Women and witchcraft: Magic use as a tool of autonomy for marginalized groups in early Scandinavia

In my paper, I explore how Nordic shamanistic practices, correlated similarly with modern conceptions of magic, were used by women and potentially genderqueer individuals. Using sources that examine various Nordic sagas and archeological evidence, I argue that women used forms of Nordic magic such as seiðr as a means of exercising autonomy and crossing gendered boundaries in a period where there were limited opportunities to do so. Moreover, the representation of women in positions of elevated power within the sagas reflected the reality of women’s lives during this period to a certain degree. The context of my research focuses primarily on Iceland; however, the culture is generally applicable to other Scandinavian regions at the time. I examine who was able to practice magic, how practitioners crossed gendered boundaries, and how women used magic to prevent disenfranchisement, improve their circumstances, and more freely dictate their destinies. Examinations of history often lack intersectional lenses and tend to center the lives and achievements of men, while reducing women’s lives to that of strife and struggle. While women have faced hardship throughout the whole of history, I believe it’s important to emphasize cases where women had opportunities for power, especially in periods where such power for women was exceptional. Essay submission was sponsored by Dr. Gail Edwards, (Humanities and Social Sciences Department) for course HIST 2203 and was presented at the New Westminster campus on April 11, 2024, for Student Research Days 2024.