Winifred Hodge Rose
Many years ago in the bowels of our university library, I came across a wonderful book of old Norwegian spells. This extensive (1,576 spells!) and detailed scholarly collection was published in 1901-2, entitled Norske Hexeformularer og Magiske Opskrifte (Norwegian Witch-Formulas and Magical Recipes), by Dr. Anton C. Bang. It provides an amazing collection of folklore ranging back through the Middle Ages. The author includes, among many others, 34 charms that are variants of the German Second Merseberger Charm about Odin’s healing of Balder’s horse after it sprained its leg, and 27 charms calling on Disir / Norn / Valkyrie / Freya-figures. The primary figures in these spells overall are Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and Saint Peter, yet it is clear that in many cases these were originally substitutes for Odin, Frigga / Freya, and Thor. Indeed, in several spells from Ullinsaker (Ullr’s Field) dating from as late as the 1880’s, the spell reads “in the names of Thor, Odin and Frigga” in place of the customary Christian power-names “Father, Son and Holy Ghost.”
The connection between Odin and Jesus as ‘chief / self-sacrificing gods,’ and between Frigga and the Virgin Mary as ‘mother / helping goddesses’ is easily apparent. In Christian lore, Saint Peter is portrayed as a large, strong man with a hot temper: the similarity with Thor is clear! In the following discussion of the charms I make these substitutions: Odin in place of Jesus, Thor in place of Saint Peter, and Frigga in place of the Virgin Mary, except as otherwise noted. Most individuals who used these charms probably did so with Christian holy beings (Jesus, angels, saints) in mind; certainly I would not presume to say what each person thought. But as I describe some of these spells and the overall picture that they portray, you will see how deeply Heathen are the beliefs and world-view on which they rest.
In this article I reinstate our own Deities in a selection of the most Heathen-oriented spells. One of many things this collection offers is a much bigger picture of the activities of the Goddesses and other womanly wights than we are given in the ancient poetic lore, which deals for the most part with the struggles of warring kings and heroes and with mythological themes. These spells deal, instead, with the concerns of everyday life where the Goddesses as well as the Gods play a great role.
I view these spells as inspirational vignettes, keeping me mindful of our Gods’ and Goddesses’ interest in our daily affairs, and reinforcing a Heathen understanding of life and the world. As is told in folklore throughout the Germanic lands, when the Gods and Goddesses fare about the land they bring blessings and fertility, gather up wandering souls, chastise those who deserve it, and sometimes challenge our courage and faith by the roaring of the Wild Hunt. These spells give a picture of their everyday kindnesses, their gifts of help, healing and warding, as they walk the hills and vales of Midgard.
I have translated these spells to the best of my ability, and where I am unable to translate certain words I have left them in their original form.
The Gods Ride Over the Bridge
Almost every time the Gods and Goddesses appear in the charms, they are portrayed as riding, walking, or going ‘on their way,’ ‘on the road,’ often mentioning a specific, local location where they are met by a person in need. Sometimes Frigga or Odin are found, not wandering, but seated in a place of power: on an earth-fast stone, or inside / outside a God-house. Spell #95 (dated 1800) conjures in the name of “the heavy stone below which Frigg (Virgin Mary) speaks judgement (‘dom sag’)” – obviously another place of power. Just as obviously, this image is not consistent with Christian belief, where Mary, a human, does not have the right to judge. These are not Gods to whom prayers are sent to a distant, heavenly address, far beyond the bounds of Midgard. These are Gods and Goddesses whom we can meet over the next hill, across the river there, or in person in the God-house of our own village. They spend, according to the assumptions of these charms, a great deal of their time wandering around in Midgard, with the simple aim of being available to their folk in need.
Most interestingly, the Holy Ones are very often described as ‘riding / coming over the bridge,’ sometimes even the ‘shining bridge’ and the ‘broad bridge’. For example, Spell #3 begins: “Jesus and St. Peter (Odin and Thor) rode over the shining bridge (bilne bro)”. The parallel with the Bifrost Bridge is clear, and so is the implication that these are indeed our own Heathen Gods, riding over the Bridge between their World and ours to join us here in Midgard. Bridges play no particular role in Christian mythology, but in our lore any being who comes toward us over a bridge is known to be an Otherworldly being of one kindred or another. Here is an example of one of the many ‘coming over the bridge’ charms, one of my favorites. The spell is against an Aakast, some kind of evil wight. Mentioned here is a “church-aakast”; this may be similar to the northern English “church-grim”, a dangerous wight that lurks around churches.
