In oldGermanic culture, agaldr (lit. 'yell-der';Old Norse:galdr,Icelandic:galdur,Swedish:galder;Old English:ġealdor,galdor,Middle English:galder), among other forms in oldGermanic languages, refers to aspell or incantation; these were usually performed in combination with certain rites.[1]
Old Norse:galdr (pluralgaldrar) andOld English:ġealdor orgaldor (pluralġealdru) are derived from thereconstructedProto-Germanic*galdraz, meaning a song or incantation.[2][3] The terms are also related by the removal of anIndo-European-tro suffix to the verbsOld Norse:gala andOld English:galan, both derived fromProto-Germanic*galaną, meaning to sing or cast a spell.[4][5] In Old High German the-stro suffix producedgalster instead.[6]
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 asgaldr, and originally referred to someone whose mind has been distorted by a spell.[7] Other related descendeds of these words are,Icelandic:að gala ("to sing, call out, yell"),Swedish:gala ("to yell, crowing of a roster"), the latter component of Englishnightingale (fromnihtegale), related toġiellan, the verb ancestral to Modern Englishyell,[8] also cognate withDutchgillen ("to yell, scream").
Some incantations were composed in a special meter namedgaldralag.[9] This meter was similar to the six-linedljóðaháttr, also used for ritual, but added at least one more C-line.[10] Diverse runic inscriptions suggest informal impromptu methods. Another characteristic is a performed parallelism,[10] see the stanza fromSkirnismál, below.
A practicalgaldr for women was one that made childbirth easier,[9] but they were also notably used for bringing madness onto another person, whence modernSwedishgalen meaning "mad",[11] derived from the verbgala ('to sing, perform galdr').[7] 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.[11] Examples of this can be found inGrógaldr and inFrithiof's Saga.[11] InGrógaldr,Gróa chants nine (a significantnumber in Norse mythology)galdrar to aid her son, and inBuslubœn, the schemes of king Ring ofÖstergötland are averted.[12]
It is also mentioned in several of the poems in thePoetic Edda, and for instance inHávamál, whereOdin claims to know18galdrar.[1] For instance,Odin mastered galdrar against fire, sword edges, arrows, fetters and storms, and he could conjure up the dead and speak to them.[13][14] There are other references inSkírnismál,[1] whereSkirnir usesgaldrar to forceGerðr to marryFreyr[12] 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.[15]
A notable reference to the use ofgaldrar is the eddic poemOddrúnargrátr, where Borgny could not give birth before Oddrún had chanted "bitinggaldrar"[9] (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."[17]
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."[18]
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.
During the Middle Ages, the termgaldr (Old Swedish:galder,gallir;Old Icelandic:galdr;Middle English:galder) often became synonymous with "witchcraft" and "magic" as a whole.[21] In Old Swedish and Old Icelandic, a word forwitch was "galdr woman" (Old Swedish:galderkona,gallirkona;Old Icelandic:galdrakona;lit. 'galdr-quean').
In Medieval Sweden, a drawn or written spell or incantation was called a "galdr letter" (Old Swedish:galdra breff,Swedish:galdrabrev, roughly "written spell"). 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). This type of drawn spell was later banned.
There exist records from the 16th century of Icelandic Medieval magicsigils called "galdr staves" (Icelandic:galdrastafir, roughly "magic glyph"), today commonly referred to asIcelandic magical staves in English.
It was performed by both women and men.[9] Some scholars have proposed they chanted it infalsetto (gala).[9][11]
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