone piles or flat stones, hoping that in return the landvættir would make them prosperous.


Banning and criticism of belief and worship

The Norwegian
Gulating Gulating () was one of the four ancient popular assemblies or things (') of medieval Norway. Historically, it was the site of court and assembly for most of Western Norway, and assembled at Gulen. It functioned as a judicial and legislative bo ...
laws, written in the latter half of the 13th century, made illegal the belief that howes, wooded areas and
waterfalls A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several ...
, were inhabited by landvættir, considering it a heresy and belonging to the heathen religion. Similarly, the author of the homily Heimslýsing ok Helgifrœði states that the willingness of some women to give offerings to landvættir results from their stupidity.


Further scholarship


Relation to other beings

Landvættir have been discussed in relation to ( stones). These are stones in northwestern Iceland that were described as having been respected as late as the 19th century, with it being seen as inappropriate to mow grass or let children play near them. The term is not attested in Old Norse sources but can be reconstructed from the term , where they were likely believed to dwell. Based on this living in rocks, it has been proposed that they are closely connected to landvættir and it has been noted that other beings in
Germanic folklore Proto-Germanic paganism was the beliefs of the speakers of Proto-Germanic and includes topics such as the Germanic mythology, legendry, and folk beliefs of early Germanic culture. By way of the comparative method, Germanic philologists, a variety ...
are believed to live in these places too such as elves and dwarfs. Relationships between people and landvættir have been further linked to a wider pattern of people in the same cultural context worshipping and receiving advice from spirits living in waterfalls, woods, and rocks at which they would make offerings. This is attested in Landnámabok, which records settlers giving offerings to a waterfall and a
holy grove Sacred groves, sacred woods, or sacred forests are groves of trees that have special religious importance within a particular culture. Sacred groves feature in various cultures throughout the world. These are forest areas that are, for the most ...
. Beyond this, Þorvalds þáttr viðfǫrla and
Kristni saga ''Kristni saga'' (; ; "the book of Christianity") is an Old Norse account of the Christianization of Iceland in the 10th century and of some later church history. It was probably written in the early or mid-13th century, as it is dependent on the L ...
recount a tale in which an Icelandic farmer named Koðrán has a partnership with a spirit living in a stone referred to as a or which is eventually driven away when a bishop sprinkles the stone in which it lived with holy water. It has been noted that the being is likely modelled on landvættir and , closely resembling their portrayals in other sources. Some scholars have suggested that landvættir are
chthonic In Greek mythology, deities referred to as chthonic () or chthonian () were gods or spirits who inhabited the underworld or existed in or under the earth, and were typically associated with death or fertility. The terms "chthonic" and "chthonian" ...
and spirits of the dead, but others have interpreted them as nature spirits, since they sometimes live in land that has never been populated. It has been argued that in early 12th century Iceland, álfar and landvættir were conceived of as distinct beings, with landvættir living in fells and hills, and elves being more similar to gods. The account of a
blót (Old Norse and Old English) or (Old English) are religious ceremonies in Germanic paganism that centred on the killing and offering of an animal to a particular being, typically followed by the communal cooking and eating of its meat. Old Nors ...
being made to elves living in a hill in Kormaks saga, according to this proposition, would be an early stage in the merging of the two beings. The folklorish representation of elves would be a result of this later conflation, seen in later saga material like
Norna-Gests þáttr ''Nornagests þáttr'' or the ''Story of Norna-Gest'' is a legendary saga about the Norse hero Nornagestr, sometimes called Gestr, and here anglicized as Norna-Gest. ''Nornagests þáttr'' is as an episode of the '' Saga of Óláfr Tryggvason'' ...
,
Hrólfs saga kraka Hrólfs saga kraka, the ''Saga of King Rolf Kraki'', is a late legendary saga on the adventures Hrólfr Kraki, a semi-legendary king in what is now Denmark, and his clan, the Skjöldungs. The events can be dated to the late 5th century and the 6th ...
and Þiðriks saga.


Absence of mythological importance

Landvættir have been argued to not have had any role in
Nordic mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...
as they are not mentioned in any Eddic material.


Modern period


Modern Heathenry

Jörmundur Ingi Hansen Jörmundur Ingi Hansen (born 14 August 1940) is an Icelandic Modern paganism, neopagan leader, designer, businessman and clothing retailer. Trained as a sculptor and known as a prominent member of Reykjavík, Reykjavík's hippie scene, he co-f ...
, former High Priest of the
Ásatrúarfélagið (, ''Ásatrú Fellowship''), also known simply as , is an Icelandic religious organisation of Heathenry (new religious movement), heathenry (in Iceland also called , " faith"). It was founded on the first day of summer (Iceland), first day of s ...
, said that landvættir are "spirits and they in some way control the safety of the land, the fertility of the land, and so on." According to him, they are "tied to a spot in the landscape, to a huge rock, to a mountain, or to a specially beautiful place" and that place can be recognized by being more beautiful than "just a few yards away."


Popular culture

The four beings identified as the landvættir of Iceland are depicted on the Icelandic coat of arms, on the obverse of the
Icelandic króna The króna () or krona (sometimes called Icelandic crown; currency sign, sign: kr; ISO 4217, code: ISK) is the currency of Iceland. One króna was formerly divided into 100 eyrir (plural "aurar"). Name Like the other Nordic countries, Nordic ...
coins, and the team crest of Iceland's national football teams.


See also

*
Animism Animism (from meaning 'breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and in ...
, religious belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence * Cofgod, Anglo-Saxon household gods *
Genius loci In classical Roman religion, a ''genius loci'' (: ''genii locorum'') was the protective spirit of a place. It was often depicted in religious iconography as a figure holding attributes such as a cornucopia, patera (libation bowl), or snake. Man ...
, spirits of a place in classical Roman religion *
Kami are the Deity, deities, Divinity, divinities, Spirit (supernatural entity), spirits, mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena that are venerated in the traditional Shinto religion of Japan. ''Kami'' can be elements of the landscape, forc ...
, venerated beings in Shinto, often associated with natural sites


Notes


References


Bibliography


Primary

* * * *


Secondary

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Landvaettir Creatures in Norse mythology Tutelary deities Nature spirits Chthonic beings