Old Norse Women of Inspiration

By Linnea Rock

University of Wisconsin–Madison

From before the days of written history, women have endured societal hardships, as in most situations they were deemed subordinate. Thankfully there have been many examples of great women who have found ways to assert themselves in a male-dominated world, a contingency of which had taken root in medieval Scandinavia. In mythology and medieval stories, there are accounts of women possessing strength and a willingness to weaken boundaries between normal gender roles. Many of these women did this through knowledge of runes and magic – a wisdom and practice that allowed them to influence others and even obtain authority. The Saga of the Volsungs is the story of a dragon slaying hero, but the women are also heroes because of their strength through the crafts of shape-shifting, potion-making, and divination-practicing. Medieval Scandinavian women in literature refuse to accept their place in traditional gender roles and exhibit their knowledge and wisdom without boundary.  

Women greatly influenced Norse mythology with their knowledge of magic. It is said that, “divination… is normally associated with volur, or ‘prophetesses,’ known from several sagas.”¹ Even more stunning, “not only were these volur all women, but the little we know about the seidr necessary for the performance suggests that it originally had been a female specialty reserved for the goddesses.”² This great power was exclusively for women’s use, giving them an authoritative edge over typical male brawn. Even more, magic was a female specialty and considered unmanly. Men could not perform divination without being greatly criticized thus giving women an instrument to propel their societal status. A significant example of such a prophetess is the Völva from the poem “Völuspá” when, “she looked far into the future, [she] spoke with the wisdom of all the worlds.”³ This quote captures a power that gave her great insight and surpassed many men who held esteem. This is just one example of the many women who used magic in order to heighten and expand their authority, wisdom, and power. 

The magic of women is speckled throughout Norse mythology, but is strong in The Saga of the Volsungs. Early in the story, King Rerir and his wife have been married for a while but have no children. They pray to the gods to give them a child and Frigg, Odin’s wife, hears this. She tells Odin of their humble request, however, being male, he cannot produce the magic. He instead sends one of his wish maidens with an apple – a symbol of fertility – to King Rerir and his wife. Although he is the god of all the Nordic gods, even he needs a woman’s help to perform some types of magic. When the king receives the apple, both he and his wife eat it and soon have a child.⁴ Norse male gods understand the differences between genders in regards to magic and mostly respect the dichotomy. 

There are examples of male deities using magic in Norse mythology, but it was not honorable. Loki criticizes Odin for using magic, calling him cowardly and womanly. Loki says to Odin, “who changed charms on the Isle of Sams, who murdered by magic? In a wizard’s guise you walked the earth – that I call craven.”⁵ This is quite an embarrassing accusation and brings up the point of gender transgressions, asserting “the general notion, that sexual difference used to be less a wall than a permeable membrane, has a great deal of explanatory force in a world in which a physical woman could become a social man, a physical man could… become a social woman, and the originary god, Óðinn himself, played both sides of the street.”⁶ Odin’s use of magic consequently put him into a woman’s world opening himself up to shame. This piece of mythology clearly shows how gender boundaries could be crossed; however, men faced consequences while women were revered.

Women had a unique ability to transgress the boundaries between typical maleness and femaleness. That is, women could be powerful and work amongst men. In Carol Clover’s article about gender roles and power in Northern Europe, she explained, “when commentaries on Viking and medieval Scandinavian culture get around (most do not) to the subject of ‘women’ or ‘sex roles’ or ‘the family,’ they tend to tell a standard story of separate spheres.”⁷ She criticizes other commentaries for not delving into Viking age women’s issues in order to see how there were actually an “extraordinary array of ‘exceptional’ or ‘strong’ or ‘outstanding’ or ‘proud’ or ‘independent’ women – women whose behavior exceeds what is presumed to be custom and sometimes the law.”⁸ These great role models helped show the world they were as strong as men and “most women [even] participated in practically all varieties of outside labor in addition to their housework.”⁹ The Saga of the Volsungs contains excellent examples of these extraordinary women who were very influential during their lifetimes. 

