12/26/2025
Maria…
The hunting of the vétt: in search of the Old Norse shamanic drum
"In stanza 24 of the Old Norse Eddic poem Lokasenna (written down some time around 1270 on the basis of earlier written and oral versions), the god Loki makes an accusation of disreputable practices against Óðinn, saying that “draptu á vétt sem vǫlor” (“you beat on a vétt like vǫlur”, i.e. female magical practitioners).
The word vétt is puzzling, and its connections and derivation are unclear. The tantalizing and ambiguous information that can be deduced appears to point in several directions; I attempt here, if not to disentangle the intertwined roots of this problem, at least to allow it to yield some fruits in terms of how we position Old Norse magic in its cultural context...
Vǫluspá
A verb vitta/vítta occurs in the Eddic poem Vǫluspá, st. 22, where the seiðkona (sorceress) Heiðr “vitti ganda”, meaning that she performed some magic involving gandar spirits.
A connection with vitt (substantive) seems likely (cf. seiðr (substantive), “(specific type of) magic”, síða (verb), “practise seiðr”): “vitti ganda” would be a verbal equivalent to the nominal “vitta véttr”, the gandar which are “charmed” being functionally the same as the véttr of “charms”.
However, a denominative verb from vétt (i.e. “to use a vétt”) could take the form vítta (with umlaut: *weht‑j‑ > *wiht‑; cf. mœta from mót); in this case, the poet would be depicting the use of the vétt, discussed below, to send out the gandar on their mission (here, to find things out). Further derivations of this verb (along the lines of “send out”) are also possible.
However, a direct connection between vitt and vitta (or vítt and vítta if it had a long vowel) remains the simplest solution, and one that obviates any potential confusion between derivatives of vitt/vítt (with “i/í”) and vétt (with “é/æ”).
Summary
A vitt was a charm, and clearly functionally comparable to a blót, an idol, and to a root (itself apparently being used as a charm in this context), and could be kept along with idols in a house.
A supernatural being is associated with vitt (in the plural) when it carries out deadly efficatory magic, from which it may be inferred that a vitt was used in efficatory spells. There is no indication of any mundane use for the vitt."
Read Dr. Clive Tolley's full paper here:
https://www.academia.edu/26659214/The_hunting_of_the_v%C3%A9tt_in_search_of_the_Old_Norse_shamanic_drum
Photo: Heilung
