A Volva, or as it is pronounced in Old Norse, Volva (in Danish, “Volve”), is what we would call a Seeress in English. You could compare her to someone who practiced shamanism or witchcraft. So a Volva is a Norse version of a shaman or witch who practiced magic.
The Volva of the Viking Age were the predecessors of medieval witches, so you could say they were witches before it was cool. A Volva is not something that only dates back to the Viking Age; a Volva is, in fact, very old, with roots dating back more than 2,000-3,000 years.
1. Names and etymology
The word volur was given many names. Old Norse volva means “wand bearer” or “bearer of a magic staff,” and continues Proto-Germanic walwon, which is derived from a word for “wand.” Vala, on the other hand, is a literary form based on volva.
Another name for volva is fjolkunnig (full of knowledge), indicating that she knew seior, spá, and galdr; that is, ancient magic.
2. What is a Volva?
A Volva was a woman in the Viking era who practiced magic, known as Seidr (magic) (in Old Norse seior), the word Seidr (magic) literally means “to bind.” A Volva often had a very special role within society and often had close ties to the leaders of her clan. A Volva can be called a spiritual leader or healer in Norse society. A man could also practice Seidr (magic) and would be known as a Seer, but this was very rare.
A man who practiced Seidr (magic) (Magic, in Old Norse, is called seior) was seen and called unmanly. This may have been because the Seeress and the Seer wore the same outfit. For example, one of the worst insults a man could receive in the Viking Age was to be called unmanly or Volva.
A Volva wore colorful dresses, which were probably the same for both men and women. She also wore gloves and a cat skin hat, and had a beautiful decorated staff or wand. The staff or wand was an important accessory in the performance of Seidr (magic).
The proper name of Volva was very important to these sorceresses; their personal name was so important to them that the word Volva probably means personal or wand bearer. The magic of the Volva was feared and hated by the Church, which in fact banned the use of staffs and wands, the use of magic, and pagan altars. The practice of paganism or the use of magic was punishable by death, and the Church showed no mercy to anyone who was caught.
People were afraid of a Volva because she possessed great power and knowledge of magic. A Volva would not always live a long life; the practice of magic was dangerous, and traveling between dimensions and realms had many unforeseen consequences. But her death could also be caused by her own clan if they did not like her prophecies. A Volva could talk to spirits.
3. Rituals of the Volva
A Volva could enter a trance, and if she could talk to the spirits around her, either the Volva herself or someone else, mostly young girls participating in the ritual, would sing a song. The spirits would respond to the sound of drums, and the purpose of the song was to attract or lure the spirits to the ritual.
The song had to be sung as beautifully as possible so that the spirits would be happy and therefore more willing to help the Volva in her ritual. The Volva would sit on a high chair or stand up so that she could see into another realm. If the spirits were pleased with the song, they would help the Volva predict the future or see the past.
When the sound of the drums and singing slowly began to fade, the Volva stood between the realms of the living and the spirits, and the participants in the circle who were attending the ritual could now go and ask her questions about their destiny and their future, one by one.
A Volva is also capable of leaving her own body and entering an animal. It is not known how or why she would do this, but it could have been to travel great distances, for example to another city or place to observe and gather knowledge. The practice of Seidr (magic) was mainly used to do good and help people, and Seidr (magic) was not only used in rituals to contact spirits, but was also used on a daily basis. It could be used to heal wounds, create happiness, or control the weather.
A Volva would sometimes travel from town to town or farm to farm, helping people by predicting their fate or performing a ritual that would give them a better harvest. She would probably be paid in silver, food, or other necessities or luxury goods.
4. Other practices
The volur could also use drums during their sessions, as in Sami shamanism. Not all volur were surrounded by the same entourage and preparations as Borbjorgr, but they could also perform the seior alone, which was called útiseta (literally, “sitting outside”). This practice seems to have involved meditation or introspection, possibly for the purpose of divination.
5. Black magic in the Viking Age
The practice of Seidr (magic) could also be used in a more sinister way, what we would today call black magic. Seidr (magic) can be used to curse a person or make someone mortally ill. Seidr (magic) could also be used to bind the will of warriors in battle, making them slow, disoriented, and thus indirectly responsible for their deaths.
Seidr (magic) practiced by the gods and goddesses
Seidr (magic) was not only practiced by the Volva, but also by the gods and goddesses, but the knowledge of Seidr (magic) does not originate with the Aesir. The use of magic derives from the Vanir, who are seen as masters of witchcraft. The Vanir are so talented in the use of Seidr (magic) that they are able to hide their kingdom, so we do not know what their world is like.
