Seiðkona

In Germanic paganism, a seeress is a woman said to have the ability to foretell future events and perform sorcery. They are also referred to with many other names meaning "prophetess", "staff bearer" and "sorceress", and they are frequently called ''witches'' both in early sources and in modern scholarship. In Norse mythology the seeress is usually referred to as ''völva'' or ''vala''.

Seeresses were an expression of the pre-Christian shamanic traditions of Europe, and they held an authoritative position in Germanic society. Mentions of Germanic seeresses occur as early as the Roman era, when, for example, they at times led armed resistance against Roman rule and acted as envoys to Rome. After the Roman Era, seeresses occur in records among the North Germanic people, where they form a reoccurring motif in Norse mythology. Both the classical and the Norse accounts imply that they used wands, and describe them as sitting on raised platforms during séances.

Ancient Roman and Greek literature records the name of several Germanic seeresses, including Albruna, Veleda, Ganna, and, by way of an archaeological find, Waluburg. Norse mythology mentions several seeresses, some of them by name, including Heimlaug völva, Þorbjörg lítilvölva, Þordís spákona, and Þuríðr Sundafyllir. In North Germanic religion, the goddess Freyja has a particular association with seeresses, and there are indications that the Viking princess and Rus' saint, Olga of Kiev, was one such, serving as a "priestess of Freyja" among the Scandinavian elite in Kievan Rus' before they converted to Christianity.

Archaeologists have identified several graves that appear to be the remains of Scandinavian seeresses. These graves contain objects such as wands, seeds with hallucinogenic and aphrodisiac properties, and a variety of items indicating high status.

Societal beliefs about the practices and abilities of seeresses would contribute to the development of the European concept of "witches", because their practices survived Christianization, although the practitioners became marginalized, and evolved into north European mediaeval witchcraft. Germanic seeresses are mentioned in popular culture in a variety of contexts. In Germanic Heathenry, a modern practice of Germanic pagan religion, seeresses once again play a role.

Names and terminology

Aside from the names of individuals, Roman era accounts do not contain information about how the early Germanic peoples referred to them, but sixth century Goth scholar Jordanes reported in his ''Getica'' that the early Goths had called their seeresses (Goth-Latin). The word also appears in Old English (OE), ("seeress" or "witch") and in Old High German (OHG) as ("necromancy") and ("necromancer"), and from these forms an earlier Proto-Germanic form *''χalja-rūnō(n)'' has been reconstructed, in which the first element is *''χaljō'', i.e. ''Hel'', the abode of the dead, and the second is *''rūnō'' ("mystery, secret"). At this time the word *''rūnō'' still referred to chanting and not to letters (''rune''), and in the sense "incantation" it was probably borrowed from Proto-Germanic into Finnish where ''runo'' means "poem".

In OE, ''hellerune'' ("seeress" or "witch"), or ''helrūne'', has the synonym '' hægtesse'', a term that is also found in Old Dutch, ''haghetisse'' ("witch") and in OHG , ''hagzussa'' or '' hagzissa''. These West Germanic forms are probably derived from a Proto-Germanic word with positive connotations, *''χaʒaz'', from which are also derived Old Norse (ON) ''hagr'' ("skillful") and Middle High German (MHG) ''be-hac'' ("of pleasure"). However, it is sometimes proposed that the first element is a term corresponding to Swedish ''hage'' ("wooded paddock") in the sense of "fence", i.e. PGmc *''χaʒōn'' ("pasture", "enclosure"), from whence also English ''hedge'' (through *''χaʒjaz''). In that case it would be etymologically related to ON ''túnriða'' and OHG ("fence rider"), where ''tún''/''zûn'' does not refer to an enclosure but metonymically to the fence surrounding it. In the '' Westrogothic law '', it was a punishable offence to accuse a woman of having ridden a fence-gate, in the appearance ('' hamr'') of a troll. Kluge reconstructs the PGmc form as *''haga-tusjō'', where the last element *''tusjō'' could mean "spirit", from PIE * ''d^hwes''-.

The various names in North Germanic sources may give the impression that there were two types of sorceress, the staff-bearers, or seeresses (''vǫlva''), and the women who were named for performing magic (''seiðkona''). However, there is little that the scholar could use to differentiate them, if such a distinction ever existed, and the two types of names are often used synonymously and about the same women.