Many women in medieval Scandinavian sagas and mythology experienced times in which they held great power through their wisdom. A wise woman was a powerful resource for humanity’s survival. Brynhild is very wise and has an extensive knowledge of the runes. To Sigurd, Brynhild is the key to knowledge and he asks her to “teach [him] the ways of mighty things.”¹⁰ Brynhild is needed by the great dragon slayer in order to fulfill his quest. Once she completes her lesson in runes, Sigurd requests that she counsels him in the ways of being a good man and warrior. After this second lesson, Sigurd replies, “no one is wiser than you [Brynhild]. And I swear that I shall marry you, for you are to my liking.”¹¹ To this Brynhild answers, “I would most prefer to marry you, even should I choose among all men.”¹² Here she takes his proposal and makes it her own choice to marry Sigurd, something every woman should be able to do. Brynhild’s individualism is mirrored through confidence and wisdom. She uses her influence here to help someone that she loves as many women do throughout the saga. 

The Saga of the Volsungs contains instances of women acting as shape shifters in order to obtain what they want. Shape shifting is an interesting magic that was performed by both men and women in the saga. Siggeir’s mother uses this magic for familial gain. After the Volsung brothers are captured by Siggeir in battle and tied up in the woods, there is a she-wolf who comes and eats all the brothers except one, Sigmund, who is able to kill her. It is believed that “the she-wolf was Siggeir’s mother, who had assumed this shape through witchcraft and sorcery.”¹³ She does this to help her son who wants to kill the brothers. 

Signy also uses shape shifting in order to preserve her family line. Signy and Siggeir’s sons have no greatness in them from the Volsung side and this makes Signy very upset. Therefore, Signy seeks out a woman who is “exceedingly skilled in the magic arts.”¹⁴ The sorceress “used her craft so that they changed shapes. The sorceress now took Signy’s place as Signy wished.”¹⁵ This allows Signy to go to her brother Sigmund in disguise and have sex with him so that a full Volsung child can be brought into the world. Signy embodies the idea of the “important function of woman in the sagas: the strong-willed woman as catalyst in the complicated formulas of human events,”¹⁶ Without this audacious act, the Volsung line would not have continued. From this incestuous bastard, the strength and greatness of the Volsungs continues until finally producing the dragon slayer. 

Women showcase their ability to be active participants in the male dominated society by performing most of the divination in The Saga of the Volsungs. As noted earlier, divination was an art reserved for women and was considered a feminine trait. Divination was something that occurred in dreams but was not always clear, although some women had a gift for explaining dreams and reading people’s futures. Women garnered respect through the act of divination and it gave women influence in the male-dominated world.

Brynhild was famous for her divination power and many sought her guidance. Brynhild tells Sigurd what their relationship has in store and how Sigurd will betray her for Gudrun. But Sigurd and Brynhild were in love and so swore oaths to each other anyway.¹⁷ The importance of Brynhild warning Sigurd gives her the right to avenge her honor after he betrays her. 

Women in the sagas were notorious for seeking revenge even after events were previously prophesied. Both Brynhild and Gudrun use their influence to get revenge on the men who hurt them after Brynhild foretells these events. In her article about vengeful women in the sagas, Susan Clark explains, “the anomalies, the revengeful woman, stand out, precisely because they are not the historical norm.”¹⁸ These women stray from the typical woman’s role in the household and think for themselves outside of what society instills upon them. For that reason, they become powerful in their time and famous for all eternity. 

Brynhild causes Sigurd’s death after he betrays her and marries Gudrun; she “heard it [Sigurd’s death] and laughed when she heard Gudrun sobbing.”¹⁹ In this case, Brynhild used her profound influence to seek revenge rather than killing Sigurd herself. 

