Galdr Work

[Talkingfox]

Galdr (pl. galdrar) is an Old Norse word for incantation or a sung charm. The Anglo-Saxon word for this is ‘galdor’ and is the root word for the term ‘gala’ (noisy affairs that they so often are)
Sturrlson lists a specific galdralg (Galdr Metre) in the Hattatal section of the Prose Edda, so it’s very likely that galdr work was performed to a very specific rhythmic structure unique to it.

Traditionally, Galdr was performed in conjunction with certain rites, including some fairly nasty ones designed as curses. Galdr works are mentioned in many of the Eddas including the Havamal and Skirnismal, the Anglo Saxon “Riming Poem” and “Journey Charm” as well as the Icelandic “Grettis Saga”. According to these references galdrar seems to have been mastered by both men and women and chanted in a piercing falsetto.
I find it interesting that King Alfred the (debatably) Great prefaced his law code with a stipulation that women who harbored gealdor-craeftigan (those skilled in galdr) should be put to death.

Although the Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse literary evidence suggests that galdr charms took the form of crafted verse, modern practitioners use the term galdr to refer to the act of chanting the names or sounds of individual runes or the word sounds created by the use of a bind rune. The concept of galdr as rune sound was popularized in the mid 80’s by Edred Thorsson "The galdr is the root form of incantation (or if you will, mantra), which is the vibratory embodiment of the rune." (Edred Thorsson, Futhark: A Handbook of Rune Magic, 1984) Subsequent authors seemed to have jumped on this particular bandwagon defining “Galdr-Magic” as “runic magic, ritual magic (as contrasted with the shamanic seidhr-magic)” and “Galdr-Sound” as “Mantra consisting of the actual sound associated with a rune”. (Kveldulf Gundarsson, Teutonic Magic, 1994)

I personally haven’t ever used the single sound thing in galdr work. It always seemed just, well, wrong. IMO if one is going to go to the trouble of creating a sigil and putting it into motion it’s worth the trouble of crafting a kenning to go along with it.
A nifty thing about most Nordic poetry structure is that’s it’s alliterative…which means the rune sound (s) that one wants to emphasize can be repeated a number of times and sharpened in focus via variations in metaphoric imagery.

Such poetry work can also serve to add a context and therefore a working meaning to a word that is created by use of a bindrune.

[dev]

A practical galdr for women was one that made childbirth easier, but they were also notably used for bringing madness onto another person, whence modern Swedish galen meaning mad. source (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galdr)
:laugh:

I never knew that the Swedish word for mad came from this... I always thought it was funny that galen meant mad because it is the same as the Greek Galen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galen), whose ideas are a bit mad:


Galen's emphasis on blood-letting as a remedy for almost any ailment remained influential until right into the Nineteenth Century. - source (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galen)

If humans had only listened to Paracelsus (http://forums.abrahadabra.com/showthread.php?t=516), so many lives would have been saved...

:cool:

[erilaz]

Uuis thu hel, Talking Fox. I know when I blot with other heathens, I go along with the rune chant in a spirit of cooperation, but I agree with you. I've never found anything I could even remotely call evidence of this being a galdor.

I am moderately versed in Old English and I use it in rituals. To me, more heathen parts of things like the metrical charms carry the spirit of a galdor, much more than anything invented in our age. The charm "For Unfruitful Land" springs to mind, as it refers to an obscure "Erce" as "eorthan modor"...

"Erce, Erce, Erce, eorþan modor,
geunne þe se alwalda, ece drihten,
æcera wexendra and wridendra..."

[Talkingfox]

I am moderately versed in Old English and I use it in rituals. To me, more heathen parts of things like the metrical charms carry the spirit of a galdor, much more than anything invented in our age.


I'd love to see some charms of your own creation (or a non- working example?) and a break down of the metre.
I suspect that the Old English is probably closer to Fresian than to Old Norse.

I personally work my stuff in modern english since it gives me more fluidity of metaphoric image. That and I'm not EVEN fluent in any of the other languages and when I sing I need it to flow like honey...or possibly bile depending on the working, eh? :p

[erilaz]

I don't invent new OE verse; rather, I take excerpts that seem to still have a heathen quality and a positive effect for me, like the unfruitful land charm. I'll also take verses from the rune poem. I really don't know much about Frisian (other than the Frisian influence on the futhorc), so I can only speak about some Old Norse - Old English similarities.