The term ''vǫlva'' means "staff bearer" and is related etymologically to the names of the early Germanic seeresses '' Ganna'', ''Gambara'' and ''Waluburg''. The use of wands in divination and clairvoyance appears to have lived on from the classical era into the Viking Age. The name ''vǫlva'' and derivations of the name appear 23 times in the sources, and ''seiðkona'' ("seiðr woman/wife") appears eight times; the two terms are often used interchangeably. The second most common term is ''spákona'' ("prophecy woman/wife") with the variants ''spákerling'' ("old prophecy woman") and ''spámey'' ("prophecy maiden"), which appears 22 times, again interchangeably with ''vǫlva'' and ''seiðkona'' to refer to the same woman. There is also the name ''vísendakona'' ("knowing woman"), which appears eight times in the sources. Þorbiorg in ''Eiríks saga rauða'' is called both a ''vísendakona'', ''vǫlva'' and a ''spákona''. It is possible that the names once had different meanings, but at the time of the saga's composition, they were no longer distinguished in meaning, just as the words ''sorceress'' and ''witch'' are interchangeable in modern popular language. There are also five instances of a group of rarer names having the element ''galdr'' ("incantation"), with the names ''galdrakonur'' ("galdr women"), ''galdrakerling'' ("old galdr woman") and ''galdrasnót'' ("galdr lady"). In addition there is the word ''galdrakind'' ("galdr creature") with negative connotations.

There is also the reconstructed word *''vitka'' which may be connected to the '' Wecha'' in ''Gesta Danorum, book III'' and refer to a kind of sorceress. It seems to be the feminine form of ''vitki'' ("sorcerer"), and it is only attested from ''Lokasenna'' 24, where Loki accuses Odin of having travelled around the world ''vitka líki'' (in the "guise of a vitka").

The personal name ''Heiðr'' appears 66 times as a word for sorceress in the prose sources. It appears twice in the ''Poetic Edda'', in ''Hyndluljóð'' and in '' Vǫluspá'', where it is a name assumed by Gullveig in connection with the War of the Gods. In a study by McKinnell of Norse sagas and ''Landnámabók'', there is only one instance of a woman named ''Heiðr'' who does not act as a seeress. The name has been connected to ''heath'' and '' heathen'', but it has also been explained with meanings that connote "radiance and golden light, honour and payment".

Lastly, there is the term ''fjolkyngiskona'' that only meant "sorceress", and a number of derogatory names that correspond to "witch" with many negative connotations, and these terms include ''skass'' ("ogress"), ''flagð(kona)'' ("ogress"), ''gýgr'' ("ogress"), ''fála'' ("Giantess"), ''hála'' and ''fordæða'' ("evil doer").

The term shamanism

There has long been an academic debate on whether the seeresses' practice should be regarded as shamanism. However, this does not pertain to the concept of shamanism in a wider definition (see e.g. the definitions of the OED), but rather to what degree similarities can be found between what is preserved about them in Old Norse literature and the shamanism of northern Eurasia in a more restricted sense. The majority of scholars support the "shamanic interpretation, and the presence of ecstatic rituals" (e.g. Ellis Davidson, Ohlmarks, Pálsson, Meulengracht Sørensen, Turville-Petre and de Vries), while a minority is skeptical (e.g. Bugge, Dillmann, Dumézil, Näsström and Schjødt), but there are divergent opinions within the two camps. Clive Tolley, who is among the sceptics, writes that if shamanism is defined as "tundra shamanism" as represented by the Sámi of Scandinavia and as defined by Edward Vajda, then the differences are too great. He allies himself with the position of Ohlmarks, who was familiar with a wide range shamanism and rejected it in 1939, in a debate with Dag Strömbäck who found similarities with Sámi practices. However, Tolley concedes that if shamanism is defined in line with the words of Åke Hultkrantz (1993) as " ..direct contact with spiritual beings and guardian spirits, together with the mediating role played by a shaman in a ritual setting ..The presence of guardian spirits during the trance and following shamanic actions .. then it is correct to define their practices as "broadly shamanic". However, he considers that in this case shamanism also includes traditional practices from a large part of Europe, such as the witchcraft of medieval Europe and the practices of ancient Greece. An opposing view is held by Neil Price, who has studied circumpolar shamanism, and argues that he finds enough similarities to define the North Germanic seeresses as shamans also in the stricter sense.

