Seeress (Germanic)
In Germanic religion and Germanic mythology, a seeress is a woman said to have the ability to foretell future occurrences. Strongly associated with wands, seeresses at times held an authoritative role in Germanic society and mentions of Germanic seeresses occur as early as the Roman era, where, for example, they at times played a role in rebellion under Roman rule and acted as envoys to Rome. After the Roman Era, mention of seeresses occur in records among the North Germanic people, where they form a reoccurring motif in, for example, Norse mythology.
The Roman and Greek record records the name of several Germanic seeresses, including Albruna, Ganna, Veleda, and, by way of an archaeological find, Waluburg. Norse mythology mentions several seeresses, some by name, including Heimlaug völva, Þorbjörg lítilvölva, Þordís spákona, and Þuríðr Sundafyllir. In North Germanic religion, the goddesses Freyja holds a particular association with seeresses.
Archaeologists have identified several graves that may contain the remains of Scandinavian seeresses. These graves contain objects that may be wands, seeds with hallucinogenic and aphrodisiac properties, and a variety of high-status items.
Germanic seeresses receive mention in popular culture in a variety of contexts. In Germanic Heathenry, a modern practice of Germanic religion, seeresses once again play a role.
Names and terminology
Aside from the names of individuals, the Roman era record does not contain information about how the Germanic peoples referred to seeresses. Much later, Old Norse applies several synonymous terms to seeresses, including the common nouns vǫlva or völfa, spákona or spækona, and seiðkona.The Old Norse common noun völva is generally held to mean 'wand-bearer', a reflection of the object's strong association with the Germanic seeress. Various seeress names also reflect this fact, containing elements deriving from Germanic words for wand. For example, the first element of Waluburg, and the first elements of Ganna and Gambara.
The names Þuríðr and Heiðr occur frequently in the Old Norse corpus as names of seeresses.
Attestations
Germanic seeresses are first described by the Romans, who discuss the role seeresses played in Germanic society. A gap in the record occurs until the North Germanic record over a millennium later, when the Old Norse record frequently mentions seeresses among the North Germanic peoples.Roman Era
In the first and second centuries CE, Greek and Roman authors—such as Greek historian Strabo, Roman senator Tacitus, and Roman historian Cassius Dio—wrote about the ancient Germanic peoples, and made note of the role of seeresses in Germanic society. Tacitus mentions Germanic seeresses in book 4 of his first century CE Histories.Later, in his ethnography of the ancient Germanic peoples, Germania, Tacitus expounds on some of these points. In chapter 8, Tacitus records the following about women in then-contemporary Germanic society and the role of seeresses:
Writing also in the first century CE, Greek geographer and historian Strabo records the following about the Cimbri, a Germanic people in chapter 2.3 of volume 7 of his encyclopedia Geographica:
Writing in the second century CE, Roman historian Cassius Dio describes in chapter 50 of his Roman History an encounter between Nero Claudius Drusus and a woman with supernatural abilities among Cherusci, a Germanic people. According to Diorites Cassius, the woman foresees Drusus's death, and he dies soon thereafter:
In Roman History chapter 67.5, Dio Cassius mentions the seeress Ganna—who he describes as the seeress Veleda's successor—as part of an envoy sent by the Suebi to meet with the Roman emperor Domitian:
Dating from the 2nd century CE, an ostracon with a Greek inscription reading Waluburg. Senoni Sibylla was discovered in the early 20th century on Elephantine, an Egyptian island. The name occurs among a list of Roman and Graeco-Egyptian soldier names, perhaps indicating its use as a payroll.