Odin is seen as the master of Seidr (magic), but Odin and the rest of the Aesir were taught the practice of magic by Freya, who is of Vanir blood. The Jotuns, also known as Giants, learned the practice of Seidr (magic), but it is unclear how they obtained this knowledge. However, it can be read in the sagas that some of them know how to use magic.
For example, the Jotun Skrymir is a master of illusions and uses this form of magic against Thor and his travelers on Thor’s journey to Jotunheim. A Volva was powerful, as in the case of the truly powerful, even the god Odin sought advice from a Volva on many occasions. It was a Volva in the poem Voluspá who told Odin about the inevitable end of the world, known as Ragnarok.
Ragnarok will lead to a mass extinction of all living species on the planet, including most of the gods and goddesses, but it will not be the end. The Vikings believed that time moved in circles, so from Ragnarok a new world will be born, which will be greener and more prosperous than the old one, our current world.
6. Description of a Volva
Volva women wore a long blue and red dress with long white sleeves and a scarf with a gold thread around the edge. They wore silver rings on their toes, which is very unusual and has not been found before in Denmark or elsewhere in Scandinavia.
The Volva had a gold-plated box made of silver, which contained white lead, a white powder from a plant. The box clasp is believed to be from Gotland. This white lead has been used in Europe for over 2,000 years in medicine, and is poisonous in its concentrated form and can be lethal if you do not know what you are doing. It is also possible that white lead was used as makeup, perhaps in their Seidr (magic) rituals.
They had a small bag with seeds from the poisonous henbane plant. This plant causes hallucinations and could have been part of their rituals or even given to warriors before battle. Henbane is known today by most people who practice witchcraft.
It is known as a witch’s balm and is rubbed on the skin to achieve a psychedelic effect. Some of the other objects found at her feet were owls and bones from birds and mammals. There was also a silver amulet in the shape of a chair.
Volva burials have been found throughout Scandinavia, and quite a few of them wore clothing or had items of significant value, suggesting that they were considered important and of high status, or at least higher status than that of a normal peasant.
We also have descriptions from other sources about the Volva and her ritual practices. For example, the diplomat Ibn Fadlan mentions a Viking ritual when he observes a Viking funeral on the Volga River, which is part of present-day Russia.
7. Seidr (magic) is practiced today
Although one might think that a Volva is a thing of the past, this is not necessarily true. There are still some who practice Seidr (magic) and see themselves as a Volva. Some of them can be seen at local Viking markets in Scandinavia during the summer. A modern Volva is a master of Seidr (magic).
8. Archaeological record
Found in the Volva’s grave in Kopingsvik, Oland. Dressed in bear skin, she had been given a boat burial with human and animal sacrifices. The finds are on display at the Swedish History Museum in Stockholm.
Scandinavian archaeologists have discovered rods in about 40 female graves, and they have usually been found in rich graves with valuable grave goods, showing that the volva belonged to the highest level of society.
9. Disappearance
Growing conversions to Christianity began to displace the Norse religion, leading to the disappearance of the volva, with the help of the Church and civil laws enacted against her, such as this Anglo-Saxon canon law:
If any witch, wizard, false oath taker, worshipper of the dead, or any unclean person is found anywhere on earth, man shall cast them out. We teach that every priest must extinguish paganism and forbid the worship of the fountain, incantations of the dead, omens, magic, worship of man, and the abominations that men practice in various types of witchcraft, and in peace enclosures with elm trees and other trees, and with stones, and with many ghosts.
16th canon law enacted under the reign of Edgar in the 10th century
They were persecuted and killed in the course of Christianization, which also led to an extreme polarization of the role of women in Germanic society. The resurgence of volva traditions is evident in Europe and the United States within pagan reconstructionism and the Christian community.
10. In fiction
The term Spaewife was used as the title for several works of fiction: Robert Louis Stevenson’s poem “The Spaewife”; John Galt’s historical romance The Spaewife: A Tale of the Scottish Chronicles; and John Boyce’s The Spaewife, or The Queen’s Secret (under the pseudonym Paul Peppergrass).
Melville
Francis Melville describes a woman-wife as a type of elf in The Book of Faeries (2002, Quarto Publishing):
No taller than a human finger, the wives of the volva fairies are usually dressed in peasant clothing. However, when properly summoned, their attire changes from common to magnificent: a blue cape with a gem-lined collar and a black lambskin hood lined with cat skin, calfskin boots, and cat skin gloves.
Like human wives, they can also predict the future through runes, tea leaves, and signs generated by natural phenomena, and they are skilled healers. They are said to be descended from the erectors of standing stones.
Brilliant stuff thank you