Against Aakast
I make (this magic) for myself and you, against all nine Aakast, whether flying or faring,
Dwelling in Himmel and Jord (Heaven and Earth), dwelling in Maane and Sol (Moon and Sun):
Against Church-Aakast, against Mountain-Aakast, and against Vas-Aakast (probably poltergeist).
Fare away, whether Aakast or Aakast’s father, Aakast or Aakast’s mother, Aakast or Aakast’s brother, and all their relations and friends.
Some fared up and some fared down, some fared north and some fared south.
Then came Odin riding over the bridge. Odin said: “Where are you going, Aakast?”
“I will rake flesh and blood from bones.”
“No,” said Odin, “I shall turn you back to the one who sent you, and to the blue mountain. There shall you stay in stock and stone, and not bring harm to anyone. (#79, dated 1750)
Some of the charms featuring Frigga show her being encountered on the road or coming across the bridge by herself, or with Odin, or occasionally with both Odin and Thor. But often, rather than wandering around, a person will go to the ‘church,’ the God-house, knowing she or he will find Frigga sitting there in person. This is reminiscent of the public and private temples and Disirsalar (worship-halls of the Disir) in the older lore, where the statues of the deities, both Gods and Goddesses, were considered to be living representatives of their divine models. Further below, I will show several examples of Frigga spells.
Encountering the Holy Ones.
There are three ‘encounter’ patterns with the Gods and Goddesses. In one pattern, a person meets a deity and a conversation is held: the deity asks what is the matter, the petitioner tells this, and the God or Goddess speaks words of power which fix the problem. This kind of spell builds on the assumption that what happened ‘some other time’ between the Gods and ‘somebody with the same problem I / you have,’ will happen again now as we work this charm. Most of the spells seek help from the Gods against evil wights, sorcery and curses. The following spell is a little different, giving a delightful example of trust that the deities will help us with any of our needs.
Hunter’s Prayer
Odin fared forth and went to a Grinn-Le (?),
There stood a hunter and held himself beside it, and wept bitter tears.
“Why are you grieving so sorely?”
“Well may I grieve, I can fetter no birds, eider ducks, roe-deer, hare, nor other kinds of wildlife.”
Odin came toward him and said, “Come and sit you down; I shall teach you so you can remedy this, and work magic so you can fetter eider ducks, roe-deer, hare, and all sorts of wildlife.” (#132, dated 1815)
A second type of encounter is – quite charmingly! – between a deity and a domestic animal directly, unmediated by the animal’s owner. The pattern is the same as for humans: a distressed animal meets a deity, tells its problem, and receives a remedy. Here is an example featuring the affliction called ‘envy’ (avunds-hed), caused by an ill-wishing person against another person’s cow. In Dag Stromback’s wonderful article, “The Concept of the Soul in Nordic Tradition,” he shows that a powerful person’s avund / envy / evil eye is able to act physically upon another being or object by the power of the envious person’s Hugr-soul. Here is a spell featuring an envy-struck (Hugr-struck) cow:
Against Avundshed / Envy
Odin fared over a bridge, there he met a cow. It cried out, lowing; it cried out, mooing.
Odin said: “Why are you lowing? Why are you mooing?”
“Well may I low, well may I moo, since it is sucking blood from my body, flesh from my bones, marrow from my limbs, milk from my udder.”
