The Norse Sorceress

This study offers a comprehensive, interdisciplinary, and contextualized investigation of the figure of the völva, situating her in the wider context of pre-Christian Nordic religion, culture, and ritual practices. Old Norse literature abounds with descriptions of magic acts that allow ritual specialists of various kinds to manipulate the world around them, see into the future or the distant past, change weather conditions, influence the outcomes of battles, and more. While magic practitioners a