Shamanic Components in Norse Tradition
Many recent studies have focused on the possibility of shamanistic components in the Old Icelandic and Old Norse tradition and both cognitive and ritualistic components in Norse were identified as shamanistic.
Defining Shamanism and Its Theoretical Challenges
Shamanism is of course a ‘Kunstbegriff’ and was established in the 18th Century by western scholars (Flaherty, 2014). The question of what shamanism is depends on different theoretical frameworks and there is by no means a single, unified definition of shamanic practice.
Therefore, the question of European shamanism in Scandinavia and the Norse Icelandic tradition of Seiðr should include theoretical work that has been carried out in the field of ethnography and history of religion, examining the literature that has previously attempted to define what constitutes as ‘shamanistic’ and ‘shamanism’.
Debates on the Origin of Seiðr
Since Johan Fritzner’s work was published in 1877, scholars have debated whether Norse sorcery & magic, also known as Seiðr, was adopted from the neighboring Finno-Ugric-speaking Sámi population, whose ritualistic practice demonstrates many similarities to Siberia (Hultkrantz & Bäckman, 1978).
Other hypothetical origins of Seiðr, as suggested by Åke Ohlmark (1939) are to be found in a common Indo-European heritage, rejecting the idea that Seiðr was similarly structured to the ritualistic practice of northern arctic and sub-arctic cultures of northern Eurasia. The questions that arise here are manifold.
How did visionary ritualistic practice evolve in pre-Christian Europe? And how does Seiðr compare to traditional Siberian shamanism?
Seiðr as a Type of Sorcery
Seiðr was a type of European sorcery that was practiced in the northern regions of Europe. Seiðr has been likened to shamanism practiced in other parts of the world, such as in Central Northern Eurasia (Graham Harvey, 2003, p. 407).
It is an Old Norse term for a very specific form of ritualistic practices performed mainly by skilled female seeresses“, however, this is not always the case. (Gardela 2008, 47).
The seer's special language and the methods they used to contact supernatural powers, either bind or persuade them.
The seeresses were known as völvur , which means "female bearer of a magic distaff. Here we also find the symbolism of the distaff used for the spinning of wool and textile. (Gardela 2008, 47, Gardela, 2016).
Several scholars have noted that etymologically it seems to belong to a group of Indo-European words with connotations of 'binding', especially in a sorcerous context.
The word seiðr appears to belong to words connected to' binding ', or ‘magical binding’. (Dronke, 1969, p. 133). There are, however, some differences between the two practices.
For instance, Seiðr was often used for purposes such as divination and healing, while shamanism in other parts of the world was typically used for more practical purposes, such as hunting or warfare.
A major difference between the Norse and nomadic hunting cultures of Siberia is the fact that the Norse had organized warfare (Price, 2004).
The Significance of Seiðr in Norse Cosmology
Seiðr has been the subject of much academic research, and there is still much debate surrounding its nature and origins.
Some scholars argue that it is a form of shamanism, while others believe that we might have to completely revise our definition of Shamanism, and therefore, how cosmologies and rituals evolved in both Europe and in Asia.
Whatever the case may be, Seiðr was a significant part of Norse culture and played an important role in the lives of many people in the northern regions of Europe.
Seiðr may have been much more important to the Norse cosmovision than previously understood, indeed, it may have been essential to the cosmology and structure of Norse society itself (Regis Boyer, 1986).
The Völva and the Seiðhjallr
The notion of a female Seeress, or Völva, sitting on a raised platform to induce altered states of awareness is also advanced by Strömbäck.
We learn in the Hrolfs Saga that a wise woman sat on such a raised platform, known as the seiðhjallr, appearing to hyperventilate in order to reach a mental state where divinatory services could be performed for the community.
Such services would often include so-called Galdrar, incantations and magical spells.
We also find that in the Saga of Erik the Red and the Vatnsdøla Saga, Seiðr was used for magical thievery and manipulation whilst entering an altered mental state that is required to perform the ritual.
Essential to the practice of Seiðr is the recurring motif of a Völva sitting on a raised platform, the seiðhjallr, which induces an alternative mental state.
