Heimdallr's Charm

• Main Author: Tolley Clive
• Other Authors: historian, kulttuurin ja taiteiden tutkimuksen laitos (yhteiset), HKT-laitoksen yhteiset, 2602200
• Language: English
• Published: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia 2023
• Subjects: karelian
• Online Access: https://www.utupub.fi/handle/10024/173944

Having sketched a proposed interpretation of some of the god Heimdallr’s main characteristics and associations, it is possible to consider what a charm devoted to him may have been concerned with. After looking at what may be meant by ‘charm metre’ (galdralag), I survey some poetic mentions of charms, and bring in comparisons from other Germanic traditions (Old High German and Old English), alongside some more recent Scandinavian charms. I then move on to a neighbouring tradition, the more recent yet archaic Karelian charms, particularly those relating to birth and creation. We cannot determine what Heimdallargaldr may have encompassed, in terms either of its mythological or incantatory content, but these parallel traditions suggest something of the parameters within which it may have functioned.