Role in society

Fate is central in Germanic literature and mythology, and men's destiny is inextricably linked to supernatural women and seeresses. Morris comments that the importance of fate can not be overstressed, and the seeresses were feared and revered by gods and mortals alike. Even the god Odin himself consulted them. The Norns are an example of the link between women and fate, which was elevated in Germanic society, and the association was incarnated by the seeresses.

The political role that the seeresses played was always present when the Romans were dealing with the Germanic tribes, and the Romans had to take their opinion into account. Ganna's political influence was so considerable that she was taken to Rome together with Masyos, the king of her tribe, where they had an audience with the Roman emperor Domitian and were treated with honours, after which they returned home.
The Roman historian Tacitus, who appears to have met Ganna and to have been informed by her of most of what we know of early Germanic religion, wrote:

Another telling account by Tacitus about their power was a statement by the Batavian tribe to the Romans:

However, the seeresses do not appear to have been just any women, but were those who occupied a special office. Both Mogk and Sundqvist have commented that although the seeresses were referred to as "priestesses" by the Romans, they probably should not be so labelled in a strict sense. As for the later North Germanic version, Näsström writes that the völva did not perform any sacrifices, but her roles as a prophetess and as a sorceress were still important aspects of the spiritual life of her society. Price comments that Katherine Morris has usefully defined these women:

Attestations

Germanic seeresses are first described by the Romans, who discuss the role seeresses played in Germanic society. A gap in the historical record occurs until the North Germanic record began over a millennium later, when the Old Norse sagas frequently mention seeresses among the North Germanic peoples. It is noteworthy that Veleda, who prophesied in a high tower in the first century, finds an echo in the thirteenth-century account of Þorbjörg lítilvölva who prophesied from a raised platform in ''Eiríks saga rauða''. Simek comments that the saga's account of Þorbjörg's raised platform and her wand conveys authentic practices from Germanic paganism.

Roman Era

In his ethnography of the ancient Germanic peoples, ''Germania'', Tacitus expounds on some of these points. In chapter eight, he reports the following about women in then-contemporary Germanic society and the role of seeresses:
: A. R. Birley translation (1999):

:It is recorded that some armies that were already wavering and on the point of collapse have been rallied by women pleading steadfastly, blocking their path with bared breasts, and reminding their men how near they themselves are to being taken captive. This they fear by a long way more desperately for their women than for themselves. Indeed, peoples who are ordered to include girls of noble family among their hostages are thereby placed under a more effective restraint. They even believe that there is something holy and an element of the prophetic in women, hence they neither scorn their advice nor ignore their predictions. Under the Deified Vespasian we witnessed how Veleda was long regarded by many of them as a divine being; and in former times, too, they revered Albruna and a number of other women, not through servile flattery nor as if they had to make goddesses out of them.Birley (1999: 41).

Writing also in the first century AD, Greek geographer and historian Strabo records the following about the Cimbri, a Germanic people, in chapter 2.3 of volume seven of his encyclopedia ''Geographica'':
:Horace Leonard Jones translation (1924):

:Writers report a custom of the Cimbri to this effect: Their wives, who would accompany them on their expeditions, were attended by priestesses who were seers; these were grey-haired, clad in white, with flaxen cloaks fastened on with clasps, girt with girdles of bronze, and bare-footed; now sword in hand these priestesses would meet with the prisoners of war throughout the camp, and having first crowned them with wreaths would lead them to a brazen vessel of about twenty amphorae; and they had a raised platform which the priestess would mount, and then, bending over the kettle, would cut the throat of each prisoner after he had been lifted up; and from the blood that poured forth into the vessel some of the priestesses would draw a prophecy, while still others would split open the body and from an inspection of the entrails would utter a prophecy of victory for their own people; and during the battles they would beat on the hides that were stretched over the wicker-bodies of the wagons and in this way produce an unearthly noise.Jones (1924: 169-172).