“That isn’t right, my blessed (velsignede) cow,” said Odin. “I shall work (magic) for you against envy, and weaken it with my ten fingers and my twelve angels (think Valkyrja), so that you shall get blood in your body, flesh on your bones, and marrow in your limbs, and milk in your udder. Your milk shall remain fat, and your cream remain frothy.” (#152, dated 1750)
The third type of encounter is not between the Gods and an ordinary human, but between them and various kinds of evil wights, as I showed in the spell above about the Aakast. This also includes evil human witches, warlocks, etc. Very often these beings are illness-wights: the spells show a great variety of personified spirits of sickness. There are also many other kinds of wights, dwarves, ghosts, and ‘aande’ or spirits in general. (Note that aand is the same as Old Norse ond, the gift of Odin to humankind. Ond / aand does not only mean ‘breath of life’ but also ‘spirit.’ This comes across clearly in the use of ‘aand’ in these spells to mean ‘evil spirits’ as well as the name of the Christian Holy Spirit in the Scandinavian languages: Hellig Aand and variants thereof.)
In this pattern, the Gods are ‘going on their way’ and encounter evil beings. They ask the evil beings where they are going and what they are up to. The evil ones, apparently constrained to tell the truth, answer that they are going to a specific village or person’s house (the charms list “NN” meaning “insert the relevant name here”) to cause harm, or they simply describe the harm they intend to do in general. The Gods reply that they will do no such thing, and bind or curse them in some way so that they are powerless. Here is an example of this type of charm:
Against Blod-Aegten (spirit of the plague)
Odin and Thor went forth on their way, met the Blod-Aegten, the plague.
“Where are you going?” said Odin.
It said: “I shall go to NN and tear out and munch on his cartilage, bones, veins, flesh and sinews.”
“No,” said Odin, “You shall go backwards into an earth-fast stone, and nevermore harm mankind!” (#136, dated 1780)
Goddesses and Gods Together
Both Gods and Goddesses are shown to help both men and women in the charms: there is no strict bureaucracy of who is supposed to help whom! While it may be logical, in principle, to call on a deity who can especially “relate” to your problem, the more important method is simply to meet a deity – any deity – and ask for any kind of help from him or her. For example, we saw in a previous charm and many other similar ones that Odin gives back strength to an afflicted cow so it can produce milk – a supposedly ‘feminine’ function. And in many spells it is Frigga who ousts vicious wights, rather than Thor or Odin as one might expect; or else she works in concert with them. For example:
Against Trolldom (witchcraft, sorcery)
Frigga and Thor walked and ‘lotted’, and Odin walked and ‘laid’. They saw a huge troll in the mountain: “He is no good.” “Yes, he is no good for visible or invisible (beings),” said Frigga. “Troll-men and troll-wives we will bind in the blue mountain; there they shall sit until doom comes, from sunup to sundown.” (#126, dated 1865)
[Norwegian ‘loted’ is translated online into English ‘lotted,’ as in ‘allotted.’ The three Deities are apparently ‘laying’ the dangers of trolls in a magical sense, choosing and ‘allotting’ their fates, as well as I can figure.]
In one of the most peculiar spells – if one looks at it from a Christian viewpoint – Frigga / Virgin Mary heals her son of a troll’s attack. In the Christian version, Jesus has taken the place of Balder rather than Odin. As I discuss below, the title “Herre” (Lord) is applied to Balder in another charm as well as in this one.
To Conjure Against a Troll
Frigga went and sat herself down in the house of her lord (Herre) and his father. “Here you lie, my son,” she said to him. “Mother, a troll came and caused swelling in all my bones.” “My son, sit you upon an earth-fast stone” – and that he did. (#201, variants from various places and ranging between 1750 to 1830).
The “earth-fast stone”– a stone which is held fast in the earth, rather than a loose stone – comes up very often in these spells. Clearly it has the power to hold fast something that we want to imprison such as bad luck or an evil wight. Sometimes Frigga works her magic seated on an earth-fast stone, which serves her as a source of earth-power; this is her recommendation to Balder in the spell. In the Christian version of the spell, of course it is Virgin Mary who is the healer. But the whole situation is a very unchristian one: would Christians really expect Jesus to be overcome by a troll and be unable to heal himself without his mother’s help? This would not happen in authentic Christian mythology. Yet our own mythology tells tales of Balder’s afflictions and the efforts of his mother Frigga to help him, and in our tales it is a sorcerous being, a troll-madhr – Loki – who attacks Balder. This spell seems more characteristic of Frigga and Balder than it does of Jesus and Mary.
