völva

• volva

From Old Norse vǫlva (völva in modern Icelandic).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈvɜːlvə/, /ˈvɒlvə/, /ˈvəʊlvə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈvɑlvə/, /ˈvoʊlvə/
• Rhymes: -ɑlvə

völva (plural völvas)

1. (Germanic paganism, historical) In Old Norse society, a female practitioner of magic divination and prophecy.

   Synonym: seiðkona

   • 1988, Freya Aswinn, Runes & Feminine Powers: Northern Mysteries & Magick‎^[1], page 30:

     In the Eddas, Odin conjures up a dead volva and questions her about Baldur's fate.

   • 1994, Michael Howard, The Mysteries of the Runes‎^[2], page 157:

     In another account a volva was paid by a king to find his nephews who had been hidden by a man skilled in magick.

   • 1995, D. J. Conway, Moon Magick: Myth & Magick, Crafts & Recipes, Rituals & Spells‎^[3], page 26:

     There is another story in Landnamabok telling of a volva who actively brought prosperity to the fishing activity of the people through her use of seidr.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:völva.
2. (by extension) Any prophetess, sooth-sayer, or witch.

• völva on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Witchcraft in the Orkney Islands
• Folklore.ee

• Valvo

• vala (from the 17th century)
• valva (proscribed, from the 18th century)

From Old Norse vǫlva (“prophetess”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈvœlva/

  Rhymes: -œlva

völva f (genitive singular völvu, nominative plural völvur)

1. völva; prophetess

   Synonym: spákona

• tölva (“computer”)
• vala

• Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989) Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies, →ISBN (Available at Málið.is under the “Eldri orðabækur” tab.)
• Kristín Bjarnadóttir, editor (2002–2025), “völva”, in Beygingarlýsing íslensks nútímamáls [The Database of Modern Icelandic Inflection] (in Icelandic), Reykjavík: The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies
• Mörður Árnason (2019) Íslensk orðabók, 5th edition, Reykjavík: Forlagið
• “völva” in the Dictionary of Modern Icelandic (in Icelandic) and ISLEX (in the Nordic languages)

• volva

völva f (plural völvas)

1. völva (Old Norse prophetess)

Learned borrowing from Old Norse vǫlva. Compare the more philologically accurate (but still not naturally inherited) vala.

völva c

1. völva (a prophetess)

• völva in Svensk ordbok.
• völva on the Swedish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^sv