Gróa
In Norse mythology, Gróa (Old Norse ”growing”) is a völva and practitioner of seiðr, the wife of Aurvandil the Bold.
“Awake Groa Awake Mother” Illustration by John Bauer
Skaldskaparmál: The Thor / Hrugnir Fight
Gróa appears in the Prose Edda book Skáldskaparmál, in the context of Thor’s battle with the jötunn Hrungnir. After Thor has dispatched Hrungnir with the hammer Mjollnir, Gróa is asked to help magically remove shards of Hrungnir’s whetstone which became embedded in Thor’s head. Unfortunately while Gróa was about her work, Thor distracted her by giving her news of her husband’s whereabouts (he had earlier helped Aurvandil cross the river Élivágar), telling her that her husband was now at home. Gróa’s spell miscarried and the pieces of whetstone remained permanently embedded in Thor’s head.
Svipdagsmál: To The Help Of Her Son Svipdagr
Gróa is also a völva, summoned from beyond the grave, in the Old Norse poem Grógaldr, (a section of Svipdagsmál), by her sonSvipdagr. In death she has lost none of her prophetic powers, and is able to assist him in a successful conclusion of the task which he has been set by his cruel stepmother. It is possible that this second Gróa is the same as the first one.
“Groa’s Incantation” (1908) by W. G. Collingwood.
Gesta Danorum: Saved From Garm
In Gesta Danorum, Gro is a woman saved from marrying a giant by King Gram. In Viktor Rydberg’s elaborate theories on Norse mythology this Gro, too, is the same.
![Seid or seiðr is an Old Norse term for a type of sorcery or witchcraft which was practiced by the pre-Christian Norse. Sometimes anglicized as “seidhr,” “seidh,” “seidr,” “seithr,” or “seith,” the term is also used to refer to modern Neopagan reconstructions or emulations of the practice.
In the Viking Age, seid had connotations of ergi (“unmanliness” or “effeminacy”) for men, as its manipulative aspects ran counter to the male ideal of forthright, open behaviour.[citation needed] Freyja and perhaps some of the other goddesses of Norse mythology were seid practitioners, as was Odin, a fact for which he is taunted by Loki in the Lokasenna.
As described by Snorri Sturluson in his Ynglinga saga (sec. 7), seid includes both divination and manipulative magic. It seems likely that the type of divination practiced by seid was generally distinct, by dint of an altogether more metaphysical nature, from the day-to-day auguries performed by the seers (menn framsýnir, menn forspáir).
In Örvar-Odd’s Saga, however, the cloak is black, yet the seiðkona also carries the distaff (which allegedly has the power of causing forgetfulness in one who is tapped three times on the cheek by it).
Mythology
The goddess Freyja is identified in Ynglinga saga as an adept of the mysteries of seid, and it is said that it was she who taught it to Odin: Dóttir Njarðar var Freyja. Hon var blótgyðja. Hon kenndi fyrst með Ásum seið, sem Vönum var títt (‘Njörðr’s daughter was Freyja. She presided over the sacrifice. It was she who first acquainted the Æsir with seiðr, which was customary among the Vanir’).
In Lokasenna Loki accuses Odin of practicing seid, condemning it as an 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.
One possible example of seid in Norse mythology is the prophetic vision given to Odin in the Völuspá by the völva, vala, or seeress after whom the poem is named. Her vision is not connected explicitly with seiðr; however, the word occurs in the poem in relation to a character called Heiðr (who is traditionally associated with Freyja but may be identical with the völva).The interrelationship between the völva in this account and the Norns, the fates of Norse lore, are strong and striking.
Another noted mythological practitioner of seiðr was the witch Groa, who attempted to assist Thor, and who is summoned from beyond the grave in the Svipdagsmál.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lbbznetVOG1qer9b0o1_400.jpg)