These Seiðr rituals, it has been claimed, demonstrate striking cultural parallels to Saami and Finnish shamanism, therefore sparking the idea that the Norse adopted rituals from the neighboring Saami in Fenno-Scandinavia (Thomas Dubois, 1999, p. 126).
Female Seeresses and European Divination
The Völva sitting on a high seat is firmly entrenched in Norse lore.
As Davidson suspects, it is possible that she was influenced by female seers from Germany several centuries prior, or perhaps European divination ceremonies originating from the Norwegian island of Halogaland and other seeresses from further south to discuss the future (Hilda Ellis Davidson, 1999, p. 137).
Outside of Scandinavia, female seeresses who conduct and engage in divinatory rituals have been recorded in many parts of Europe including Germany, Austria but also for instance in Hungary.
The Hungarian ethnographer Eva Pocs hereby emphasizes that these seeresses would often sit on a wooden platform, holding a distaff between their legs. The metaphor of weaving and the spindle can be also frequently found outside of Scandinavia.
Mythological deities tied to spindles and weaving also include Frau Holle in central Germany, Spindelholle in Silesia, Holda and Perchta in the alpine regions of Europe.
In this instance, the Wild Hunt myth also often appears to emphasize life and death, especially the carrying over of unborn souls into this world.
The symbolism behind weaving and the use of a spindle, she adds, appears to be linked to birth and death.
The act of weaving and the turning of a spinning wheel of a spindle could be understood as a passage from this world into the other-worlds and gaining knowledge through and from the supernatural world about future events and fate. (Eva Pócs 1998, p. 323, Erika Timm 2003, Bek-Pedersen, K. 2009).
Shamanistic Traits in Norse Mythology?
The idea that Norse mythology and consequently, Norse sorcery, is ‘shamanistic’ isn’t new.
Yggdrasil, as mentioned by Hilda Ellis Davidson, is an example of how shamanic lore may have also existed in Norse mythology, as the motif of a sacred world tree that grows through different layers of the world is also found among many traditionally shamanistic cultures in north Eurasia (Davidson, 1993, p. 69, Dillmann, 1993). Shapeshifting is frequently used by the practitioners of
Seiðr for instance in the Lokasenna and Voluspá which may provide deeper insights into the Norse understanding of the soul for both human and non-human beings.
Textual Sources of Seiðr
Seiðr is mentioned in several textual sources and are mainly derived from Eddic poetry, Skaldic poetry, the sagas of kings and Icelandic family sagas.
The earliest written source may be a 10th Century Skaldic poem called The Lausavisa of Vitgeir Seiðmaðr (Kari Ellen Gade, 2012), highlighting the practices of a Seiðr practitioner during the Viking Age.
According to the text, there was a Norwegian man who lived in Hǫrðaland (Hordaland), around 900, which is located in southwestern Norway.
The word Hordaland actually derives from a North Germanic tribe, the Harudes, from Old Norse Hörðar. They were referred to as 'forest-dwellers'.
Early Skaldic References and Royal Sorcery
The text says: it is [does] little harm that we perform sorcery, children of lowly men and women, when Rǫgnvaldr réttilbeini, Haraldr’s glorious son, performs sorcery in Hordaland.
This has been described by various researchers as the earliest written text that mentions the Norse sorcery of Seiðr.
There are, of course, also other primary sources that provide us with an ever deeper insight and greater detail into what Seiðr was and how it was practiced.
The Völuspá and Freya's Instruction
In the Icelandic Codex Regius, we may learn of the Völuspá (literally the Prophecy of the Völva) (22) (ibid. 6), there is a mysterious character called Heiðr, who is said to have introduced Seidr to the Aesir, despite the practice being unfavorable to the Gods.
In the Ynglinga Saga, more importantly, it is said that it is Freya who teaches the art of Seiðr, again emphasizing the feminine nature of the art and practice of Seiðr.
The Saga of Erik the Red
Perhaps, the one of most detailed textual descriptions of Seiðr is found in the Icelandic 'Eiríks saga rauða', or the Saga of Erik the Red which takes place in Greenland, where a wise-woman, called Þorbjærg lítilvolva, is offering her ritualistic services sometime during the 10th century, although the exact dating has not been entirely determined.
