Grógaldr
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Grógaldr or The Spells of Gróa is the first of two poems contained with within Svipdagsmál. The poem is an example of necromantic practice within Norse mythology. It details the raising, by Svipdag, of his mother Groa, a völva, from the dead. This she had asked him to do while alive; the prescience of the völva is illustrated in this respect. The purpose of this necromancy was that she could assist her son in a task set him by his cunning stepmother, who, one presumes, had an agenda of her own.
In the first stanza, Svipdag speaks and bids his mother to arise from beyond the grave, at her burial mound, as she had bidden him do in life.
The second stanza contains her response, in which she asks Svipdag why he has awakened her from death.
He responds by telling her of the task he has been set by his stepmother, i.e. to win the hand of Menglöð. He is all too aware of the difficulty of this: he presages this difficulty by stating that:
- "she bade me travel to a place
- where travel one cannot
- to meet with fair Menglod"
His dead mother agrees with him that he faces a long and difficult journey but does not attempt to dissuade him from it.
Svipdag then requests his mother to cast spells for his protection.
Groa then casts nine spells, or incantations.
[edit] External links
- Grógaldr in Old Norse from «Kulturformidlingen norrøne tekster og kvad» Norway.
- Grógaldr (Old Norse)
- Grógaldr (English)
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