View source for Gróa

{{for|the village in Sunndal, Norway |Grøa}}
{{for|the band from Iceland |GRÓA_(band)}}
{{short description|Legendary Finnish princess}}
{{Infobox royalty
| image        = Besse tiltaler Graa.jpg
| titletext    = 
| more         = 
| alt          = 
| succession   = [[List of legendary consorts of Denmark|Queen of the Danes]]
| predecessor  = [[Alfhild (Saxon princess)|Alfhild]]
| successor    = [[Signe (Finnish princess)|Signe]]
| spouse       = [[Gram of Denmark|Gram]]
| spouse-type  = Consort
| issue        = ''daughter''<br>[[Guthorm]]
| issue-link   = 
| issue-pipe   = 
| house        = 
| father       = [[Sigtryg (Swedish king)|Sigtryg]]
| mother       =
| birth_date   =
| birth_place  = 
| death_date   =
| death_place  = 
| religion = [[Pagan]]
}}
{{Characters of Gesta Danorum}}
In [[Norse mythology]], '''Gróa''' (possibly from [[Old Norse]] "growing"<ref name=ORCHARD63>Orchard (1997:63).</ref>) is a [[völva]] (seeress) and practitioner of ''[[Seid (shamanic magic)|seiðr]]''. She is the wife of [[Aurvandil|Aurvandil the Bold]]. 

==Attestations==
===''Prose Edda''===
[[Image:Awake Groa Awake Mother - John Bauer.jpg|left|thumb|"Awake Groa Awake Mother" Illustration by [[John Bauer (illustrator)|John Bauer]]]]
Gróa appears in the ''[[Prose Edda]]'' book ''[[Skáldskaparmál]]'', in the context of [[Thor]]'s battle with the [[jötunn]] [[Hrungnir]]. After Thor has dispatched Hrungnir with the hammer [[Mjollnir]], Gróa is asked to help magically remove shards of Hrungnir's whetstone which became embedded in Thor's head. Unfortunately while Gróa was about her work, Thor distracted her by telling her of how he had earlier helped [[Aurvandil]] cross the river [[Élivágar]], and had saved her husband's life by snapping off his frost-bitten toe. Gróa's spell miscarried and the pieces of whetstone remained permanently embedded in Thor's head.

===''Poetic Edda''===
[[Image:Groa's Incantation.jpg|thumb|right|"Groa's Incantation" (1908) by W. G. Collingwood.]]
Gróa is also a völva (or seeress), summoned from beyond the grave, in the [[Old Norse]] poem ''[[Grógaldr]]'', (a section of ''[[Svipdagsmál]]''), by her son [[Svipdagr]]. In death she has lost none of her prophetic powers, and is able to assist him in a successful conclusion of the task which he has been set by his cruel [[Stepfamily#In fiction|stepmother]]. It is possible that this second Gróa is the same as the first one, but the poem is a late 17th-century imitation of the Edda. The interaction between Groa and her son Svipdag also offers insight into how necromantic practices were carried out. We see Svipdag waking his mother at the door of her burial mound by calling her name. Because Svipdag merely calls out his mother’s name and beseeches her for help, it appears as though the magic is not tin the words themselves but that he spoke them at the entrance of her grave mound. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Eriksen |first=Marianne |date=December 2013 |title=Doors to the dead. The power of doorways and thresholds in Viking Age Scandinavia |url=https://www.proquest.com/pqrl/docview/1449380729/59469D24CF4242E0PQ/2?accountid=8141&sourcetype=Scholarly%20Journals |access-date=November 26, 2025 |website=Proquest.com}}</ref> Groa’s skill as a volva is apparent when she speaks nine magical charms over Svipdag to help him survive the ordeal his stepmother has set before him. They include one that calms storms at sea, one that blunts the edges of his enemies' weapons, and one that frees him from fetters if he breathes on the restraints. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Luyster |first=Robert |date=Summer 1998 |title=The wife's lament in the context of Scandinavian myth and ritual |url=https://www.proquest.com/pqrl/docview/211223952/59469D24CF4242E0PQ/3?accountid=8141&sourcetype=Scholarly%20Journals |access-date=November 26, 2025 |website=Proquest.com}}</ref>

===''Gesta Danorum''===
In ''[[Gesta Danorum]]'', '''Gro''' is a woman saved from marrying a giant by King [[Gram of Denmark|Gram]]. She is the daughter of [[Sigtrygg]], King of Sweden, and the mother of [[Guthorm]] (and possibly Guthorm's sister) by Gram.

In [[Viktor Rydberg]]'s elaborate theories on Norse mythology, this Gro is identified with the seeress described in other sources.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060116175744/http://www.northvegr.org/lore/rydberg/024.php Rydberg's Teutonic Mythology, Chapter 24]</ref>
{{Kings of Gesta Danorum family tree}}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*Orchard, Andy (1997). ''Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend''. [[Orion Publishing Group|Cassell]]. {{ISBN|0-304-34520-2}}

{{Norse mythology}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Groa}}
[[Category:Characters in Norse mythology]]
[[Category:Germanic seeresses]]
[[Category:Women in Norse mythology]]