Odin and Frigga very often work together in these spells. I think that in Heathen lore, Odin and Frigga worked together (or in contest with each other!) far more often than the traces we find in the lore. What little is mentioned there hints at more, for example Odin and Frigg fostering the shipwrecked boys on the island in Grimnismal (Poetic Edda); and Frigg and Odin giving the Langobardi their name (Paulus Diaconus, section 8). There is also the old German Second Merseberger Charm, which shows four Goddesses, in addition to Odin, galdoring over the wrenched leg of Balder’s horse (discussed further, below).
In our book, Spell # 122 shows Odin and Frigg standing together upon a sod of earth, working magic against all the Onde (evil spirits) that fare under the heavens: a truly magnificent image! Another spell against an evil wight begins with a picture of Odin and Frigg together as farmers: “Odin and Frigg drove their livestock (boskap) over the broad bridge…” (#191).
Consider this: these spells in their Christian forms speak of Jesus and Mary as though they were together, wandering about, a great deal of the time. This is not the case according to Christian scripture and tradition: the Virgin Mary did not go wandering around the countryside alone with Jesus, working wonders together on an equal basis, though she may have been among the crowds that followed him. The whole point of Christian wonder-tales about Jesus was to show that only he could do these things, by the power of his father. By having Jesus and Mary working together as magician-companions so often, these Norse spells are, I believe, following a traditional Heathen model where Gods and Goddesses work together and companion each other. In order for the Heathen spells to be Christianized, Christian mythological accuracy had to be distorted to fit Heathen tradition, showing how strong the Heathen tradition really was.
Here is an example of Odin and Frigga patrolling together as wardens of Midgard:
Against a Giant
Odin and Frigga walked upon the white sand, there came a giant flying to the land.
“Where are you going, then?” said Odin.
“I’m going to Middel-Heim, to suck blood and munch bones.”
“No,” said Odin, “you shall no longer come; you shall be put upon a very high mountain, in Day’s tree, in Night’s tree.” (#146, dated 1862)
An interesting thing about this spell is that clearly it takes place somewhere other than Midgard, since Odin and Frigga meet the giant on his way to Middel-Heim (Middle-World, Midgard) and prevent him from ever getting there. So where is it that they are patrolling? In a Christian context this would be a difficult question to answer; certainly Jesus and Mary would not be patrolling near (Christian) hell, nor would a giant be coming from (Christian) heaven. Where else is there? In a Heathen context there is no problem at all: they are patrolling the borders near another Heim or World: perhaps Jotunheim, perhaps the approach to Bifrost Bridge, perhaps some nameless borderland between one world and another. The fact that they are on the sand, therefore next to a body of water, definitely implies a borderland of some kind between the worlds. The fascinating “Day’s Tree” and “Night’s Tree” must also be in another World outside of Midgard: I wish I knew more about them!
Gand-Shot
Evil wights often use a form of attack called ‘shot’ (skud) – the same approach used by wights in other Germanic lands, like the elf-shot and hag-shot of the Anglo-Saxons. In Norse languages it is often called gand-skot or gand-skud. Gand occurs in Old Norse as well as medieval Scandinavian. In different contexts it seems to mean “a spirit, often associated with a magician,” “a type of magic,” and “a magic staff or wand”. As I see it, Gand is a spirit which can work magic and resides in the staff or wand of a vitki, seidhkona or other magic-user, or alternatively can reside within them as an extra soul or spirit. In the charm below, ‘gand’ refers to injury or illness ‘shot’ by magic at domestic animals. ‘Troll’ as mentioned below refers to a sorcerer or magic-user, who sometimes may be human, sometimes not. This spell is another example of Frigg’s power against evil.
Against Gand-Skud
Frigga said “What is harming your creatures (domestic animals)?”
“Troll-craft and shot are flaying my creatures.”
Frigga shall work well in return (for the evil): against Berg (mountain)-shot, against Earth-shot, against Troll-karl’s (sorcerer’s) shot, and against (all) shots which fly along wind and way. (#116, dated 1864)
There are many other ‘shot’ spells featuring Odin or Frigg or both together; sometimes Thor is included as well, and sometimes it is three Norns or Valkyrie-figures who do this. The typical symptoms of ‘shot’ are sudden pain, ‘accidental’ injury, or other sort of physical disablement. The following spell concerns some kind of pain reliever, a “døvelse,” against typical symptoms of ‘shot.’ The magical beings invoked in this spell are clearly Valkyrja, reminiscent of the spear-maidens protecting their chosen heroes in battle.
