In the Saga of Eric the Red which tells the story of the Viking settlers of Greenland !! In 1000 ad  the Vikings were suffering from starvation. In order to prepare for the future, the völva Þórbjörgr lítilvölva (the little völva) was summoned. Before her arrival the whole household was thoroughly cleaned and prepared. The high seat, which was otherwise reserved for the master and his wife, was furnished with down pillows.

The völva appeared in the evening, dressed in a foot-length blue or black cloak  decked with gems to the hem. In her hand she wielded a wand, the symbolic wand (seiðstafr), which was adorned with brass and decked with gems on the knob. In Orvar-Odd's Saga, the seiðkona also wears a blue or black cloak and carries a distaff (a wand which allegedly has the power of causing forgetfulness in one who is tapped three times on the cheek by it). The colour of the cloak may be less significant than the fact that it was intended to signify the otherness of the seiðkona.

The Saga of Eric the Red further relates that around her neck she wore a necklace of glass pearls, and on her head she wore a headpiece of black lamb trimmed with white cat skin. Around her waist she wore a belt from which hung a large pouch, where she hid the tools that she used during the seiðr. On her feet she wore shoes of calfskin and the shoelaces had brass knobs in the ends, and on her hands she wore gloves of cat skin, which were white and fluffy inside.

As the völva entered the room, she was hailed with reverence by the household, and then she was led to the high seat, where she was provided with dishes prepared only for her. She had a porridge  made of goat milk and a dish made of hearts from all the kinds of animals at the homestead. 

The völva was to sleep at the farm during the night and the next day was reserved for her dance. In order to dance the seiðr, she needed special tools. First, she positioned herself on a special elevated platform and a group of young women sat down around her. The girls sang special songs intended to summon the powers that the völva wished to communicate with. The session was a success, because the völva was permitted to see far into the future, and the famine was averted.

Scandinavian archaeologists have discovered wands in about 40 female graves, and they have usually been discovered in rich graves with valuable grave offerings which shows that the Völvas belonged to the highest level of society.

One example is a grave in Fyrkat, Denmark which turned out to be the richest grave in the area. She had been buried in a wagon !!!  She had been plainly clad in what was probably only a long dress. Around her toes, she had toe rings, which suggests that she was buried without shoes so that the rings showed.  At her head, she had a Gotlandic buckle which may have been used as a box, and she also owned objects from Finland and Russia.  At her feet, she had a box which contained her magic tools, comprising a pellet from an owl as well as small bones from birds and mammals, and in a pouch she had the seeds of henbane!!  If such seeds are thrown into a fire, they produce a hallucinogenic smoke which causes a sense of flying.  In the grave there was also a small silver amulet that represented a chair made from a stump.  When such small silver chairs are discovered in graves, they always belong to a woman, and it is possible that they represented objects such as the platform where the völva performed her rituals and Hlidskjalf  from which Odin watched across the world.

Another notable grave was the Oseberg ship burial in Norway that revealed two women who had received a sumptuous burial. One of the women was most likely a high-ranking lady who knew how to practice seidr or sorcery, as she had been buried with a wand of wood. 

Around the 9th century CE, a völva was buried with considerable splendour in Hagebyhöga in Ostergotland, Sweden. In addition to being buried with her wand, she had received great riches which included horses, a wagon and an Arabian bronze pitcher.  There was also a silver pendant which represents a woman with a broad necklace around her neck.  This kind of necklace was only worn by the most prominent women during the Iron Age and some have interpreted it as Freyja's necklace, Brisingamen. The pendant may represent Freyja herself, the most prominent völva of them all.

In Birka, a völva and a warrior were once buried together. Above them, a spear was positioned in order to dedicate the dead couple to Odin. They had probably served Freyja and Odin, two deities of war, and he had done so with his spear and she with her wand.

Measurements height 30 inches  x  20 inches.   (76.2 cms x 50.8 cms) 

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