Writing in the second century CE, Roman historian Cassius Dio describes in chapter 50 of his ''Roman History'' an encounter between Nero Claudius Drusus and a woman with supernatural abilities among the Cherusci, a Germanic people. According to Diorites Cassius, the woman foresees Drusus's death, and he dies soon thereafter:
:Herbert Baldwin Foster and Earnest Cary translation (1917):

:The events related happened in the consulship of Iullus Antonius and Fabius Maximus. In the following year Drusus became consul with Titus Crispinus, and omens occurred that were anything but favourable to him. Many buildings were destroyed by storm and by thunderbolts, among them any temples; even that of Jupiter Capitolinus and the gods worshipped with him was injured. Drusus, however, paid no heed to any of these things, but invaded the country of the Chatti and advanced as far as that of the Suebi, conquering with difficulty the territory traversed and defeating the forces that attacked him only after considerable bloodshed. From there he proceeded to the country of the Cherusci, and crossing the Visurgis, advanced as far as the Albis, pillaging everything on his way.
:
:The Albis rises in the Vandalic Mountains, and empties, a mighty river, into the northern ocean. Drusus undertook to cross this river, but failing in the attempt, set up trophies and withdrew. For a woman of superhuman size met him and said: "Whither, pray, art thou hastening, insatiable Drusus? It is not fated that thou shalt look upon all these lands. But depart; for the end alike of thy labours and of thy life is already at hand".
:
:It is indeed marvellous that such a voice should have come to any man from the Deity, yet I cannot discredit the tale; for Drusus immediately departed, and as he was returning in haste, died on the way of some disease before reaching the Rhine. And I find confirmation of the story in these incidents: wolves were prowling about the camp and howling just before his death; two youths were seen riding through the midst of the camp; a sound as of women lamenting was heard; and there were shooting stars in the sky. So much for these events.Cary (1917: 378-381).

Albruna

Veleda

In the first and second centuries CE, Greek and Roman authors—such as Greek historian Strabo, Roman senator Tacitus, and Roman historian Cassius Dio—wrote about the ancient Germanic peoples, and made note of the role of seeresses in Germanic society. Tacitus mentions Germanic seeresses in book 4 of his first century CE ''Histories''.

:The legionary commander Munius Lupercus was sent along with other presents to Veleda, an unmarried woman who enjoyed wide influence over the tribe of the Bructeri. The Germans traditionally regard many of the female sex as prophetic, and indeed, by an excess of superstition, as divine. This was a case in point. Veleda's prestige stood high, for she had foretold the German successes and the extermination of the legions. But Lupercus was put to death before he reached her.Wellesley (1964 972 247).

Ganna

A seeress named ''Ganna'' is mentioned by the Roman historiographer Cassius Dio in the early 3rd century. The context is the campaign east of the Rhine by Emperor Domitian in the 80s of the 1st century CE. Ganna belonged to a tribe called the ''Semnones'' who were settled east of the river Elbe, and she appears to have been active in the second half of the 1st century, after Veleda's time. Ganna's political influence was considerable enough that she was taken to Rome together with Masyos, the king of her tribe, where they had an audience with the Roman emperor and were treated with honours, after which they returned home. This probably happened in 86 AD, the year after his final war with the Chatti, when he made a treaty with the Cherusci, who were settled between the rivers Weser and the Elbe.

During their stay in Rome, Ganna and Masyos appear also to have met with the Roman historian Tacitus who reports that he discussed the Semnoni religious practices with informants from that tribe, who considered themselves the noblest of the Suebi. Bruce Lincoln (1986) discusses Tacitus' meeting with Ganna and what the Roman historian learnt of the mythological traditions of the early Germanic tribes, and of the Semnoni's ancestral relationships with the other tribes from ''Ing'' (Yngvi), ''Ist'' and ''Irmin'' (Odin), the sons of Mannus, the son of Tuisto. The Semnoni reenacted the "horrific origins" of their nation with a human sacrifice, with each victim representing Tuisto (the "twin") and being cut up to repeat the "acts of creation", which can be compared to how Odin and his brothers cut up the body of the primordial giant Ymir (the "twin") to form the world in Norse mythology. Rudolf Simek notes that Tacitus also learnt that the Semnoni performed their rites at a holy grove that was the cradle of the tribe's inception, and that could only be entered when they were fettered. The god who was worshiped was probably Odin, and being fettered may have been an imitation of Odin's self-sacrifice. This grove has for a long time been identified with the Grove of Fetters, where the hero was sacrificed to Odin in the Eddic poem, ''Helgakviða Hundingsbana II''.