When One Wants to Magically Make a Døvelse
There came three maidens Moier (?) down from heaven: the one bore light, the other bore a spear, the third bore ‘døvelsen’ to relieve pain and injury. (#249, from 1800-1880)
Norns and Others Bind the Fylgja
The author of our book, Dr. Bang, put 27 charms into a category which he called “The Three Norns and Freya-Maria;” the preceding spell is one of these. These are among the most fascinating and Heathen-oriented of the spells in this book. A number of them deal with an entity that is in all likelihood the hamr or fylgja of a child in the womb, or of a domestic animal in the womb. In the modern and older Scandinavian languages, the afterbirth and the caul (birth-membrane) are sometimes called the fylgi (‘follower’) or the hama (skin, membrane, covering), showing the connection between gestation and some of the Heathen souls we possess or are accompanied by: the Fylgja and Hamr. Apparently this entity can sometimes get loose from the fetus and escape the womb, causing two serious problems: (a) probable miscarriage, and (b) haunting and harm done by this entity on the loose.
There are several terms used for the entity in the spell-book: among them are Bølen, and Barne-Mora. Barne-Mora would translate in English as ‘Bairn-Mara;’ the Mara or Mare is well-known in English and other lore as a phantom which haunts and afflicts sleeping people. Our word ‘nightmare’ does not refer to a horse, but rather to a night-mara, a haunter of the night. Regarding the word Bølen, it seems to be derived from Bøl (related to Old English ‘bale’) meaning bad luck, harm, and scyld or debt due to misdeeds. These meanings are very clearly connected to the idea of the Fylgja and other ‘soul-followers’ like the Hamingja, which carry with them our luck, our wyrd, and our scyld for misdeeds we have done. The connection with the Norns and wyrd is also clear. The identity between the Bølen-spirit and the afterbirth comes across in the title of this spell:
To Bind an Afterbirth (Efterbyrd)
I bind the Bøln with my five fingers, as Odin and Frigga bound with their five fingers. It shall stay with might (be mightily bound) as an earth-fast stone, it shall cause no more harm to anyone. (#300, dated 1800)
Here the Bølen is treated as an evil spirit and immobilized; there are other spells that also treat ‘afterbirths’ as evil spirits which are sometimes collected and sent out by sorcerers. In these cases, the afterbirths are probably those of miscarried or stillborn babies which were not ‘laid’ by magic after the event. They could also be Hamr-souls stolen by a witch or sorcerer from living persons: a hamstolinn person was considered witless, lacking their Hama soul which enables speech and social interaction (see my article “The Shape of Being Human: The Hama Soul”). Even when not directed by a sorcerer, these afterbirth apparitions wander around and cause trouble.
In most of the spells involving Norns and Goddesses, a different approach is taken: they seek to bind the Bølen or Barne-Mara back to the fetus immediately, as soon as it gets loose. This prevents a miscarriage, and prevents the permanent creation of an evil phantom unattached to a living person who would control it. Here is an example of binding the Bølen in a healing way:
To Bind the Bølen inside a Woman
There come three maidens from East-lands. The first can spin gold, the other binds the Barne-Mora, the third lays it in its right place within NN (name of mother). (#240, dated 1780)
These are clearly the Norns acting, reuniting spirit with baby and laying it properly in the womb for a safe birth. This may bear some relation to the mysterious statement about the Norns in the Voluspa where they:
There lay laws, there choose life of mortal children; speak orlog.
