A new exhibition opening at Denmark’s National Museum is exploring the history and legacy of a mysterious female Viking sorceress, known as...
the Völva. Picture the stereotypical Viking - tall, bearded, adorned with a horned helmet, and most likely..
. male. However, a new exhibit at Denmark’s National Museum is shedding light on the history of the Völva, a female Viking sorceress so formidable that even the fiercest male raiders trembled at her presence.
According to Viking folklore, her powers were so revered that even Odin, the king of the gods, sought her counsel. The interactive exhibition, titled , has been created together with experts from the Royal Danish Theatre. During the Viking Age, considered to be from 793 to 1066, Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest and trading throughout Europe, they even reached North America.
But while many associate the Viking Age with all-conquering male warriors, curators say it was the Völva who possessed incredible power. Little is known about the Völva - which means “staff bearer” in Old Norse - but historians believe she was a kind of fortune-telling female shaman in Old Norse culture. There are numerous mentions of Viking sorceresses in old poems and sagas.
They likely had high status in Viking society, offering conjured visions of the future to whole settlements, some even informed Viking royalty. But it was their ability to "sejd”, a form of magic that could involve an ou.
