Magic, femininity and otherness: a synthesis on the figure of the norse prophetesses in Scandinavian Medieval sources
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18764/1983-2850v18n52e25308Keywords:
medieval Scandinavia, magic, prophetesses, femininity, othernessAbstract
The sources from Medieval Scandinavia have left many registers and impressions about certain magical practices and those who practiced them. Among such descriptions a series of female prophetesses called vǫlur (vǫlva in singular form) are frequently mentioned by medieval narrators as possessing the power to foresee the future or attacking someone by means of offensive magic. Our aim is to analyze the medieval sources available to offer a critical balance of them and afterwards to ellaborate a synthesis about how these prophetesses were perceived by medieval Scandinavian mentality. By approaching this phenomenon in terms of History of Magical Discourses, we intend to highlight not only the supernatural powers attributed to these women, but also to point out that magical practices seem to have been associated with feminility and alterity, considering that those women were frequently associated with other ethnicities from the region or even with the mythological race of giants. This demonstrates that magic was considered an alternative and marginalized form of reaching certain goals and/or obtaining advantages, above all in questions related to the peasant life.
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