In my article “Aldr and Orlay: Weaving a World”, I show that Aldr is one of the Heathen life-souls which each of us possess while living. I suspect that these lines of the Voluspa refer in some way to the Norns’ role in binding souls and their associated orlay to the child in the womb, which we see reflected also in a number of these Norwegian spells. Another spell features a different group of women:
Against the Mora
“There came three maidens wandering; one was the Sun, the other was the Moon, and the third was the Virgin Mary (surely Freya). They bound the slimy / slippery Mora with silver bands and gold bands, as fast (firm) as the Aand (spirit) in the chains of motherhood.” (#246, 1882)
I assume that the last two lines are talking about fastening the Mora-spirit into the womb, but it’s not exactly clear. The grouping together of the Sun, the Moon, and Freya is very reminiscent of our Heathen lore. Several of our myths tell of giants seeking to win, as a prize, “the Sun, the Moon, and Freya” – the most well-known instance is the building of Asgard’s walls by the giant and his stallion (Sturlason, p 35-6). In the charm it is clear that all three entities – Sun, Moon, and Freya – are seen as female beings. The Goddesses Sunna and Freya are clearly female in Heathen lore. Though Mani, the Moon, is a male God, there are also hints of a Moon-Dis in our lore. Verse 39 of Grimnismal (Poetic Edda) speaks of Hati, the wolf who is known to be the Moon-Bane, the pursuer of the Moon, chasing the “bright bride of heaven” – obviously a Goddess or Dis.
The Swedish scholar Viktor Rydberg identifies Nanna, Balder’s wife, as a Moon-Dis – in fact as Sinhtgunt the sister of Sunna who appears in the Second Merseberger Charm (see below). Hati the Moon-Bane chasing the ‘bride of heaven’ does imply that he is chasing the Moon or a being associated with the Moon. The reference to the ‘bride of heaven’ could point to Balder, Nanna’s husband, whose home is called Himinbjorg or Heaven-Burg and who is associated with the Sun and the heavens. (See my story “A Tale of Nanna and Her Kin”, and Rydberg Volume I, Sections 90 and following.)
I suspect that the precursor of this charm originally featured three of our Heathen Goddesses, most likely Sunna, Nanna, and Freya. The silver and gold bands in the spell, besides reflecting the colors of Moon and Sun, bring to mind Freya’s magical girdle / necklace Brisingamen. Restoring a wandering soul-form to a baby may be one of the powerful uses to which Freya puts her girdle-magic.
Here is another Norn-spell:
For a Hexed Bull
The three wise, wandering women went upon their way, met my bull weeping bloody tears.
“What is wrong with him?” asked the three wise, wandering women.
“My bull is Mod-stolen and blood-stolen, all might and strength is stolen from him.”
“You shall go hence, to the blessed (velsignede) Vendels-Rod*.”
“Stand you there, you fair Ven(‘friend?’ Or contraction of ‘vendels-rod?) ? What are you good for?”
“For Mod-sickness and blood-sickness, for all ill that can happen to the bull….” (continues). (#253, dated 1815)
[*Vendels-Rod translates online to ‘vendels-root’, but the meaning of ‘vendel’ isn’t clear. Is it a specific plant? ‘Vend’ means ‘to turn’ in English, so I wonder whether this is a magical root for ‘turning’ or transforming something. ‘Ven’ means ‘friend,’ but perhaps it is a contraction of vendels-rod?]
Traces of Heathen Names or References
As I explained earlier, in most cases the deities figuring in the charms are Christianized ones, for which I have substituted our own deities’ names. In a few cases, however, actual Heathen names or references creep in, as I describe below.
Balder
In the following example I retain the original version with “Jesus” to emphasize the strangeness of the other character in this spell:
Jesus and “Herren” ride over the desolate heath. Herren’s horse slips and wrenches its leg.
Jesus alights there and sets in order Herr’s foal: Hide to hide, Bone to bone, then it (the leg) held its place, as it had held before. (# 5, dated 1670)
Now, this charm is especially interesting because among Christians Jesus’s father “God” is normally called “Herre” = Lord. Alternatively, Jesus is also referred to as Herre / Lord. But here, Jesus is riding with someone else called Lord, implying that Jesus is not “Lord”, or at least that there is someone who is more lordly and more deserving of the title than he is. “Lord” is unlikely to be the Christian Father-God in this case, since one never hears tales of him walking on earth in human form (not since the Garden of Eden, anyway). Who this “Lord” is becomes clear when we compare this with an Old High German version of the same charm dating from the tenth century:
Phol and Wodan fared to the wood, then was Balder’s foal’s leg wrenched.
