In oldGermanic culture, agalder (lit. 'gale-der, yell-der';Old English:ġealdor,galdor,Middle English:galder;Old Norse:galdr;Old High German:galdar,galstar), among other forms in oldGermanic languages, refers to aspell or incantation; these were usually performed in combination with certain rites.[1]
During the Middle Ages, the termgalder often became synonymous with "witchcraft" and "magic" as a whole. In Old Icelandic and Old Swedish, a word forwitch was "galder woman" (Old Icelandic:galdrakona;Old Swedish:galderkona,gallirkona;lit. 'galder-quean').
It was performed by both women and men.[2] Some scholars have proposed they chanted it infalsetto (gala).[2][3]
Galder essentially equates to "gale-der", or "yell-der", denoting something of galing (yelling, crying, singing). Descendants are derived from areconstructedProto-Germanic*galdraz, meaning a song or incantation.
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The terms are also related by the removal of anIndo-European-tro suffix to the verbsOld Norse:gala andOld English:galan, Modern Englishgale, both derived fromProto-Germanic*galaną, meaning to sing or cast a spell. In Old High German the-stro suffix producedgalster instead.[4]
The German forms were Old High Germangalstar andMiddle High German (MGH)galster "song, enchantment" (Konrad von AmmenhausenSchachzabelbuch 167b), surviving in (obsolete or dialectal) Modern GermanGalsterei (witchcraft) andGalsterweib (witch).
The Modern Scandinavian word for "crazy" (Danish:gal,Norwegian:gal,Swedish:galen) is a derivative of the same root asgalder, and originally referred to someone whose mind has been distorted by a spell.[5] Other related descendants of these words are,Icelandic:að gala ("to sing, call out, yell"),Swedish:gala ("to yell, crowing of a rooster"), the latter component of Englishnightingale (fromnihtegale), related toġiellan, the verb ancestral to Modern Englishyell, also cognate withDutchgillen ("to yell, scream").
Some incantations were composed in a special meter namedgaldralag.[2] This meter was similar to the six-linedljóðaháttr, also used for ritual, but added at least one more C-line.[6] Diverse runic inscriptions suggest informal impromptu methods. Another characteristic is a performed parallelism,[6] see the stanza fromSkirnismál, below.
A practicalgalder for women was one that made childbirth easier,[2] but they were also notably used for bringing madness onto another person, whence modernSwedishgalen meaning "mad",[3] derived from the verbgala ('to sing, perform a galder').[5] Moreover, a master of the craft was also said to be able to raise storms, make distant ships sink, make swords blunt, make armour soft and decide victory or defeat in battles.[3] Examples of this can be found inGrógaldr and inFrithiof's Saga.[3] InGrógaldr,Gróa chants nine (a significantnumber in Norse mythology)galders to aid her son, and inBuslubœn, the schemes of king Ring ofÖstergötland are averted.[7]
It is also mentioned in several of the poems in thePoetic Edda, and for instance inHávamál, whereOdin claims to know18galders.[1] For instance,Odin masteredgalders against fire, sword edges, arrows, fetters and storms, and he could conjure up the dead and speak to them.[8][9] There are other references inSkírnismál,[1] whereSkirnir usesgalders to forceGerðr to marryFreyr[7] as exemplified by the following stanza:
34. Heyri jötnar,
heyri hrímþursar,
synir Suttungs,
sjalfir ásliðar,
hvé ek fyrbýð,
hvé ek fyrirbanna
manna glaum mani,
manna nyt mani.[10]
A notable reference to the use ofgalders is the eddic poemOddrúnargrátr, where Borgny could not give birth before Oddrún had chanted "bitinggalders"[2] (but they are translated aspotent charms, byHenry Adams Bellows below):
7. Þær hykk mæltu
þvígit fleira,
gekk mild fyr kné
meyju at sitja;
ríkt gól Oddrún,
rammt gól Oddrún,
bitra galdra
at Borgnýju.
8. Knátti mær ok mögr
moldveg sporna,
börn þau in blíðu
við bana Högna;
þat nam at mæla
mær fjörsjúka,
svá at hon ekki kvað
orð it fyrra:
9. "Svá hjalpi þér
hollar véttir,
Frigg ok Freyja
ok fleiri goð,
sem þú feldir mér
fár af höndum."[12]
6. Then no more
they spake, methinks;
She went at the knees
of the woman to sit;
With magic Oddrun
and mightily Oddrun
Chanted for Borgny
potent charms.
7. At last were born
a boy and girl,
Son and daughter
of Hogni's slayer;
Then speech the woman
so weak began,
Nor said she aught
ere this she spake:
8. "So may the holy
ones thee help,
Frigg andFreyja
and favoring gods,
As thou hast saved me
from sorrow now."[13]
InBeowulf,ġealdru are used to protect thedragon's hoard that was buried in abarrow:
Him big stódan bunan ond orcas
discas lágon ond dýre swyrd
ómige þurhetone swá híe wið eorðan fæðm
þúsend wintra þaér eardodon,
þonne wæs þæt yrfe éacencræftig,
iúmonna goldgaldre bewunden
þæt ðám hringsele hrínan ne móste
gumena aénig nefne god sylfa
sigora sóðcyning sealde þám ðe hé wolde
--hé is manna gehyld-- hord openian·
efne swá hwylcum manna swá him gemet ðúhte.
Beside them goblets and ewers stood,
and dishes lay and precious swords,
rusty and eaten through, as had they dwelt there a thousand winters in the earth's embrace.
In that day that heritage had been endowed with mighty power;
gold of bygone men waswound with spells,
so that none among them might lay a hand upon that hall of rings,
unless God himself, true King of Victories,
granted to the man he chose the enchanter's secret and the hoard top open,
to even such among men as seemed meet to Him.
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During theViking Age, there exist finds of galders written in runes, so-calledrunic galders (Swedish:rungalder), in addition to other forms ofrunic magic. Runic galders are found, among other things, written down onrune sticks [sv] (runstickor), or onrune plates [sv] (runbleck), such as the one on the 12th centuryHögstena bronze plate [sv] (Vg 216).[16]
The Högstena runic galder roughly goes:
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In Medieval Sweden, a drawn or written spell or incantation was called a "galder letter" (Old Swedish:galdra breff,Swedish:galdrabrev, roughly "written spell").[18] Such, intended to make the holder invulnerable, could be worn as anamulet (for example around the neck) and was called a "sword letter" (Old Swedish:swärdhbref,Swedish:svärdsbrev;Old Danish:sværdbrev,Middle Low German:swertbref).[19]
This type of signed galder was later banned. An excerpt from the manuscriptSjälens tröst (Old Swedish:Sjælinna Thrøst), written around 1430, says the following:
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There exist records from the 16th century of Icelandic Medieval magicsigils called "galder staves" (Icelandic:galdrastafir, roughly "incantation staves"), today commonly referred to asIcelandic magical staves in English. Such are popular withneopagans andNew Age folk.
Famous examples includes theÆgishjálmur andVegvísir.
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