Trolldomr in Early Medieval Scandinavia - Some quotes from Chapter 1
“There was a rich variety in terms relating to knowledge, knowing and persons affililiated with trolldomr in Old Norse texts were generally described as knowledgeable. The verb kunna, meaning both ‘to know, to understand, to know by heart’, as well as ‘to have insight into the old traditions and lore’, and to ‘behave properly’ is at the core of this semantic field. When ‘know’ or ‘knowledge’ are used in Old Norse texts, the words have a far more elaborate signification than is usual in modern English.”
“There was mostly a sender and these persons - or maybe ‘personalities’ is a better word - always had a name with a visible gender. Males could be called galdramaðr, vikti, skratti, trollmaðr, and females gygr, seiðkona, spakona, trollkona, volva, the latter often in connection with seiðr rituals. A radical way of desecrating a person thought of as knowledgeable was to give him or her the name of a supernatural being like illvaettr, meinvaettr, or uvaettr. In contrast to males, human females in the sagas could be given the names associated with the many evil-minded mythological women”
“There is a general tendency to historicize extraordinary knowledge in Old Norse literature. Such insights are represented as the innate traditions of the old times, fornfroðr, forneskja. A term like fornfroeði referred both to the abstract aspect of knowledge and learning and to the actual performance, i.e. charms and spells. Terms in this semantic field pointed to some individuals having or exhibiting the capacity for discerning and the intelligent application of knowledge, or the ability to act in situations where other people of more limited mental capacity had reached their limit.”
“Sometimes the Old Norse texts do not reveal any real difference between carving runes and singing powerful songs. When a phrase like ‘carving runes’ appears in the texts it can also connote performing trolldomr in a more general sense. Of all poets and knowledgeable characters, Oðinn is described as the master of all these potent crafts […]. The most important terms connected to trolldomr either refer to knowledge or the spoken word...The pronouncement of words was recognized to have enormous influence over the concerns of life. The impact of a sentence uttered aloud could not be questioned and could never be taken back - as if it had somehow become physical…Words create reality - not only the other way around…Many of the deeds of cunning people were not necessarily done, but spoken. The formulaic elements were supposedly vital when performing trolldomr. Therefore, the verb gala, ‘to say’, ‘to speak out loud. utter, sing’ is the focus in this context. Metaphorically, the word also means chanting and singing, but not always with pleasant sounds: it could comprehend ‘to crow, to cry’, or even refer to animal sounds, e.g. repulsive noise, wild cries. The associations of the verb gala are clearly negative. A participal form of the verb galinn, could also be used for describing a person out of his or her mind - insane or bewildered. It is unclear whether this referred to the state of the performer or to the effect of the song or both. This particular state of mind was characteristically interpreted as honourable and at the same time indicated the ambiguous position of the poet and his praised abilities skaldskapr. The bard was therefore keeper of the social memory and the key to days gone by. Many terms themselves do not indicate any estimation, and connote the possibility of destruction. Bestiality or madness were powerful images of the enemies of harmony and order that characterized the ideals of Miðgarðr. Not surprisingly, a usual punishment for trolldomr was outlawry.”
“The importance of destiny must not be understood as that the Norsemen held fatalistic beliefs. Rather it must be understood in terms of knowing the future in order to keep it under some kind of control. Divination rituals and the performance of seiðr, either by Oðinn in the myths, or executed by invited specialists…were expressions of ways of finding keys to hidden parts of reality and measuring what was given. The results of divination marked the limitations of human free will and after the divination ceremony strategies could be made for acting within those limits…They reveal a tension between personal freedom and dependence. [T]he conception of destiny could also be viewed as a definition of personal freedom. On the one hand, the limits are set and it lies within the human condition to identify them and act within the given space; on the other, choices and their consequences over a longer period of time is an important theme in the sagas. More than a general dependence on fate, it was used in the narratives when explaining something of utmost importance,”
- Trolldomr in Early Medieval Scandinavia, by Catharina Raudvere,from The Athlone History of Witchcraft & Magic In Europe Volume 3 (all bolding mine)
