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Friðþjóf's enemies decide to employ two seið konum (vǫlva), Heið and Hamglám, in order to summon to storm and wreck him at sea.
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Frið ch. 5
5. Hringr gaf Friðþjófi konu sína ok ríkit
Þat er sagt eitt sinn, at F... | ... |
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commentary
In this example we can see that vǫlva could be paid to cause harm to another and that evidence can be gathered to show that seið practitioners simply used their abilities wherever there was payment rather than for 'good' or 'bad'. As a result, this casts a poor light upon seið practioners for obvious reasons, especially in an honourific martial society and later in Christian contexts.
As is common with these figures when at odds with the protagonist, they are killed working their sorcery, falling from the seiðhjallin.
It should be noted that this is another example where one of the vǫlva is named Heið.
(Contributed by Douglas Robert Dutton.)
tags
Main text: Friðþjófs saga ins frœkna
Attributes: Seiðr Vǫlva Trance platform Weather
Named things: Heiðr vǫlva
Text sections: Frið ch. 5