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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 are known under myriad terms, the most
iconic of them is the völva. As the central figure of the famous
mythological poem Völuspá (The Prophecy of the Völva), the
völva commands both respect and fear. In non-mythological texts
similar women are portrayed as crucial albeit somewhat peculiar
members of society. Always veiled in mystery, the völur and their
kind have captured the academic and popular imagination for
centuries. Bringing together scholars from various disciplinary
backgrounds, this volume provides new insights into the reality of
magic and its agents in the Viking world, beyond the pages of
medieval texts. It explores new trajectories for the study of past
mentalities, beliefs, and rituals as well as the tools employed in
these practices and the individuals who wielded them. In doing so,
the volume engages with several topical issues of Viking Age
research, including the complex entanglements of mind and
materiality, the cultural attitudes to animals and the natural
world, and the cultural constructions of gender and sexuality. By
addressing these complex themes, it offers a nuanced image of the
völva and related magic workers in their cultural context. It will
appeal to a broad, diverse, and international audience, including
experts in the field of Viking and Old Norse studies but also
various non-professional history enthusiasts. The Norse Sorceress:
Mind and Materiality in the Viking World is a key output of the
project Tanken bag Tingene (Thoughts behind Things) conducted at
the National Museum of Denmark from 2020 to 2023 and funded by the
Krogager Foundation.
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