To summarize the Seiðr-sitting in the Saga of Erik the Red, it was a custom of Völva Þorbjærg lítilvolva, to meet and gather up people during winter time.
There, the Völva would offer her service to people who would like to know about their future, seasonal changes, and so on.
In this particular instance, the Völva is asked for insights on when famine will come to an end.
Rituals in Greenland and Their Norse Roots
The Seiðr ritual that took place in Greenland was probably brought over from northern Norway, representing the spread of Old Norse religion and its practices by Vikings.
There she is asked for insights into when famine ends by a family of migrants.
The Saga was composed in the early 13th Century and has attracted much interest among scholars.
Compiled and written down in two different manuscripts, the Hauksbók (14th century) and Skálholtsbók (15th century), the Eiriks saga rauda provides a highly detailed account on a Seiðr sitting, a form of magic deeply rooted in the Old Norse religion. (Hilda Ellis Davidson 1993, p. 137).
Description of the Völva’s Attire and Instruments
“A high seat was set for her, complete with a cushion.
This was to be stuffed with chicken feathers. When she arrived one evening, along with the man who had been sent to fetch her, she was wearing a black mantle with a strap, which was adorned with precious stones right down to the hem.
About her neck she wore a string of glass beads and on her head a hood of black lambskin lined with white catskin.
She bore a staff with a knob at the top, adorned with brass set with stones on top. About her waist she had a linked charm belt with a large purse. In it she kept the charms which she needed for her predictions.
She wore calfskin boots lined with fur, with long, sturdy laces and large pewter knobs on the ends.
On her hands she wore gloves of catskin, white and lined with fur. When she entered, everyone was supposed to offer her respectful greetings, and she responded according to how the person appealed to her.
Farmer Thorkel took the wise woman by the hand and led her to the seat which had been prepared for her.
He then asked her to survey his flock, servants and buildings.
She had little to say about all of it. That evening tables were set up and food prepared for the seeress.
A porridge of kid’s milk was made for her and as meat she was given the hearts of all the animals available there.
She had a spoon of brass and a knife with an ivory shaft, its two halves clasped with bronze bands, and the point of which had broken off.”
The Völva’s Prophecy
The Völva responds:
“Many spirits are now present...which were charmed to hear the singing, and which previously had tried to shun us and would grant us no obedience.
And now
many things stand revealed to me which before were hidden both from me and from others. (ch. 4, p. 83)
“I can now say that this famine will not last much longer and that conditions will improve with the spring; and the epidemic which has persisted for so long will abate sooner than expected.” (ch. 4).
Odin, Seiðr, and Male Taboos
Odin himself is reported to be able to perform Seiðr, although Seiðr itself is considered a taboo among males known as Ergi, meaning unmanly and deviant.
In other instances, Seiðr was used in battle-magic, to inflict harm on enemies and even murder such as in the Laxdaela Saga, to affect the weather and outcome of crops and harvest (Clive Tolley, 2009, p. 141).
The Laxdaela Saga is written in its entirety in the Icelandic Möðruvallabók, a manuscript from the mid-14th century Chapter 33 is in so far interesting as it tells of a male practitioner, Gest Oddleifsson, who had insights into future events.
Other Types of Norse Sorcery
Among the Norse, there were at least 5 different types of sorcery, including Seiðr (binding and attracting), Galdr, Gandr (sent forth spirit, animal/shapeshifting helper spirits), Utiseta, and Odinnic magic.
They overlap at times, such as Seiðgaldr and may have even a dual nature to them; they compliment each other in their function and purpose.
Galdr, for instance, linked to chanting and high-pitched singing (Price, 2002 p. 65).
Shapeshifting animal-spirits would be sent forth to assist the Völva during and after her ritual in order to gain insights and knowledge about people or events (C. Tolley, 1995, p. 71).
Ecstasy and Trance in Norse Sorcery
As we learn from Mircea Eliade’s ‘archaic techniques of shamanism’(1964), traditional shamanism in Eurasia usually includes soul-travel by the shaman. Norse sorcery, on the other hand, also included trance.