I am, however, wanting to break out more from the traditional blot structure I've used in longer rituals (and in the company of others). Would you be willing to tell me more about yours (even if it is PM)?

[Talkingfox]

I am, however, wanting to break out more from the traditional blot structure I've used in longer rituals (and in the company of others). Would you be willing to tell me more about yours (even if it is PM)?

Hmmm I'm probably not the person to ask about personal ritual structure at this point. My own work is much more 'seidways" is nature and I do very very little group ritual at this point in my life. I gave at the office.
I also generally keep religion out of my heathenry.

If I do a blot (and it does involve some...most likely mine) it varies greatly from place to place as I'm more attuned to the needs of the landsvaettir of a given area. As you may have deduced by now I'm far more Vana-centric than Asatru in my personal workings. :yes:

As far as galdr construction goes, I'm likely to do the equivalent of a 9/8 musical timing because of the energy push at where the one hits mid bar....swings the energy out, plus beacause I work in modern english 3 and 4 syllable words seem to metre better in this timing.

[Ratatosk]

I tend to avoid group workings at all when it comes to Heathen and/or runic work. This is mostly because I feel that there are better avenues for that type of working, and because I take a very 'in the moment' approach more appropriate to shamanic work than ceremonial.

To be honest, when doing a blot, which I usually do in combination with runic work - creating and carving a bind-rune, energizing, blooding it (beyond the blooding that happens accidentally while carving:p) and invoking it - I don't really think too much about the rhythm, but more about the words, the pictures they invoke for me, and the sounds that make them up. I am not a strong singer, either, so I am not likely to be able to really sing the runes with force or feeling if I am being watched.

It isn't intentional, but I tend to think in iambic pentameter (poetically, anyways) and so I guess most of mine tends to that form, with a combination of both alliterative rhyme and syllabic rhyme, and an emphasis on the alliterated sounds. It is an interesting query though, to look at some examples of gladr, and see what forms the rhythms take.

It should also be possible, in looking at those examples in the original language, to tell which runes were being invoked and in which order. (Since the alliterative rhymes should give an indication, especially when considering the kennings involved.) I may just have to tackle the mathematics on those rhythms, and how they combine with the influence of the runes being invoked, the runic numeric values and so forth.

... scampers off to grab <virtual> pencil, paper, dusty old books, calculator, ruler, metronome ...

[erilaz]

I also generally keep religion out of my heathenry.



That's good to know actually. My questions were actually geared toward taking religion out of my own heathenry. I have really restricted my psyche in some ways for the past couple of years. Thanks for the galdr information though.

[Talkingfox]

That's good to know actually. My questions were actually geared toward taking religion out of my own heathenry.

We actually started to touch on that in this thread (http://forums.abrahadabra.com/showthread.php?t=1160)

Personally I've never played well with what a progressive heathen friend of mine calls 'Edda Thumpers' :laugh:

I'd be quite interested to see where this line of exploration leads you, erilaz.

[erilaz]

I actually read through this thread already and enjoyed Ratatosk's take on Ragnarok and the gods. It's a grave mistake, I believe, to take myths literally, as evangelical xians in my area do. Yeah- "Edda thumpers"- I like that.

It's also interesting how "folkish" some Viking fans get. They apparently haven't looked that closely at Viking history, which contains plenty of inter-ethnic breeding.
I've used Ragnarok as a tool of contemplation along the lines mentioned, and often in combination with certain runes. Jera to me is a good one.

[Talkingfox]

I
I've used Ragnarok as a tool of contemplation along the lines mentioned, and often in combination with certain runes. Jera to me is a good one.


Interesting choice for a Ragnarok working. Could I ask about thought processes in choosing this particular rune?

[erilaz]

As far as the structure of the elder Jera rune goes, it resembles a broken fylfot to me (some say this about the Sig rune, but to me it is as true of Jera). But also important is its value as a rune for the yearly cycle, which I view as a microcosmic representation of a larger process of creation and destruction. For me, it is also useful to contemplate Jera in connection to Dagaz, which is an even further representation of such a cycle.

