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Landvættir ("land wights") are spirits of the land in Norse mythology and in Germanic neopaganism. They protect and promote the flourishing of the specific places where they live, which can be as small as a rock or a corner of a field, or as large as a section of a country.
The Nature of Landvættir
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Some scholars have suggested that landvættir are chthonic in nature, spirits of the dead, yet others have interpreted them as nature spirits, since they sometimes live in land that has never been populated.[1] Hilda Ellis Davidson argued that stories such as that of Goat-Björn imply that they were already there when the settlers arrived in Iceland. These land wights preside in virtually any part of the landscape, whether it be a rock, hill, tree, or stream. While their appearance is not clearly defined, landvættir supposedly have the ability to shape-shift into various troll-like creatures. In addition, they have the ability to possess humans, while others have considerable physical strength.
Since their duties are to preserve the peace and welfare of the land, landvættir are regarded as gentle beings that are "disgusted by signs of warfare".[2] If left alone, landvættir supposedly keep to themselves, though there have been instances of them interacting with humans. Goat-Björn was offered a partnership by a "rock-dweller" (bergbúi) and thereafter prospered. Those who possessed "second-sight" were able to visibly see the landvættir and interact with them. In Landnama-bok, two chiefs supposedly witnessed the land-wights following them to the Thing and accompanying them during hunting and fishing. They told of people worshipping and receiving advice from spirits living in waterfalls, woods, and rocks.[3].
Jörmundur Ingi Hansen, former High Priest of the Ásatrúarfélagið, said that landvættir are "spirits and they in some way control the safety of the land, the fertility of the land, and so on."[4] According to him, they are "tied to a spot in the landscape, to a huge rock, to a mountain, or to a specially beautiful place" and that place can be recognized by being more beautiful than "just a few yards away."[5] It is important for those living near the landvættir to pay them respect through either honor or recognition; failure to do so will lead to the spirit causing trouble, even harm, to the island's inhabitants. In The Cave-Dweller's Tale, two men seeking refuge from the night stumble upon a cave and take shelter. Altering the contents of the cave in order to accommodate themselves, the men began to hear noises outside of the cave's entrance. Upon looking out into the night, they saw "a sight like unto two full-moons...with some monstrous figure between them...they thought this was nothing but two eyes...they heard a chanting of a monstrous kind and in a big voice." The men were supposedly killed shortly after.[6]
The belief in local landvættir lives on in Iceland, with many farms having rocks that are not mowed closely and on which children are not allowed to play.[7] While landvættir are generally helpful towards humans, they will also hinder efforts that may bring harm to their land or respective territories. When construction was about to start on Keflavík Air Base, the Icelandic foreman dreamed that a woman came to him asking to delay moving a boulder to give her family time to move out. He did so for two weeks over American objections, until she came to him in another dream telling him the landvættir were all out.[8]
Other terms are sometimes used in the texts for the spirits, such as bergbúi, ármaðr, and spámaðr, but there is one mention of pre-Christian Icelanders bringing offerings specifically to landvættir. In a section of Hauksbók, a Christian bishop rails against "foolish women" who take food out to rocks and hollows to feed the landvættir in hopes of being blessed with a prosperous household.[9][10]
Wealth and Weal of the Land
[edit]One version of the Icelandic Book of Settlement says that the ancient law of Iceland forbade having a dragon-prow in place on one's ship in harbor or coming in to land "with gaping mouth or yawning snout," because the landvættir would be frightened away.[11]
In Egils saga, Egil Skallagrímsson set up a nithing pole to agitate the landvættir in Norway so that they would "go astray . . . until they have driven King Eric and Queen Gunnhild" out of the country. Hermann Pálsson and Paul Edwards translate landvættir as "guardian spirits" in this passage.[12]
The Four Landvættir of Iceland
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While Iceland contains numerous landvættir, natives believe that the island is protected by four great guardians known as the "Four Landvættir." Taking the form of various creatures, these spirits have supposedly existed on its soil since the beginning of time.[13] Responsible for preserving peace and defending the land from outside harm, these guardians are collectively regarded as the leaders of all residing spirits. Utilizing the smaller landvættir, each guardian presides over one of four of Iceland's quarters:
- The dragon (Dreki) is responsible for the Northeastern quarter.
- The eagle or griffin (Gammur) is responsible for the Northwestern quarter.
- The bull (Griðungur) guards the Southwestern quarter.
- The mountain giant (Bergrisi) stands over the Southeastern quarter and the remainder of Iceland.
