Vegvísir
The Script error: No such module "Lang". (Icelandic for "wayfinder", Template:Literally) is an Icelandic magical stave intended to help the bearer find their way through rough weather. The symbol is attested in the Huld Manuscript, collected in Iceland by Geir Vigfusson in Akureyri in 1860,[1] and does not have any earlier attestations.[2][3][4] Despite its lack of a clear connection to the Viking Age, the symbol is often erroneously called a Viking compass.
A leaf of the manuscript provides an image of the Script error: No such module "Lang"., gives its name, and, in prose, declares that "if this sign is carried, one will never lose one's way in storms or bad weather, even when the way is not known".[5][1]
Stephen E. Flowers lists the Vegvisir in his translation of the Galdrabók,[6] but in a later publication cites it in “Isländische Zauberzeichen und Zauberbücher” by Ólafur Davíðsson rather than the Galdrabók.[7] Tomáš Vlasatý claims that it is not only in the Huld manuscript but also in two other Icelandic grimoires, Galdrakver (designated Lbs 2917 a 4to and Lbs 4627 8vo) and has Christian roots.[8]
Etymology
Script error: No such module "Lang". is a compound word formed from the two Icelandic words, Script error: No such module "Lang". and Script error: No such module "Lang".. Script error: No such module "Lang". means 'way, road, path' (Template:Literally), and Script error: No such module "Lang"., inflection form of Script error: No such module "Lang"., 'to show, to let know, to guide' (Template:Literally).
Script error: No such module "Lang". is derived from the Old Norse Script error: No such module "Lang"., Proto-Germanic Script error: No such module "Lang"., or the Proto-Indo-European Script error: No such module "Lang"..
Script error: No such module "Lang". is derived from the Old Norse Script error: No such module "Lang". meaning 'to show, point out, indicate', or the Proto-Germanic Script error: No such module "Lang". or Script error: No such module "Lang"., meaning 'to visit'.[9][10][11][12]
Script error: No such module "Lang". ('way') + Script error: No such module "Lang". ('pointer') derives its meaning from the same word as the English wise. It points someone the right way.[13]
See also
Notes
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- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". in the National Library in Reykjavík
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Flowers (1989:88).
- ↑ Flowers, Stephen E.; Galdrabók: An Icelandic Book of Magic (Second, Revised Edition), Rûna-Raven Press, 2005, p. 64 (originally published in 1989 by Samuel Weiser as Galdrabók: An Icelandic Grimoire.)
- ↑ Flowers lists the image on page 88 of Icelandic Magic: Practical Secrets of the Northern Grimoires, Inner Traditions, 2016 giving the source, page 125, as “Isländische Zauberzeichen und Zauberbücher.” Zeitschrift des Vereins für Volkskunde 13 (1903): 150–67, 267–79; Tables III–VII. English version: Icelandic Magic Symbols and Spell Books. Translated and annotated by Justin Foster. www.academia.edu (accessed July 17, 2015).
- ↑ Vlasatý, Tomáš; Origins of the “vegvísir” symbol, Project Forlǫg (Reenactment and Science), April 5, 2019.
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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Bibliography
- Flowers, Stephen (1989). The Galdrabók: An Icelandic Grimoire. Samuel Weiser, Inc. Template:ISBN
- Justin Foster Huld Manuscript of Galdrastafir Witchcraft Magic Symbols and Runes - English Translation (2015)
- Geirsson, Olgair (2004). Galdrakver: A Book of Magic. Landsbokasafn Islands Haskolabokasafn Template:ISBN
- Skuggi J Eggertsson Galdraskraeda The Sorcerer's Screed Template:ISBN