Galdr

__NOTOC__ ("gala").The article "galder" in Henrikson A., Törngren D. and Hansson L. (1998). "Stora mythologiska uppslagsboken". ISBN 91-37-11346-1]

Etymology

The Old Norse word "galdr" (Old English "gealdor") is derived from a word for singing incantations, "gala" (Old High German and Old English: "galan") with an Indo-European -"tro" suffix. In Old High German the -"stro" suffix produced "galster" instead. [http://runeberg.org/svetym/0265.html Hellquist, E. (1922). Svensk etymologisk ordbok. C. W. K. Gleerups förlag, Lund. p. 177] ]

The Old English forms were "gealdor", "galdor", "ȝaldre" "spell, enchantment, witchcraft", and the verb "galan" meant "sing, chant". It is contained in "nightingale" (from "næcti-galæ"), related to "giellan", the verb ancestral to Modern English "yell"; cf. also the Icelandic verb "að gala" "to sing, call out, yell".

The German forms were Old High German "galstar" and MHG "galster" "song, enchantment" (Konrad von Ammenhausen "Schachzabelbuch" 167b), surviving in (obsolete or dialectal) Modern German "Galsterei" (witchcraft) and "Galsterweib" (witch).

Practice

The incantations were composed in a special meter named "galdralag". This meter was similar to the six-lined ljóðaháttr but adds a seventh line.The article "Galdralag" in "Nationalencyklopedin" (1992)] Another characteristic is a performed parallelism, see the stanza from "Skirnismál", below.

A practical galdr for women was one that made childbirth easier,Steinsland, G. & Meulengracht Sørensen 1998:72] but they were also notably used for bringing madness onto another person, whence modern Swedish "galen" meaning "mad". Moreover, a master of the craft was also said to be able to raise storms, make distant ships sink, make swords blunt, make armour soft and decide victory or defeat in battles. Examples of this can be found in "Grógaldr" and in "Frithiof's Saga". In "Grógaldr", Gróa chants nine (a significant number in Norse mythology) galdrs to aid her son, and in "Buslubœn", the schemes of king Ring of Östergötland are averted.The article " [http://runeberg.org/nfbi/0309.html galder] " in "Nordisk familjebok" (1908).]

It is also mentioned in several of the poems in the "Poetic Edda", and for instance in "Hávamál", where Odin claims to know 18 galdrs. For instance, Odin mastered galdrs against fire, sword edges, arrows, fetters and storms, and he could conjure up the dead and speak to them. [Schön 2004:86] There are other references in "Skírnismál", where Skirnir uses galdrs to force Gerðr to marry Freyr as exemplified by the following stanza:

A notable reference to the use of galdrs is the eddic poem "Oddrúnargrátr", where Borgny could not give birth before Oddrún had chanted "biting galdrs" (but they are translated as "potent charms", by Henry Adams Bellows below):

ee also

*Seiðr
*Grógaldr
*Icelandic magical staves
* Old High German Galdr [http://www.germanischesmantra.de] by eirisproject on the CD "Germanic Mantra"

Notes

Bibliography

*Schön, Ebbe. (2004). "Asa-Tors hammare, Gudar och jättar i tro och tradition". Fält & Hässler, Värnamo.
*Steinsland, G. & Meulengracht Sørensen, P. (1998): "Människor och makter i vikingarnas värld". ISBN 9173245917