Seid (also seiðr, seidhr) was a form of divination and manipulative magic practised in pre-Christian Norse cultures. Practitioners of seid were predominantly women (seidkhona), although there were male practitioners (seidmadhur). The gods of Norse mythology were also practititioners of seid. In the Anglo-Saxon, practitioners of seid were referred to as wicca (m.) or wicce (f.).
Forms of Seid
As described by Snorri Sturlusson in his Ynglinga saga, seid includes both divination and manipulative magic. The type of divination practiced by seid was generally distinct by dint of an altogether more metaphysical nature than the day-to-day auguries performed by the seers (menn framsýnir, menn forspáir).
The Practice of Seid
In the saga of Eric the red, the seidkhona (or volva) in Greenland wore a blue cloak and a headpiece of black lamb with white catskins; carried the symbolic distaff (seidstafr), which was often buried with her; and would sit on a high platform, (this needs to be dealt with properly in terms of the concept of the frame). In Orvar-Odd's saga, however, the cloak is black, yet the seidkhona also carries the distaff (which has the power (allegedly) of causing forgetfulness in one who is tapped three times on the cheek by it). The color of the cloak is less significant than the fact that it was intended to signify the otherness of the seidkhona.
During seances the seidhkona would enter a trance state in which her soul was supposed to "become discorporeal", "take animal form", "travel through space", etc. This trance state may have been achieved through any of several methods: narcotics, sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, etc.
Seid in Mythology
An example of seid in Norse mythology is the trance undergone by the volva, Vala, or seeress in the prophetic vision given to Odin in the voluspa. The interrelationship between the volva in this account and the norns, the fates of Norse lore, are strong and striking.
The goddess Freya is seen as an adept of the mysteries of seid, and it is said that it was she who initiated Odin into its mysteries. In Lokasenna Loki abuses Odin for practising seid, condemning it as a unmanly art. A justification for this may be found in the Ynglinga saga where Snorri opines that following the practice of seid, the practitioner was rendered weak and helpless.
Origins
Some scholars (e.g. DuBois) draw a saami and Balto-Finnic link to seid, citing the depiction of its practitioners as such in the sagas and elsewhere. In the Viking age, seid was considered ergi (shameful) for men as its manipulative aspects ran counter to the male ideal of forthright, open behaviour.
Contemporary Reconstruction
Diana Paxson and her group, Hrafnar, have put in a lot of work reconstructing seid from available historical material, particularly its oracular form. Jan Fries traces seid as an inspiration for his "seething" shamanic technique, though he is less concerned with precise historical reconstruction.
footnotes:
Ynglinga saga, or ''Ynglingesaga'', is the first history of ancient Norwegian kings in Heimskringla, written by Snorri Sturlusson. In this, Snorri tells the story of how Odin and his people, the Asa's, moved from their seat by river Tanakvisl the river Don River, Russia|Don at the Black Sea to escape Roman aggravations in the Caucasus, which is historically known to have occurred around 60 BC. After establishing themselves first in Sachsen, they move to Fyn and Odense in Denmark, and finally to Svitjod where they settle at a place called Sithun (assumed to equal Sigtuna in Sweden).
The 'Saga of Eric the Red' was, by most accounts, written by Jon Thorharson in 1387, almost four centuries after the events in the saga, which were almost certainly handed down by oral tradition. In the saga, the events that led Eric the Red's banishment to Greenland are chronicled, as well as Leif Ericcson's discovery of Wineland the Good, a place where wheat and grapes grew naturally, after his longboat was blown off-course. By geographical details, this place is surmised to be present-day Newfoundland, and is likely the first discovery of America, some five centuries before Christopher Columbus's journey.
'Lokasenna'', known also as "Loki's Flyting", is a poem in the Elder Edda. As do most of the more recent poems in the Elder Edda, this poem deals with the subject of the gods of Norse mythology. In this poem the gods (particularly Odin and Loki) trade insults.
'Snorri Sturluson' (1179 - September 23, 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet and politician. He was twice law-speaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He was the author of the Younger Edda, which is comprised of Gylfaginning, a narrative of Norse Mythology, the Skáldskaparmál, a book of poetic language, and the Háttatal, a list of verse forms. He was also the author of the Heimskringla, a history of early medieval Scandinavian history. He is also thought to be the author of Egils Saga.