According to the Saga of King Olaf Tryggvason in Heimskringla, King Harald Gormsson of Denmark, intending to invade Iceland, had a warlock send his spirit out in the form of a whale to scout the land for points of vulnerability. Swimming westward around the northern coast, the warlock saw that all of the hillsides and hollows were full of landvættir, "some large and some small." He swam up Vopnafjörður, intending to go ashore, but a great dragon came flying down the valley toward him, followed by many snakes, insects, and lizards, all spitting poison at him. He turned back and continued around the coast westward to Eyjafjörður, where he again swam inland. This time, he was met by a great bird, so big that its wings touched the hillsides on either side, with many other birds large and small following it. Retreating again and continuing west and south, he swam into Breiðafjörður. There he was met by a huge bull, bellowing horribly, with many landvættir following it. He retreated again, continued south around Reykjanes, and tried to come ashore at Vikarsskeið, but encountered a mountain giant (bergrisi), his head higher than the hilltops, with an iron staff in his hand and followed by many other giants (jötnar). He continued along the south coast but saw nowhere else where a longship could put in, "nothing but sands and wasteland and high waves crashing on the shore."[14] With the island heavily defended by these guardians, Harald concluded that success was not possible, and called off his plans of attack.
The significance of the creatures representing the four guardians shares ties with the Christian religion. The primary land wights were modeled after the cherubs, winged beings possessing the faces of a human, eagle, ox, and lion (which was also identified with a dragon, since Byzantine art represented dragons as lion-headed). Based off of the Christian tradition, each creature represented one of the four writers of the gospels: Saint Matthew's man, the eagle of Saint John, the calf of Saint Luke, and the lion of Saint Mark. It is suggested that Snorri Sturluson (author of the Heimskringla) attempted to create an authoritative, Christian theme for his homeland, while incorporating the belief of the landvættir.[15]
The four landvættir of Iceland are depicted on the Icelandic coat of arms and on the obverse of the Icelandic króna coins.
See also
[edit]- Landdísir, female spirits of the land attested as venerated in Iceland
References
[edit]- ^ Jan de Vries, Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte, vol. 1, p. 260, Berlin: De Gruyter, 1956, repr. as 3rd ed. 1970, citing Dag Strömbäck.
- ^ Gudbrand Vigfusson,Edic Poetry, Fiske Iclandic Collection, p. 419.
- ^ Hilda Roderick Ellis Davidson, Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe: Early Scandinavian and Celtic Religions, Manchester University Press, 1988, ISBN 9780719022074, pp. 103-04. Goat-Björn, the waterfall, and the wood she cites from Landnámabók, the advising spirit in the rock from Kristni Saga and Þáttr Þorsteins enn Viðförla.
- ^ Jenny Blain, Wights and Ancestors: Heathenism in a Living Landscape, Devizes, Wiltshire: Wyrd's Well, 2000, ISBN 0-9539044-0-7, p. 7.
- ^ Blain, pp. 7-8.
- ^ Eirikr Magnusson and William Morris, Grettis Saga: The Story of Grettir the Strong, p. 276-277.
- ^ Kveldúlf Hagan Gundarsson, ed., Our Troth, vol. 1: History and Lore, 2nd ed. North Charleston, NC: Booksurge, 2006, ISBN 1-4196-3598-0, p. 470.
- ^ KveldulfR Hagan Gundarsson, Elves, Wights, and Trolls, Studies Towards the Practice of Germanic Heathenry vol. 1, New York: iUniverse, 2007, ISBN 0-595-42165-2, p. 18.
- ^ "Heimslýsing ok Helgifrœði" ch. 9; ed. Eiríkur Jónsson, Finnur Jónsson, Copenhagen: Kongelige Nordiske Oldskrift-Selskab, 1896, p. 167 at Google Books (Old Norse) [1]
- ^ de Vries, p. 261.
- ^ de Vries, p. 260, referring to Ulfljót's Law, at Google Books (Old Norse) [2]
- ^ Egil's Saga, Penguin Classics, 1976, ISBN 0-14-044321-5, p. 148.
- ^ Gillian R. Overring and Marijane Osborn, Landscape of Desire: Partial Stories of the Medieval Scandinavian World, Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1994, ISBN 0-8166-2374-0, p. 82.
- ^ tr. Lee M. Hollander, Austin: University of Texas Press, 1964, repr. 1999, ISBN 0-292-73061-6, pp. 173-74; ch. 33, "Frá Haraldi Gormssyni" at Netútgafn (in Icelandic) [3]. de Vries p. 260 refers only to the initial sight of landwights crowding the landscape; in the remainder of the passage the four guardians themselves are not called landvættir, and at the end they are stated to have been four named Icelanders.
- ^ Haraldur Bessason, Islendinga Saga: A History of the Old Icelandic Commonwealth, Winnipeg, Canada: The University of Manitoba Press, 1974, ISBN 0-88755-696-5, p. 224.