Gudrun has a dream that holds a prophecy but she cannot understand it, and she seeks out Brynhild to tell her of her dream’s meaning. From this dream, Brynhild foretells Gudrun’s relationships with Sigurd and with King Atli including the hardships that accompany these men.²⁰ When the prophecies come true and King Atli betrays Gudrun’s brothers, she avenges her family by killing King Atli herself. She and her nephew went into the king’s chamber while he slept and “Gudrun took a sword and thrust it into King Atli’s chest.”²¹ 

For both Brynhild and Gudrun, the act of killing the man in bed inverted gender roles because it was unmanly to be killed in bed, which gave the women dominance. Gudrun’s killing transgressed the gender boundaries even more than Brynhild’s killing because Gudrun wielded the sword herself. In Brynhild’s case, as in many sagas, “a bloody family feud is not complete without a ruthlessly determined woman urging her kin to retaliation and revenge.”²² It should be noted that, “Frequently the revenge is entirely personally oriented, or it may be motivated by a strong concept of familial and personal honor.”²³ For Brynhild, the revenge was about personal honor and for Gudrun it was about familial honor. Using action and influence as these women did are great ways to achieve one’s goals regardless of intent. Women actively participated in the man’s world by causing and preempting losses as they saw fit to their existence. 

It was common in the sagas for women to have symbolic, premonitory dreams. Often times however, men would misinterpret these dreams and would only realize their mistake after meeting their fates. Before Hogni and Gunnar go to see King Atli – who plans to kill them – their wives, Kostbera and Glaumvor, have such prophetic dreams. The women explain their dreams foretell the husbands’ deaths and beg them not to go. The men ignore the women’s predictions and make up another meaning for the dreams and proceed with their journey. They are subsequently killed by King Atli just as Kostbera and Glaumvor had predicted.²⁴ Although Kostbera’s and Glaumvor’s husbands did not respect their divination, they still have a unique ability that is reserved only for women.

Women in the sagas often attempt to prevent losses using their knowledge of runes, as well. When Kostbera realizes that the runes from Gudrun to her brothers were sloppily written, she says, “I read the runes and wondered how so wise a woman could have carved them so confusedly.”²⁵ Gudrun did not make a mistake in writing the runes. In fact, they are a warning to her brothers of King Atli’s malicious intent but the message was crudely altered. It takes Kostbera’s runic wisdom to discover this falsification because none of the men were able to recognize the disheveled attempt at changing Gudrun’s runes. Nordic women’s extensive knowledge of runes was something to be proud of. It gave women an intellectual advantage over the men who did not understand the runes as well as they did. Runes were not only used for communication; they were also an aspect of supernatural power.

Sorcery such as potion making and runic magic were used by Grimhild to cause disturbances and harm in the saga. Grimhild is upset that Sigurd has promised himself to Brynhild because she wishes for him to marry her daughter, Gudrun. Grimhild uses her sorcery to blend “the ale of forgetfulness” and offers it to Sigurd saying, “take the horn and drink.”²⁶ Once he has drunk the potion, he no longer remembers Brynhild or his oath to her and as Brynhild prophesied earlier, and he marries Gudrun. Here, Grimhild’s use of magic was for familial gain, yet still dishonest. Through the marriage of Gudrun and Sigurd, Grimhild obtains a great and powerful ally for her family but at the cost of using an evil trick. This is not the only time she uses a potion to better her family. 

After Sigurd’s murder, Grimhild is upset about losing a family ally and so sets her sights on a new husband for her daughter. Gudrun, however, is reluctant to marry King Atli for she is distraught over the loss of Sigurd. Grimhild goes to her daughter and makes her drink an evil potion, “and afterward she remembered none of her grievances” and it was found that “inside the drinking horn was carved with all manner of runes.”²⁷ Grimhild has done it again, for “in that ale were evils aplenty.”²⁸ Once Gudrun forgets her loss, Grimhild compels her to marry King Atli despite Bryhnild’s warning of Gudrun and King Atli’s fate. Although Grimhild is a deceitful woman, she uses her magic to accomplish her goals and that gave her great strength, as magic does for women in a male-dominated world. 

