Seeress (Germanic)

In Germanic paganism, a seeress is a woman said to have the ability to foretell future events and perform sorcery. They are also referred to with many other names meaning "prophetess", "staff bearer", "wise woman" and "sorceress", and they are frequently called witches or priestesses both in early sources and in modern scholarship. In Norse mythology the seeress is usually referred to as völva or vala.

Seeresses were an expression of the pre-Christian shamanic traditions of Europe, and they held an authoritative position in Germanic society. Mentions of Germanic seeresses occur as early as the Roman era, when, for example, they at times led armed resistance against Roman rule and acted as envoys to Rome. After the Roman Era, seeresses occur in records among the North Germanic people, where they form a reoccurring motif in Norse mythology. Both the classical and the Norse accounts imply that they used wands, and describe them as sitting on raised platforms during séances.

Ancient Roman and Greek literature records the name of several Germanic seeresses, including Albruna, Veleda, Ganna, and, by way of an archaeological find, Waluburg. Norse mythology mentions several seeresses, some of them by name, including Heimlaug völva, Þorbjörg lítilvölva, Þordís spákona, and Þuríðr Sundafyllir. In North Germanic religion, the goddess Freyja has a particular association with seeresses, and there are indications that the Viking princess and Rus' saint, Olga of Kiev, was one such, serving as a "priestess of Freyja" among the Scandinavian elite in Kievan Rus' before they converted to Christianity.

Archaeologists have identified several graves that appear to be the remains of Scandinavian seeresses. These graves contain objects such as wands, seeds with hallucinogenic and aphrodisiac properties, and a variety of items indicating high status.

Societal beliefs about the practices and abilities of seeresses would contribute to the development of the European concept of "witches", because their practices survived Christianization, although the practitioners became marginalized, and evolved into north European mediaeval witchcraft. Germanic seeresses are mentioned in popular culture in a variety of contexts. In Germanic Heathenry, a modern practice of Germanic pagan religion, seeresses once again play a role.