It is notable that Ganna is not referred to as a ''sibylla'', but as a ''theiázousa'' in Greek, which means "someone making prophesies". Her name ''Ganna'' is usually interpreted as Proto-Germanic ''Gan-no'' and compared with Old Norse ''gandr'' in the meaning "magical staff" (for the meanings of ''gan''- and ''gandr'', see the section on magical ''Projection''); Ganna would mean the "one who carries the magical staff" or "she who controls the magical staff" or something similar. Her name is thus grouped with other seeresses with staff names, like Gambara ("wand-bearer") and Waluburg from ''walu''-, "staff" (ON ''vǫlr''), and the same word is found in the name of North Germanic seeresses, the ''vǫlur''. Simek analyses ''gandr'' as a "magic staff" and the "insignia of her calling", but in a later work he adds that it meant "magic object or being" and instead of referring to a wand as her tool or insignia, her name may instead have been a reference to her function among the Germanic tribes (like Veleda's name). Sundqvist suggests that the name may have referred instead to her abilities, like de Vries who connects her name directly to the ablaut grade ''ginn''- ("magical ability"), also treated further down in the section on magical ''Projection''.

Waluburg

Dating from the second century CE, an ostracon with a Greek inscription reading ''Waluburg. Se oni Sibylla'' (Greek 'Waluburg, sibyl from the Semnones') was discovered in the early twentieth century on Elephantine, an Egyptian island. The name occurs among a list of Roman and Graeco-Egyptian soldier names, perhaps indicating its use as a payroll.

The first element *- is probably Proto-Germanic * 'staff', which could be a reference to the seeresses' insignia, the magic staff, and which connects her name semantically to that of her fellow tribeswoman, the seeress Ganna, who probably taught her the craft and who had an audience with emperor Domitian in Rome. In the same way, her name may also be connected to the name of another Germanic seeress, Gambara, which can be interpreted as 'staff bearer' (* or *), see . The staffs are also reflected in the North Germanic word for seeress, 'staff bearer'. In North Germanic accounts, the seeresses were always equipped with a staff, a ''vǫlr'', from the same Proto-Germanic root *.

Schubart proposes that she may have been a war prisoner accompanying a Roman soldier in his career that led to him being stationed in Egypt at the first cataract. Simek considers her to have been deported by the Roman authorities, and he writes that it is uncertain how she arrived at Elephantine, but it is not surprising considering the significant and obvious influence that the Germanic seeresses wielded politically. Clement of Alexandria who lived in Egypt at the same time as Waluburg, and the earlier Plutarch, mentioned that the Germanic seeresses also could predict the future while studying the eddies, the whirling and the splashing of currents, and Schubart suggests that this is the reason why Waluburg found herself at the swirling waters of the First Cataract of the Nile.

Early Middle Ages

Gambara

The '' Origo Gentis Langobardorum'' (''Origin of the Lombard/Langobard people''), a seventh-century Latin account, and the ''Historia Langobardorum'' (''History of the Lombard/Langobards''), from the 8th c., relate the legend that before, or after, the Langobard people, then known as the Winnili, emigrated from Scandinavia, led by the brothers Ibor and Agio, their neighbours, the Vandals, demanded that they pay tribute, but their mother Gambara advised them not to. Before the battle, the Vandals called on Odin (''Godan'') to give them victory, but Gambara invoked Odin's wife Frigg (''Frea'') instead. Frigg advised them to trick Odin, by having the Winnili women spread their hair in front of their faces so as to look bearded and stand before the window from which Odin looked down on Earth. Odin was embarrassed and asked who the "long-beards" (''longobarbae'') were, and thus naming them he became their godfather and had to grant them victory.

Gambara is called ''phitonissa'' in Latin which means "priestess" or "sorceress", and in the '' Chronicum Gothanum'', she is also specifically called ''sibylla'', i.e. "seeress". Pohl