North Germanic corpus
Few records of myth among the Germanic peoples survives to today. The North Germanic record makes for an exception, where the vast majority of material that survives about the mythology of the Germanic peoples extends. These sources contain numerous mentions of seeresses among the North Germanic peoples, including the following:| Seeress name | Attestations | Notes |
| Heimlaug völva | Gull-Þóris saga | In Gull-Þóris saga, Heimlaug assists the saga protagonist by way of prophecy. |
| Heiðr | Hrólfs saga kraka, Landnámabók, Örvar-Odds saga | Various seeresses by the name of Heiðr occur in the Old Norse corpus, including Gullveig, who scholars generally consider to be another name for the goddess Freyja |
| Þorbjörg lítilvölva | Eiríks saga rauða | In Eiríks saga rauða, Þorbjörg lítilvölva travels to Scandinavian farms in Greenland and predicts the future. |
| Þordís spákona | Vatnsdæla saga | |
| Þoríðr spákona | Landnámabók | |
| Þuríðr sundafyllir | Landnámabók | |
| Unnamed seeresses | Völuspá, Völuspá hin skamma | Unnamed seeresses occur in various contexts in the Old Norse corpus. For example, as its name implies, the poem Völuspá consists of an undead seeress reciting information about the past and future to the god Odin. |
Eiríks saga rauða provides a particularly detailed account of the appearance and activities of a seeress. For example, regarding the seeress Þorbjörg lítilvölva:
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 by 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.
Viking Age Archaeological Record
The archaeological record for Viking Age society features a variety of graves that may be those of North Germanic seeresses. A notable example occurs at Fyrkat, in the northern Jutland region of Denmark. Fyrkat is the site of a former Viking Age ring fortress, and the cemetery section of the site contains among about 30 others a grave of a woman buried within a horse-drawn carriage and wearing a red and blue dress with gold thread, all signs of high status. While the grave contains items commonly found in female Viking Age graves, it also contains a variety of other rare and exotic items. For example, the woman wore silver toe rings and her burial contained two bronze bowls originating from Central Asia.In addition, the grave contained a small purse that itself contained seeds from henbane, a poisonous plant, and a partially disintegrated metal wand, used by the seeresses in the Old Norse record. According to the National Museum of Denmark:
Henbane's aphrodisiac properties may have also been relevant to its use by the seeress. At the feet of the corpse was a small box, called a box brooch and originating from the Swedish island of Gotland, which contained owl pellets, and bird bones. The grave also contained amulets shaped like a chair, potentially a reflection of the land-standing association of seeresses and chairs.
A ship setting grave in Köpingsvik, a location on the Swedish island of Öland, may have also contained a seeress. The woman was buried wrapped in bear fur with a variety of notable grave goods: The grave contained a bronze-ornamented staff with a small house atop it, a jug made in Central Asia, and a bronze cauldron smithed in Western Europe. The grave contained animals and humans, perhaps sacrificed.
The Oseberg ship burial may have also contained a seeress. The ship contained the remains of two people, one a woman of notably elevated status and the other possibly a slave. Along with a variety of other objects, the grave contained a purse containing cannabis seeds and a wooden wand.
Another notable grave that may have contained the remains of a seeress was excavated by archaeologists in Hagebyhöga in Östergötland, Sweden. The grave contained female human remains interred with an iron wand or staff, a carriage, horses, and Arabic bronze jugs. Notably, the grave also contained a small silver figurine of a woman with a large necklace, which has been interpreted by archaeologists as representing the goddess Freyja, a deity strongly associated with seiðr, death, and sex.
Modern influence
The concept of the Germanic seeress has yielded influence in a variety of areas in modern popular culture. For example, in 1965, the Icelandic scholar Sigurður Nordal coined the Icelandic term for "computer"—— by way of a blend of the nouns tala and völva.The seeress Veleda in particular has yielded particular influence in popular culture, including inspiring a novel by German writer Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué, a marble statue by French sculpture Hippolyte Maindron, and an illustration by K. Sigrist, and an opera by Polish-American composer Eduard Sobolewski.
Additionally, various practitioners of Germanic Heathenry, the modern revival of Germanic paganism, seek to revive the concept of the Germanic seeress.