Women in medieval Scandinavian literature used their intelligence and resources to defy the typical gender codes of masculinity and femininity. The women in The Saga of the Volsungs use their wisdom and power to achieve personal goals. In this way, women such as Brynhild and Gudrun seek revenge while Signy and Grimhild better their families. Although some of these actions have bad consequences, there is no denying the fact these women were powerful and held authority in their families and society. The women presented here are not classic secondary characters serving as quiet wives often met in stories, but rather they are independent and active characters who earn respect and loyalty. They are admired for their honor and dignity to themselves and their families. It is this admiration that gives them eternal fame and lasting inspiration for women all over.

 

Bibliography

Clark, Susan. “‘Cold are the Counsels of Women’: The Revengeful Woman in Icelandic Family Sagas.” In Women as Protagonists and Poets in the German Middle Ages, ed. Albrecht Classen, 5-26. Güppingen: Kümmerle Verlag, 1991. 

Clover, Carol T. “Regardless of Sex: Men, Women, and Power in Early Northern Europe.” Speculum 68, no. 2 (1993): 363-387. doi: 10.2307/2864557.

“The Insolence of Loki.” In Poems of the Elder Edda, trans. Patricia Terry, 76. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990. 

Jochens, Jenny. “Leisure.” Women in Old Norse Society, 99-100. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1995. 

Jochens, Jenny. “Old Norse Magic and Gender.” Scandinavian Studies 63 (1991): 305-317.

Saga of the Volsungs: the Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer, trans. Jesse L. Byock. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990. Print. 

“Völuspá.” In Poems of the Elder Edda, trans. Patricia Terry, 4. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990. 

 

Endnotes

¹ Jenny Jochens, “Old Norse Magic and Gender,” Scandinavian Studies 63 (1991): 310.

² Ibid., 307.

³ “Völuspá,” in Poems of the Elder Edda, trans. Patricia Terry (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990), 4.

⁴ Saga of the Volsungs: the Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer, trans. Jesse L. Byock (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990), 36.

⁵ “The Insolence of Loki,” in Poems of the Elder Edda, trans. Patricia Terry (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990), 76.

⁶ Carol T. Clover, “Regardless of Sex: Men, Women, and Power in Early Northern Europe,” Speculum 68, no. 2 (1993): 387.

⁷ Ibid., 365.

⁸ Ibid., 366.

⁹ Jenny Jochens, “Leisure,” in Women in Old Norse Society (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1995), 99-100.

¹⁰ Saga of the Volsungs, trans. Byock, 67. 

¹¹ Ibid., 71.

¹² Ibid., 71-72.

¹³ Saga of the Volsungs, trans. Byock, 42.

¹⁴ Ibid., 43.

¹⁵ Ibid.

¹⁶ Susan Clark, “‘Cold are the Counsels of Women’: The Revengeful Woman in Icelandic Family Sagas,” in Women as Protagonists and Poets in the German Middle Ages, ed. Albrecht Classen (Güppingen: Kümmerle Verlag, 1991), 5.

¹⁷ Saga of the Volsungs, trans. Byock, 75.

¹⁸ Clark, “‘Cold are the Counsels of Women’: The Revengeful Woman in Icelandic Family Sagas,” 26.

¹⁹ Saga of the Volsungs, trans. Byock, 90-91.

²⁰ Ibid., 77-78.

²¹ Ibid., 104.

²² Clark, “‘Cold are the Counsels of Women’: The Revengeful Woman in Icelandic Family Sagas,” 6.

²³ Ibid., 26.

²⁴ Saga of the Volsungs, trans. Byock, 98-102.

²⁵ Ibid., 98.

²⁶ Saga of the Volsungs, trans. Byock, 78.

²⁷ Ibid, 94.

²⁸ Ibid, 95.