Völva

Category:Witchcraft\nThe völva, vala, seidhkona, or wicce was a female shaman in Norse mythology, and among the Germanic peoples. They practiced the seid (shamanism), which was regarded as unmanly. Also associated with them were incantations called galdra (see also the A-S quote below). Examples of völva in Norse literature include the seeress Heidi (alt. Heith) in Voluspa and the witch Groa in the Svipdagsmál. The word witch is the modern form of wicce, and these female shamans are sometimes cited as the historical basis for the witch myth. Since they maintained the old faith, they were demonized, persecuted, and killed by the competing Roman Catholic Church. See the following Anglo-Saxon law, where they and the old faith are targeted:

"If any wicca (witch), or wiglaer (wizard), or false swearer, or morthwyrtha (worshipper of the dead), or any foul contaminated, manifest horcwenan(whore), be anywhere in the land, man shall drive them out."

"We teach that every priest shall extinguish heathendom, and forbid wilweorthunga (fountain worship), and licwiglunga (incantations of the dead), and hwata (omens), and galdra (magic), and man worship, and the abominations that men exercise in various sorts of witchcraft, and in frithspottum (peace-enclosures) with elms and other trees, and with stones, and with many phantoms." (source: 16th Canon Law enacted under King Edgar in the 10th century)

External link

\n*Web page about voelvas