Queering the Cosmology of the Vikings: A Queer Analysis of the Cult of Odin and “Holy White Stones”

Abstract

Ideas concerning Eros, honor and death were central to the Norse perception of the world. Odin is the greatest war god, and associated with manliness. However, Odin is also the most powerful master of seid (sorcery), an activity associated with women. Seid may be interpreted as a form of shamanism. If a man performed seid he could be accused of ergi, that is, unmanliness. Therefore it could be said that Odin exercised an activity considered unmanly. How could Odin perform seid without losing his position as the god of war and warriors? This paradox is discussed from a queer theoretical perspective. On this basis a new interpretation of the so-called "holy white" phallic stones in western Norway is suggested. Most of these stones are associated with burials from the later part of the Scandinavian Early Iron Age. The temporal distribution of the white phallic stones correlates well with the increasing importance of the cult of Odin. There may be a cultic association between the cult of Odin and the burial practices involving white holy phallic stones.

Magic, Genderfluidity, and queer Vikings, ca. 750‐1050

“…Nor were physical “changes” impossible to imagine in the context of seiðr : bodies themselves could transform in the process of using this magic. Numerous scholars have highlighted connections between seiðr and shamanism (Bjørby, 2001; Dillmann, 1992; Price, 2019; Solli, 1999, 2008). As Solli has argued, “Old Norse religious practices were ecstatic, shamanistic and challenged boundaries concerning gender and sex,” (Solli, 2008, p. 194; see also Ohlmarks, 1939; Czaplicka, 1969; Strömbäck, 1970, p. 78; Bleibtreu‐Ehrenberg, 1970).…”

“…Numerous scholars have highlighted connections between seiðr and shamanism (Bjørby, 2001; Dillmann, 1992; Price, 2019; Solli, 1999, 2008). As Solli has argued, “Old Norse religious practices were ecstatic, shamanistic and challenged boundaries concerning gender and sex,” (Solli, 2008, p. 194; see also Ohlmarks, 1939; Czaplicka, 1969; Strömbäck, 1970, p. 78; Bleibtreu‐Ehrenberg, 1970). In practice, shamanic rituals from the native tribes of Labrador to the Siberian steppes involve hyper‐sexual religious rituals and the ability to change between gender identities, some scholars theorizing that this aspect includes a “third” gender expression unique to shamans themselves (Saladin d’Anglure, 1992; Hutton, 2001, p. 109).…”

“…In practice, shamanic rituals from the native tribes of Labrador to the Siberian steppes involve hyper‐sexual religious rituals and the ability to change between gender identities, some scholars theorizing that this aspect includes a “third” gender expression unique to shamans themselves (Saladin d’Anglure, 1992; Hutton, 2001, p. 109). Potentially, in the act of performing seiðr , shamans changed “genders,” or came to represent a gender of their own beyond hvatr and blauðr —perhaps even coming to represent the deviance against which the normative hvatr was constructed (Balzer, 1996; Solli, 1999, p. 423, also 2008, pp. 203–204).…”

Playing Vikings

“…That is a very accurate statement, and the reader should be cautious of these medieval texts as being overly representative of Icelandic Christian beliefs, which are not necessarily universal throughout the span of the viking worlds. The sources suggest a relatively heteronormative binary rather than the emergent material actuality of a spectrum of gender, thus disallowing for trans and queer individuals in the record (see Blackmore 2011;Bychowski 2018;Raninen 2008;Solli 2008).…”