vǫlva

See also: volva, völva, and vølva

Old Norse

FWOTD – 28 April 2017

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Germanic *walwǭ, an agent noun of *waluz (“staff”) (whence Old Norse vǫlr), which was characteristic of Germanic seeresses.

Pronunciation

• (9th century West Norse) IPA^(key): /ˈwɒl.wa/
• (12th century Icelandic) IPA^(key): /ˈvɒl.va/

Noun

vǫlva f (genitive vǫlu, plural vǫlur)

1. völva; prophetess, seeress, witch
   • Baldrs draumar, stanza 4:

     Þá reið Óðinn / fyrir austan dyrr,
     þar er hann vissi / vǫlu leiði;
     nam hann vittugri / valgaldr kveða,
     unz nauðig reis, / nás orð of kvað.

     Then rode Odin / before the eastern door:
     there, he knew, was / the seeress’ grave;
     He began (wise in witchcraft) / to sing a spell to wake the dead,
     until reluctantly she rose / and spoke a dead woman's words.

   • 13th century, Eiríks saga rauða, chapter 4:

     Sú kona var þar í bygð er Þorbjǫrg hét; hon var spákona, ok var kǫlluð lítil vǫlva.

     There was a woman there in the settlement named Thorbjorg; she was a prophetess, and was known as the little völva.

Declension

Declension of vǫlva (weak wōn-stem)

feminine	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	vǫlva	vǫlvan	vǫlur	vǫlurnar
accusative	vǫlu	vǫluna	vǫlur	vǫlurnar
dative	vǫlu	vǫlunni	vǫlum	vǫlunum
genitive	vǫlu	vǫlunnar	vǫlna	vǫlnanna

Genitive plural forms are unattested.

Coordinate terms

• seiðkona
• spákona

Derived terms

• Vǫluspá

Descendants

• → Icelandic: völva (learned)
• → Faroese: vølva (learned)
• → Norwegian Nynorsk: volve, volva (learned)
• → Norwegian Bokmål: volve (learned)
• → Swedish: völva (learned); vala
• → Danish: vølve (learned)
• → English: völva (learned)