Asking the Norse Gods for Things

norse-witch asked:

Is it a no-no to ask the gods and goddesses for things? Such as to heal the sick and ill? That sort of thing? or would that be okay?

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Certainly not. There are several examples from the sagas of folk asking the gods for things (if we decided to consider them at face value, that is). Here is an example of an Icelander named Thorkel praying to Frey from Víga-Glúms saga:

“ ‘Oh Frey,’ he said, ‘you who have long been my trust, and have received many oblations from me and repaid them well, now I give you this ox, to the end that Glum may depart from the land at Thvera under a compulsion no less than that which I go now. And let there now appear some token of whether you have accepted my offer or not.’

And the ox started violently, bellowed and fell down dead, and it seemed to Thorkel that that was a good sign, and he was calmer in his mind, now that he thought his offer had been accepted.”¹ 

In this example, Thorkel is actually asking for something rather selfish: he wanted Glum, who had just won a legal case against him and took his property away from him, to eventually have to leave it under as bad of terms as Thorkel himself was (having just lost his case). A similar story plays out in Brandkrossa þáttur, chapter 1.

In regards to healing the sick and ill specifically, I do not seem to have any references on hand that provide us with some historical evidence, at least in regards to asking this of heathen gods. There is an account of a man appealing to Saint Thorlak for healing, but he, of course, is certainly not a heathen god.²  There are also several examples of healers in the sagas, but they do not seem to work with divine beings in order to practice their craft (based on the evidence that I could rummage up, at least). Furthermore, whenever someone was in need of healing, it seems that most people sought out a healer, if one was known or nearby, rather than seeking divine help.³ 

But just because we do not have direct evidence, it does not mean that such practices did not occur. Given what evidence we do have, we may be able to reason out something probable. There is, for example, an obscure figure from Norse lore that may be of particular interest here: the goddess Eir. Here is how she is spoken of in the Prose Edda, when the ásynjurnar (females goddesses) are listed:

iij er eir hō er lækn̅ beztr
Þriðja er Eir; hon er læknir beztr.
The third is Eir; she is the best healer.⁴

Of course, we begin to unravel certain complexities when we appeal to an obscure figure who is scarcely mentioned in our surviving sources. Was she truly a goddess in her own right?⁵ Was she perhaps only a valkyrie, rather than a goddess?⁶ Or was ‘Eir’ another name for Frigg? These are some of the questions that swirl around her. I say that we put these question aside though, lest we desire to succumb to an endless and fruitless debate. We simply do not have enough evidence to be confident in any interpretation of her. Thus, I suspect that it would be more useful here to consider her as a minor goddess in her own right.

While there is no direct evidence of anyone asking the gods to heal the sick and ill (that I know of), we can put things together reasonably with the evidence that we do have. If, as I said earlier, we choose to take these saga accounts at face value, then it is perfectly reasonable to ask the gods for things (so long as an offering is made). And with this in mind, one could reasonable say that, if we assume that Eir was indeed a goddess of healing among some sort of cult at one point, one could ask for her to heal the sick and ill in a similar manner.

Now, we have built this conclusion on the basis of two major assumptions, which have consequences and can certainly lead to trouble. The first of these assumptions is that our saga evidence is recording a hint of genuine heathen practice, despite being written long after conversion. The second of these assumptions is that Eir was a genuine goddess who was (at one point) worshipped and held a role associated with healing. This, as I have mentioned, is also built upon shaky grounds and could be refuted.

Long story short: According to our sources, it seems that is was quite alright to ask the gods for things, but usually they were accompanied by an offering of some sort. It may have also been fine to ask a god to heal the sick and ill, although who that god should be is subject to debate – but Eir seems to be the most likely candidate.

I hope all of this helps.

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ENDNOTES:

1. Quoted from John McKinnell trans., Killer-Glums’s Saga, in The Complete Sagas of Icelanders: Including 49 Tales, vol. II, edited by Viðar Hreinsson, 267-314 (Reykjavík: Leifur Eiríksson Publishing, 1997), 282.
2. Þorláks saga byskups, chapter 20:
   1. “There was a man called Tjǫrvi; he suffered a great injury to his hands. The hands went stiff and leprous so that he could not straighten his fingers, and that injury lasted for fifteen years. He invoked the blessed Bishop Þorlákr for his healing. He fell asleep after that and, when he wakened and wished to wash himself, his hands had been completely healed and they were shown to everyone who was present, and then the Te Deum was sung. And as soon as this miracle had become known to all then one after another started to invoke the holy Bishop Þorlákr, and it was not strange, since the miraculous power was so great that it was granted almost before it was asked.”
      1. Quoted from Ármann Jacobsson and David Clark trans., The Saga of Bishop Thorlak (Þorláks saga byskups) (Viking Society for Northern Research, University College London, 2013), 24.
3. For an example of these points, see Þórðar saga hreðu, chapter 7:
   1. “Then he rode to Engihild with Indridi. Thorvald gave Thord a good welcome, told him to make himself at home, and asked him what had happened. Thord told him about the fight at Arnarstapi and the four deaths – ‘and I’ve come here because I want you to heal Indridi, since no man is braver than he.’ Thorvald said that he would do that. He took Indridi in, prepared a bath for him and cleaned his wounds. None of his wounds were life-threatening. Thorvald offered Thord treatment. He declined it: ‘I’m going to reach the north country, come what may.’”
      1. Quoted from Katrina C. Attwood trans., The Saga of Thord Menace, in The Complete Sagas of Icelanders: Including 49 Tales, vol. II, edited by Viðar Hreinsson, 361-96 (Reykjavík: Leifur Eiríksson Publishing, 1997), 380.
4. Transcribed from GKS 2367 4to 8v, line 9. Translated by myself. There is more information about her in the Poetic Edda, specifically Fjölsvinnsmál. For more on that, see Carolyne Larrington trans., The Poetic Edda (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), 259-67.
5. John Lindow is skeptical and advices caution in trusting Snorri. For more, see John Lindow, Norse Mythology: A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), 105.
6. This case is argued by Rudolf Simek. For more on this, see Rudolf Simek, A Dictionary of Northern Mythology, translated by Angela Hall (Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 1993), 71-2.