Völva

A vǫlva or völva (Old Norse and Icelandic, respectively; plural forms vǫlur and völvur), sometimes anglicized vala; also spákona or spækona) is a female shaman and seer in Norse religion and a recurring motif in Norse mythology.

The vǫlur were referred to by many names. Old Norse vǫlva means "wand carrier" or "carrier of a magic staff", and it continues Proto-Germanic *walwōn, which is derived from a word for "wand" (Old Norse vǫlr).Vala, on the other hand, is a literary form based on vǫlva.

Another name for the vǫlva is fjǫlkunnig (plenty of knowing) indicating she knew ‘’seiðr’’, spá and galdr. A practitioner of seiðr is known as a seiðkona "seiðr-woman" or a seiðmaðr "seiðr-man".

A spákona or spækona “spá-woman” (with an Old English cognate, spæwīfe is a specialised vǫlva; a "seer, one who sees", from the Old Norse word spá or spæ referring to prophesying and which is cognate with the present English word "spy," continuing Proto-Germanic *spah- and the Proto-Indo-European root *(s)peḱ (to see, to observe) and consequently related to Latin specio ("I see") and Sanskrit spaśyati and paśyati ("to see").

Vǫlur practiced seiðr, spá and galdr, practices which encompassed shamanism, sorcery, prophecy and other forms of indigenous magic associated with women. Seiðr in particular had connotations of ergi (unmanliness), a serious offense in Norse society.

Historical and mythological depictions of vǫlur show that they were held in high esteem and believed to possess such powers that even the father of the gods, Odin himself, consulted a vǫlva to learn what the future had in store for the gods. Such an account is preserved in the Völuspá, which roughly translates to "Prophecy of the Vǫlva". In addition to the unnamed seeress (possibly identical with Heiðr) in the Vǫluspá, other examples of vǫlur in Norse literature include Gróa in Svipdagsmál, Þórbjǫrgr in the Saga of Erik the Red and Huld in Ynglinga saga.

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