Thevölvas were pagan priestesses that specialized in chantinggaldrs.
Agaldr (pluralgaldrar) orġealdor (pluralġealdru) refers to aspell or incantation inOld Norse andOld English respectively; these were usually performed in combination with certain rites.[1]
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).
From these terms are descended words such as theIcelandic verbað gala "to sing, call out, yell",Middle English:galder "magic" and as a component ofnightingale (fromnihtegale), related toġiellan, the verb ancestral to Modern Englishyell.[7][8] The words are 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').[12] 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.[13]
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.[14][15] There are other references inSkírnismál,[1] whereSkirnir usesgaldrar to forceGerðr to marryFreyr[13] 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.[16]
34. "Give heed, frost-rulers, hear it, giants. Sons ofSuttung, And gods, ye too, How I forbid and how I ban The meeting of men with the maid, (The joy of men with the maid.)[17]
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."[18]
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."[19]
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.
^"Beowulf".www.sacred-texts.com. Retrieved24 July 2022.
^Tolkien, J.R.R. (2014).Beowulf : a translation and commentary, together with Sellic spell. London: Harper Collins Publishers. p. 102.ISBN9780007590070.
