Nú mun hon sökkvask: The Connection between Prophetic Magic and the Feminine in Old Nordic Religion

This thesis will seek to explore the inherent connection between the feminine and foreknowledge in Old Nordic religion, synthesizing both primary and secondary source material relative to the topics of fate, gender, and prophetic magical practices in the context of the Viking Age. The focus will be on four different types of prophetic females in Old Norse literature: dream-women, the goddesses, the nornir, and the völur. Each of these iterations of prophetic women will be examined, noting among other things their relationship to darkness and the underground, their “otherness", their various methods of accessing foreknowledge, and the apparent societal repercussions of knowing the future and even bearing responsibility for it