Völva: Vala is another name for Völva. The Norse word for a female magician or magical prophetess is sibyls of the North-land.
- The name comes from the Swedish word völr, which means "stick." In magical ceremonies, this stick (also known as a stafr or gandr) was employed.
- The divination ritual known as seir was presided over by the völva.
- The völva traveled, giving her services in exchange for food and festivities.
- She re-creates the ancient processional, in which a god or holy item is carried on a cart.
A written record of these activities has survived from a famine-stricken Greenlandic community anxiously anticipating the advent of the völva.
- She was welcomed with a sumptuous ceremonial feast consisting of the hearts of every conceivable animal.
- The völva climbed a platform after the feast, donning calfskin boots and cat's fur gloves (furry side on the inside).
- She sat on a hen's feather-stuffed pillow and asked a villager to sing the mesmerizing incantations.
- A young Christian lady volunteered, claiming that she had learnt the songs as a kid.
- It is regarded as one of the most significant, if not the most important, poems in the Poetic Edda.
- In answer to Odin's inquiry, the poem takes the form of a monologue given by a völva.
- When the völva awoke, she complimented the singing, saying that the ghosts had gathered to hear it.
- She was able to learn through these spirits that the hunger will be over soon, as well as other details, such as the singer's fate. “Little she stated went unfulfilled,” one witness claimed.
Related to - Seidh/Seir;
DIVINE WITCH: Herta;
CREATIVE ARTS: Dance: Processionals.
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