Galdr


Galdr is one Old Norse word for "spell, incantation"; these were usually performed in combination with certain rites. It was mastered by both women and men. Some scholars have assumed they chanted it in falsetto.

Etymology

The Old Norse word galdr is derived from a word for singing incantations, gala with an Indo-European -tro suffix. In Old High German the -stro suffix produced galster instead.
The Old English forms were , related to giellan, the verb ancestral to Modern English yell; compare also the Icelandic verb að gala "to sing, call out, yell" and Dutch gillen "to yell, scream".
The German forms were Old High German galstar and MHG galster "song, enchantment", surviving in Modern German Galsterei and Galsterweib.

Practice

Some incantations were composed in a special meter named galdralag. This meter was similar to the six-lined ljóðaháttr, also used for ritual, but adds a seventh line. Diverse runic inscriptions suggest informal impromptu methods. Another characteristic is a performed parallelism, see the stanza from Skirnismál, below.
A practical galdr for women was one that made childbirth easier, but they were also notably used for bringing madness onto another person, whence modern Swedish galen meaning "mad", derived from the verb gala. 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. Examples of this can be found in Grógaldr and in Frithiof's Saga. In Grógaldr, Gróa chants nine galdrar to aid her son, and in Buslubœn, the schemes of king Ring of Östergötland are averted.
It is also mentioned in several of the poems in the Poetic Edda, and for instance in Hávamál, where Odin claims to know 18 galdrar. For instance, Odin mastered galdrar against fire, sword edges, arrows, fetters and storms, and he could conjure up the dead and speak to them. There are other references in Skírnismál, where Skirnir uses galdrar to force Gerðr to marry Freyr as exemplified by the following stanza:
A notable reference to the use of galdrar is the eddic poem Oddrúnargrátr, where Borgny could not give birth before Oddrún had chanted "biting galdrar" :