According to Swedish anthropologist Hultkrantz, the concept of soul-travel is typical for north Eurasian and Fenno-Scandinavian types of shamanism, however, as he emphasizes, there appears to be a lack of such soul-travel in Norse rituals (Bäckman & Hultkrantz 1978, p. 20, Tolley, 1995, p. 58).
The Role of Strömbäck and Cultural Transmission
Dag Strömbäck's "Sejd: textstudier i nordisk religionshistoria" (1935) is frequently cited in subsequent research papers and studies, even many decades after publication.
According to Strömbäck, Seiðr was formerly strongly linked with Odinnic magic and that there was significant cultural transmission between pre-Christian Scandinavian healing-systems and the rituals of the Saami, i.e., Finno-Ugric cultures.
Was Seiðr Native or Borrowed?
Following Strömbäcks Sejd, much of the academic debate focused on two key issues: was Seiðr a native system of practices and beliefs inherent to pre-Christian northern Germanic cosmology.
In other words, can its origins be traced back to a hypothetical common Indo-European ancestor, or was it perhaps adopted by the Saami?
Both questions come with many problems, including ideological and political misuse of ethnographic study, which has happened tragically often during the 19th Century.
Seiðr as a Tool of Influence
According to Almqvist (2000), Seiðr was used to attract things.
The purpose of Seiðr was to influence desired events and outcomes in the future, to influence or to harm people, or to influence and manipulate natural events such as harvest of crops or even resources like fish.
There is, however, broad agreement that Seiðr was an ecstatic kind of sorcery, as emphasized by Eldar Heide.
That is, the Seiðr practitioner could journey with the power of the mind while performing the rituals and chants and to even use spirits and spirit-helpers to do the will of the Völva (Eldar Heide, 2004, p.166).
Such magical thinking certainly requires a specific mentality that operates in the background whilst performing such ritual and more importantly, the Norse understanding of the human soul appears to be central to the practice of Seiðr (Strömbäck, 1975).
Seen from this context, Norse magic and sorcery could be described as belonging to an underlying mentality with a set of practices that engage with the supernatural world on the basis of a shared reciprocity.
The Projected Soul and Spirit Helpers
To summarize, in a Seiðr ritual a Völva would project her mind and spirit into the world in order to influence events and people, as well as future battle outcomes and agricultural harvests.
This notion corresponds with Norse gandur, where a spirit sent forth/journeying/helping the Völva is linked to the breath and wind.
Gandr being an Old Norse term that essentially means "spirit helper.
The words "breath," "wind," and "spirit" are frequently used interchangeably in northern Eurasia and amongst traditional shamanistic cultures (Heide, 2006).
Both rituals contain the following components: recitation of magical strophes, ritual décor (doors and door hinges, as well as the door frame, and above all strong sexual overtones and the idea of peering into other worlds or into the world of the dead.
However, as noted by Clive Tolley, (1995), what is unclear is how important out-of-body soul travel was during Seiðr as compared to divinatory services with the help of guardian and/or shapeshifting helper spirits. (Gardela 2008, 67).
Shamanism, Ecstatic Cults, and Pre-Shamanic Ontologies
One of the most important aspects of shamanism is that it is not tied to any one culture or region. It is a tradition that can be found in a variety of cultures across the world, each with their own unique take on the practice. (M. Eliade, 1972).
So, when we ask if Seiðr is shamanistic, we must first understand what shamanism is and how it developed.
Only then can we begin to answer the question.
There are theoretical considerations and problems surrounding the definition and the very concept of what shamanism is, where it came from and how it developed. (Stefanie v. Schnurbein, 2003, p. 126).
An often held assumption is that shamanism was already established and existent in the Paleolithic Stone Age, reflective in rock-art and cave-paintings.
However, as scholars from Russia, Hungary and the United States have shown, the origins of shamanism may be much more complex.
Shamanism evolved with changes in culture, subsistence and the way a culture and a people related to themselves and the natural environment.
And there may be even older layers of rituals and cosmologies already existent before the emergence of what we call traditional Shamanism.