Then galdored Sinhtgunt and Sunna her sister, then galdored Friia and Volla her sister,
Then galdored Wodan, as well he could,
Be it bone-wrench, be it blood-wrench, be it limb-wrench:
Bone to bone, blood to blood, limb to limb, as if they were glued.
(Second Merseberger Charm, Barber p. 65)
Here, Phol seems to be a variant German name of Balder. Comparing the two charms, it is clear that in the Norwegian charm, Jesus plays Odin’s role and Herre / Lord is Balder. The Norwegian version, ostensibly Christian, not only implies the presence of a Heathen God, but places him higher than Jesus by calling him Lord.
In another of the 34 Norwegian variants of this charm (#17), it is the Virgin Mary who heals Jesus’s / Balder’s horse, which parallels the healing role of the Goddesses Sinhtgunt, Sunna, Friia (Frigga) and Volla (Fulla) in the German charm. These examples show very clearly that Christian deities replaced Heathen ones in traditional spells, and that there was a good deal of creative flexibility about the replacements. For example, sometimes Jesus replaced Odin, other times he replaced Balder. In another “wrenched horse’s leg” variant (#1), Jesus plays Balder’s role and Saint Michael (archangel) plays Odin’s role.
Odin
In another of the “wrenched leg” charm variants we see “Eg” riding over a bridge, which probably refers to Odin’s name “Ygg.” (#28, dated 1811.) Another charm works against “Eddin’s daughters.” “Eddin” is surely Odin, and his daughters may perhaps be Valkyries. The charm orders first one, then two, then three “Eddin’s Daughters” to go out of the person, into earth and sea and air. (#99, dated 1847.)
Thor, Odin and Frigg
There are a couple of spells which I mentioned earlier, that actually name three Heathen deities outright: Thor, Odin and Frigga. Here is one:
To Bind Bad Luck into a Sending-Stone
Put the black upon the blue, put the blue upon the white, put the white upon an earth-fast stone.
In the names of Thor, Odin and Frigga.
Lock (it) in a stone, walk three turns around and strike in the bad luck (strike the luck into the stone). (#40, dated 1880)
Your guess is as good as mine, concerning the “black, blue and white”! Another similar charm mentions “black upon the blue, blue upon the grey, grey upon the white, white upon the red…”, and also speaks in the name of Thor, Odin and Frigga (#96, examples found from 1780 through 1885). Perhaps there are clues in folklore that would help one figure out the details of this approach.
In Closing
So many of the charms in this book, when viewed with a Heathen understanding, can serve to open our awareness of how near the Holy Ones always are. We might not see them face to face, walking on the streets, though perhaps this could happen. But there are many other ways they approach us: through the timely words and example of others, in person or through books or media. Through the phenomena of nature, whether powerful like storms or gentle like bird-calls or sunrises. Through feelings in our hearts and insights in our minds. Through synchronicities and luck acting in our lives. Everything can speak with Gods’ voices and powers when we open our awareness. By immersing ourselves in experiences and insights consistent with a Heathen world-view, as we find in these spells, we train our awareness to be sensitive to the voices of the Holy Ones. I hope that you will feel as moved as I do, perceiving in this world-view the closeness, goodness, and power of the kindly Gods and Goddesses as they walk among us: then, now, and always.
Book Hoard
Bang, Anton Christian. Norske Hexeformularer og Magiske Opskrifte. Kristiana I Commision hos Jacob Dybwad, A.W. Broggers Boktrykkeri, 1901-2.
Barber, Charles Clyde. An Old High German Reader. Basil Blackwell, Oxford. 1964.
Larrington, Carolyne, translator. The Poetic Edda. Oxford University Press, New York, 1996.
Paulus Diaconus, History of the Lombards. Transl. William Dudley Foulke. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. 1907.
Rydberg, Viktor. Teutonic Mythology: Gods and Goddesses of the Northland, translated by Rasmus B. Anderson. Norroena Society, 1907.
Simek, Rudolf. Dictionary of Northern Mythology, translated by Angela Hall. D.S. Brewer, Suffolk, England. 1993.
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This article was first published in Lina: The Quarterly Journal of Frigga’s Web, 1997; then in Idunna: A Journal of Northern Tradition, #62, Winter 2004. Revised November 2023.