The völva, vala, wala (Old High German), seiđkona, or wicce was a female shaman in Norse mythology, and among the Germanic peoples. They practiced the seid (shamanism), which was regarded as unmanly. Also associated with them were incantations called galdra (see also the A-S quote below).
Examples of völva in Norse literature include the seeress Heidi (alt. Heith) in Völuspá and the witch Groa in the Svipdagsmál. The word witch is the modern form of wicce.
Their disappearance was due to the Roman Catholic Church which had laws enacted against them, as in this Canon Law:
- "If any wicca (witch), wiglaer (wizard), false swearer, morthwyrtha (worshipper of the dead) or any foul contaminated, manifest horcwenan(whore), be anywhere in the land, man shall drive them out."
- "We teach that every priest shall extinguish heathendom and forbid wilweorthunga (fountain worship ), licwiglunga (incantations of the dead), hwata (omens), galdra (magic), man worship and the abominations that men exercise in various sorts of witchcraft, and in frithspottum (peace-enclosures ) with elms and other trees, and with stones, and with many phantoms." (source: 16th Canon Law enacted under King Edgar in the 10th century.
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