[Talkingfox]

Interesting take.

I'd be unlikely, personally, to use anything in the 2nd Aett for Ragnarok stuff, with the possible exception of Peorth as a cthonic access point.

Too physically/agriculturally based in my way of thinking....but then again it's not my working, neh? :)

Sorry if I seem like I'm picking your stuff apart, not my intention. I really am interested in why different practitioners do what they do. :yes:

[erilaz]

I understand. I too am interested in others' practices, hence my own questions. To this end, would you be willing to discuss your choice of rune?

[Talkingfox]

I think my choice of Peorth with Dagaz has to do with the 'mouth of the underworld' kind of thing that is inherent to Peorth as one of the mystery runes. Also if I'm invoking Ragnarok I'm more likely to go at it from the inside out.

I think if I was to choose a specific rune to work with Dagaz it would seriously depend on the reasons for the working, although I'd probably be more likely to choose from the 1st Aett to bring a thing into manifestation after breaking stuff down.

[kribor]

Hi all

I am new here and have been reading the posts in heathenism, mainly because I have an interest in the runes.

You mention the old English being likely closest to Frisian (old) and you are right! I have recently been watching a program called "The journey of English" and it is from an old Frisian dialect that English has evolved (plus the other many and varied additions).

Anyway, very interesting posts and interesting about Galdr. I am not too sure about Galdr myself but I understand it to be vocal incantations in a rhythmic style. Sounds good and also I read somewhere that it was the more masculine style of "magic" with Seidr being the more feminine. That being said I also read that Odin was versed in both styles.

Greetings BTW

Kristen

[Talkingfox]

Hi all


Sounds good and also I read somewhere that it was the more masculine style of "magic" with Seidr being the more feminine. That being said I also read that Odin was versed in both styles.

Greetings BTW

Kristen

I think the 'masculine' and 'feminine' attributions are a more recent thing....the later Odinic cults didn't really trust Seidr workers. According to later sagas it was seen as a kind of an underhanded ,less than upfront way of working magic.

The Odinic cults took on a lot of attributes from the earlier Vanic ...including seidr which in the mythic Odin acquired from Freja.

Greetings to you as well, Kristen :)

[kribor]

Hi again

I found an old Frisian poem to Thor that might be of interest and sort of fits in with the discussion, well, by a stretch perhaps.

Here is the link - http://www.thorshof.org/thunder2.htm

BTW - Talking Fox, interesting that you mention the dualism thing (masc/fem) to be a later addition. I was watching another interesting program not long ago called "The Lost Tribes of Germania" or something similar to that. It was partially based on Tacitus' "Germania" and told how many of the "Germanic" tribes were more peaceful, but still had intertribal skirmishes before the Romans came along. I am going off topic of the program but I understand that Odin was more of an elemental ruler sort of similar to Thor before he became a god of war. The elements of air and storm were under his rulership. Him also being linked to communication, poetry, etc, it figures that air would be one of his elements (well, in my eclectic and strange belief system). Anyway, things sure did change when the Romans interfered!

Anyway, can't really quote any decent sources but I reckon Odin could be good in his battle aspect when you are in competition perhaps? I don't mean killing your rivals, but he could give you the edge in a job interview, especially with the gift of the gab!

Thanks for the welcome too TF!

[Talkingfox]

Tacitus is an interesting source for stuff. Interesting in that he had never actually been anywhere in Germania and Gaul. He got his information secondhand from veterans returning with Caesar, who never had actual contact with any tribes farther north than the Suevi. Some of his writings on the far north tribes are a crackup.

I think that totally dismissing Odin as War God thing as a later invention is a less than accurate one. The Nordic/Germanic gods are multipronged in approach, so elemental stuff AND war stuff can exist in the same place.

[Talkingfox]

Hi again

I found an old Frisian poem to Thor that might be of interest and sort of fits in with the discussion, well, by a stretch perhaps.

Here is the link - http://www.thorshof.org/thunder2.htm



Awesome find! Reads aloud almost exactly like old English.

I also love the fact that it addresses Thor's agricultural link that is often forgotten in modern viewpoints.