seiðr

• seidr

Borrowed from Old Norse seiðr.

seiðr (uncountable)

1. (Germanic paganism) A form of magic originating in Viking society and revived by modern pagans, incorporating ritualistic, shamanistic, and divinatory elements.
   • 2004, Leo Ruickbie, Witchcraft Out of the Shadows: A Complete History‎^[1], page 48:

     One of the special methods of seiðr was to cover oneself with a cloak or similar garment like a blanket, or an animal skin, or even just a hood.

   • 2016, Nicholas E. Brink, Beowulf's Ecstatic Trance Magic: Accessing the Archaic Powers of the Universal Mind‎^[2], page 212:

     To find the magic of seiðr we must give up our belief in the value of physical strength and power and our need to control others.

   • 2016, Stephen E. Flowers, Witchcraft Out of the Shadows: A Complete History‎^[3], page 13:

     It has also sometimes been said that seiðr is closer to what is commonly thought of as “shamanic” practice.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:seiðr.

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɛiðr̩/

From Proto-Germanic *saidaz (“magic, charm”), from Proto-Indo-European *soytós.

seiðr m

1. shamanism
2. magic, especially that influences the mind, such as charm, delusion, and hallucination
3. witchcraft, sorcery

• síða (“to bewitch”)

• Icelandic: seiður
• → Norwegian Nynorsk: seid (learned)
• → Swedish: sejd (learned)
• → Danish: sejd (learned)
  • Norwegian Bokmål: seid
• → Proto-Samic: *siejtē (see there for further descendants)

• galdr

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

seiðr m (genitive seiðs)

1.  coalfish, pollack, saithe (Pollachius virens)

• endiseiðr (“Jǫrmungandr”, literally “the boundary-saithe”)

• Icelandic: seiður, ⇒ seiði
• Faroese: seiður
• Norwegian Nynorsk: seid, sei
  • Russenorsk: сайка (sajka)
  • → Swedish: sej
  • → Danish: sej
    • Norwegian Bokmål: sei
  • → Finnish: seiti, sei
• → English: saithe
• → Russian: сайда (sajda)