Seeress: Manifesting Power In The Medieval Norse Sagas

Kat Reagan
ENGL:3267
The Shapeshifter and the Seeress: Manifesting Power in the Medieval Norse Sagas
Magic is a constant underlying presence within the Norse sagas. It is rarely the focus of a full tale, but even in the most down-to-earth story there is a chance that one will encounter a stray shapeshifter or seeress along one’s way, such as Skallagrim from Egil’s Saga and Thorbjorg from Eirik the Red’s Saga. These two figures exemplify the kinds of magic available to them as members of their societies. Skallagrim is a mighty and fearsome shapeshifting warrior, while Thorbjorg is a wise and highly respected “Little Prophetess” (33). They each command power over others using their magical gifts, but they do so in remarkably different ways.

Skallagrim and Thorbjorg both exemplify the perfect type of magic for their sex. Skallagrim is a combative magician. As mentioned before, his powers give him the ability to “become frenzied like a wild animal” (47) and regain his strength after sunset, as he does when he is fighting Thord and Egil on page 68 of Egil’s Saga. For men in medieval Norse society, prowess in combat was the ultimate show of masculine power. The language used to describe Skallagrim’s magic is wolf-like because wolves are naturally strong creatures that are hard to fight. Skallagrim’s lycanthropic abilities, thus, are passed from his father, to him, and then to his son, creating an entire line of men with a remarkable strength whose magic power sets them apart as especially significant to their

At the end of Thorbjorg’s chapter, “many people approached the wise woman” (33) to have their fortunes told, and it is revealed that “little that she predicted did not occur” (33). The operative word here is “little.” Thorbjorg’s prophecies are not perfect. Unlike in Skallagrim’s story, where Brak’s observation of his weakness removes power from him within the scene, this revelation of Thorbjorg’s weaknesses serves to strengthen her role as a powerful seeress because it reflects her mastery over her role as a woman in medieval Norse society. Thorbjorg’s prowess does not come from infallibility, but from her social reputation. She is known as a “wise woman,” and so even though her predictions are sometimes wrong, she is still consistently regarded within the language of the saga as someone who holds an exemplary level of