This practice, termed animal-ceremonialism or more precisely, bear-ceremonialism, has been studied in depth by several scholars. (Paproth 1976, Hallowell 1926, Siikala, 2002)
The belief in an animistic nature, the supernatural and the power of the soul, however, typically emphasizing animals and spirits possessing agency, culture and personhood does not automatically involve shamanism, if we choose to see shamanism through the Siberian ethnographic lense.
Even more importantly, as Russian ethnographer Animisov writes, it was typical for the Evenki that every member of the community had equal access to shamanizing equipment.
Therefore, if everyone was capable of potentially participating in shamanic rituals, could the development of a ritual specialist - a shaman - be a much more recent manifestation of an even older layer of both rituals and myths? (see Anisimov, 1964, p. 116).
Seiðr, Violence, and Circumpolar Analogies
As pointed out by Neil Price (2004), it is estimated that 60% of textual sources referring to Seiðr had an aggressive and harmful objective.
However, the major difference between traditional shamanistic cultures of Eurasia, whose subsistence is based on hunting and gathering, and the Norse Scandinavians is that the latter had organized warfare.
As he further notes, there are many analogies between Seiðr and traditional circumpolar cultures.
Neil Price even goes one step further, he says that in order to truly understand the role and function of Seiðr in the Norse worldview and mentality, it is of urgent importance to study the healing-systems of Greenland, Siberia and North America, as well.
The term ‘Circumpolar’ was coined by Norwegian Archaeologist Gutorm Gjessing in 1944 and refers to the common historical evolution of northern cultures, often emphasizing their hunter-gatherer origins that can be traced back to an arctic and sub-arctic nomadic lifestyle and subsistence that is reflected in their native cosmological belief-systems and rituals.
Seiðr, Identity, and Power in Norse Society
Thus, the question of whether Seiðr is shamanic, is deeply interwoven with the way Norse society is constructed, how power and identity is shaped by subsistence and the ecology of Norse society itself.
The belief in an immaterial soul and the power of the mind extending beyond and outside the human physical body had to be fundamental to the practice of Seiðr, closely associated with the völva, a practitioner of seidr in Viking society.
For Dag Strömbäck, the soul in Norse Scandinavian cosmology was capable of extending beyond the physical body in order to influence, attract and manipulate during the practice of Seiðr (1975, 16).
This ability and concepts of Norse spirits such as fylgjur (sg. fylgja), hamingjur (sg. hamingja), and dísir (sg. dís) would further raise the possibility that Seiðr was ‘shamanic’.
For the Swedish scholar Åke Ohlmark (1939), Seiðr wasn’t shamanic in the sense that traditional Eurasian shamanism wasn’t comparable to the healing-systems of Indo-European origin and its assumed pastoralist/animal herding culture.
Paleolithic Roots and Cave Ritual Theory
Romanian scholar Mircea Eliade, well known for his classic work ‘shamanism: archaic techniques of ecstasy’ proposed that the animal skulls and bones found during the Aurignacian Period in the Upper Paleolithic in Europe may depict offerings in ritualistic animal-ceremonialism.
He further notes that shamanism itself may have emerged as a practice by 25,000 B.C., and that the cave paintings in France, particularly in sites such as Lascaux and Chauvet, may depict the earliest shamanistic representations via anthropomorphic symbolism.
This shaman theory in particular has influenced a great number of scholars since the 1960’s, who would often refer to the shamanistic elements within the greater context of a Paleolithic hunter-gatherer tradition (Eliade, 1972, p. 503).
The Dangers of Ethnic Origins Research
A highly problematic venue of research was the search for a common ancestor (Urheimat, Ursprache, Urvolk) which was often highly influenced by political ideologies of that time (see also Stefanie v. Schnurbein, 2003).
If shamanism was practiced also in Europe, who brought it to Europe and when?
Indo-European steppe-herders during the Bronze Age, Neolithic farmers by 5500 BC in central Europe, or Mesolithic hunter-gatherers after they’ve left their Ice Age refugia in Iberia and migrated further north?
For instance, the German scholar Buchholz argued that Seiðr was likely to be indigenous to the north Germanic Scandinavians, who may have inherited their cosmology and rituals from much older beliefs that can be traced back to European hunter-gatherers in pre-agricultural Europe (Buchholz, P. 1968, pp. 9, 10).
