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As described by Snorri Sturluson in his Ynglinga saga (sec. 7), 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, from the day-to-day auguries performed by the seers (menn framsýnir, menn forspáir).
In The Saga of Eric the Red, the seidhkona (or volva) in Greenland wore a blue cloak and a headpiece of black lamb trimmed with white cat skin; she 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 Örvar-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 colour 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 state of trance in which her soul was supposed to "become discorporeal", "take the likeness of an animal", "travel through space", etc. This state of trance may have been achieved through any of several methods: narcotics, sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, etc.
Chanting was also involved in the creation of the state of trance, and there are a number of kennings which compare the sound of battle to seid-chanting.
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 NornsThe Norns of the Norse Mythology are three old crones by the names of Urd ( fate), Skuld ( necessity) and Verdandi ( being). They live beneath the roots of Yggdrasil, (although some accounts have it that they dwell above the arch of the Bifrost Bridge), w, the fates of Norse lore, are strong and striking.
The goddess FreyaSee Freya radar for German World War II radar. This article uses English names. Old Norse names are given in italics in parentheses''. Freya Freyja , the sister of Frey Freyr and the daughter of Niord Njrdr , is usually seen as the fertility goddess of No 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 LokasennaLokasenna 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 LokiThis page is about the Norse god Loki. For other uses of the word see Loki (disambiguation). Loki tricks Hod into shooting Baldur Loki Laufeyiarson in Norse mythology is the " god" of mischief, a son of Farbauti and Laufey, and is described as the "contri 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.
Another noted mythological practitioner of seidhr was the witch, GroaGroa is a witch and practitioner of seidhr the wife of Aurvandil the Bold. She makes an appearance in the Prose Edda, in the context of Thor's battle with the giant Hrungnir. After Thor had despatched Hrungnir with his hammer Mjollnir, Groa was asked to h, who attempted to assist Thor, and who is summoned from beyond the grave in the Svipdagsmal