90 serpent
Women were the primary practitioners of seid,
which reportedly had a strong sexual impact on the
magicians. In the ceremonies, the priestess wore a
special costume made of fur and featuring a promi-
nent headdress.
According to Norse mythology, Freya, a Vanir
goddess, shared the gift of seid with the great Aesir
god Odin and the other gods and goddesses. Odin
became the chief practitioner of this magic among
all of the Aesir gods. Freya is said to have never used
her powers.
serpent A word often used in mythology, reli-
gion, and folklore to denote nonspecific reptiles, such
as snakes, dragons, or sea monsters. Serpent is used
as a poetic metaphor, or kenning, in the skaldic
poetry of Iceland. It was a symbol of protection
for warriors, a guardian of great treasures, and may
have been a symbol of fertility and healing. In some
instances, the serpent was an opponent of the gods.
In Norse mythology, the dragon Nithog chewed
at the roots of the sacred tree, Yggdrasil and
Jormungand, the Midgard Serpent, encircled the
The figure of a serpent is depicted on this runestone
in Lifsinge, Sweden, a commemoration of a Viking
sailor who died in Ingvar the Far-Travelled’s expedi-
tion to the Caspian Sea. (Photo by Berig/Used under a
Creative Commons license)
earth with his tail in his mouth and spewed poisonous
venom during Ragnarok. Odin turned himself into a
serpent to enter the cave where he found the mead of
poetry. Fafnir turned himself into a dragon to guard
his treasure. The gods placed a serpent over Loki’s
head after they had bound him to a rock.
The serpent is a common figure on the rune-
stone carvings found across Scandinavia. It is
often depicted wound around the stone, sometimes
surrounding the primary message, and usually con-
taining runes itself. It is also found decorating
woodcarvings such as the wagon found in the ship
burial in Oseberg, Norway.
S essrumnir (Rich
in Seats) The hall of the
goddess Freya where she welcomed the spirits of
slain warriors and heroes, whom she shared with the
war god, Odin. Sessrumnir was located in the part of
Asgard known as Folkvang, the realm of Freya. It is
said to have had as much room for its guests as did
Valhalla, the palace where Odin welcomed his share
of fallen warriors.
shape - shifter (Shape Changer) Gods and
giants magically change form often within the stories
of Norse mythology. This was a complete physical
transformation, not merely a surface disguise. Most
commonly they took the shape of eagles or falcons
to fly swiftly over land.
The supreme god Odin had the power to change
shape at will and took on many different identities
to walk among humans. He and Freya preferred the
form of the hawk for their supernatural travels. Loki,
though, was the most famous shape-shifter, for he
would change gender as well as form. In the story of
the Giant Master Builder, Loki became a mare to
lure away the giant’s stallion. In the story “Treasures
of the dwarfs,” he became a fly to pester the dwarfs.
Giants, too, changed shape. One became an eagle
to steal the gods’ dinner. Another took the shape of a
man to trick the gods.
ships and ship burials Ships were an impor-
tant part of Norse culture. The Norse depended on
ships not only for fishing and trading but for expand-
ing their empires. The Viking seafarers roamed from
their northern strongholds as far south as the Iberian
peninsula (modern Spain and Portugal), Italy, and
Sicily and as far east as Russia, Constantinople, and
Baghdad. A Viking navigator, Leif Eriksson, sailed to
North America in about the year 1000, almost five
centuries before Christopher Columbus set foot in