For Ivar Paulson (1964, p. 131) the central components of shamanism are techniques of ecstasy and inducing alternative states of consciousness in order to ‘shamanize, to heal, negotiate and communicate with the spirit-world, but did these also exist in Europe?
Circumpolar Belief Systems and Nature Worship
Similarly, anthropologist Åke Hultkrantz who contributed a significant body of research in regards to the concept of circumpolar proto-mythology, claims that such belief-systems mainly stem from the worship of animal ceremonialism, totemism and bear ceremonialism (in particular), as well as an animist worldview regarding trees, stones and other sacred sites, and finally the practice of shamanism. (Hultkrantz, 1996, p.31).
However, such practice appears to have developed within hunting-cultures, which emphasize the importance of rebirth of game and the cyclical forces of nature, and ultimately life and death.
In Siberia, shamanism arose out of seasonal renewal ceremonies that revolved around the movements of the sun, where the rebirth/resurrection of game, the sun and of nature overall played an essential role among traditional hunting cultures. (M. Hoppal, 2006, A. L. Siikala & Hoppal, 1992).
Indo-European Frameworks and the Steppe
Swedish scholar Åke Ohlmark, too, assumes that the origins of traditional shamanism are rooted in an arctic environment and therefore, Scandinavians with their assumed Indo-European heritage had little shamanistic elements.
This notion is grounded in the proposed Indo-European Urheimat which is believed to be near the Caspian Steppe in what is today Ukraine.
Fleck’s Opposition to the Shamanic Interpretation
Likewise, J. Fleck argues in ‘Griminsmal: The Case against ‘Shamanism’ (1971) that Seidr and Odinnic magic is not related or linked to Siberian shamanic practice. The basis of these arguments seem to lie in the Steppe Theory of Indo-European cultures and consequently, their beliefs and rituals.
Perhaps, the question of the origins of Seiðr lies somewhere in the middle, was has been argued by Thomas Dubois:
While Seiðr shows striking parallels to the shamanism of Sami and Fenno-Finns, it could also be that Seiðr is an amalgamation of pre-existing healing-systems consisting of rituals and beliefs among pre-Christian Scandinavians and cultural transfer/contact. (Dubois, 1999, p.137). And therefore, Seiðr consists of multiple time layers and from different cultures.
Dream Cults, Witchcraft, and Ecstatic Rituals
Perhaps, the question is not so much about how shamanism evolved in Siberia and, as a result, the term shamanism might not be useful in order to reconstruct these deeper layers of pre-Christian mentalities.
We, instead, might have to carefully differentiate between dream cults, ecstatic cults and finally shamanism as distinct types of visionary and ritualistic practice as written in the round-table discussion of ‘Witchcraft mythologies and persecutions’ (2008, p. 36), the term shamanism should not be applied so easily to European witchcraft and ritual healers, especially because the term ‘shamanism’ tends to overgeneralize ritualistic processions and the belief-systems associated with it.
On the other hand, the question of searching for shamanism outside of its Eurasian sociocultural context has been widely debated and with mixed results.
However, there are scholars who have argued that a type of Eurasian shamanism may indeed have been inherited from older cultures among the so-called Indo-European steppe-herders.
Ecology and Animistic Mentalities
How such cults may have evolved over time since pre-Christian times is a complex field of research and consequently should be treated with great care and in a nuanced fashion.
There is, however, promising research in regards to the concept of animistic ontologies and whether pre-Christian cultures in Europe such as the Norse shared cosmological features of other northern and north Eurasian cultures.
Animism as a relational epistemology could have evolved in pre-Christian Europe in similar ways as it has in Eurasia due to quite similar ecological and economic conditions since pre-agricultural times (e.g., Enrico Comba, 2013).
Therefore, a similarly structured set of myths and rituals that are likewise expressed in visionary ritualistic practice could be the result of how ecology, i.e., human-nature and human-animal relationships manifest in ritual and belief.
Does this possibly explain why there are seemingly ‘shamanistic’ traits in Norse sorcery & magic, possibly influenced by the revered position of the völva in practicing forms of magic akin to shamanistic practices?
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