Elements of Norse Shape-shifting
By Odhinn

The mythologies of the world are rich in shape-changing characters: Greek mythology exhibits such shape-shifters as Proteus and Erysichthon (Hamilton 418); Native American mythologies provide such examples as the Iroquois story of the girl who marries the serpent, (Campbell 195-197) and the Peruvian tale of Coniraya, the deity who assumed the form of a bird (Bierlein 148); In Polynesian oral tradition, Maui changes himself into an Eagle in order to steal fire (Bierlein 112). Scandinavian mythology is no exception. In the pantheon of the Aesir, three deities, Freya, Odin, and Loki, have the capacity to change shape. However, no other deity of the Aesir demonstrates any aptitude for shape-shifting. What then, do only these three deities possess that enables them to change form? The answer lies not in ability, but in deficiency. In Norse tradition, shape-shifting requires the abandonment of one's self control; this surrender of control manifests itself in various manners.

Effeminacy, in the stoic, masculine-dominated Scandinavian society, is generally equated to a lack of self-control. The culture of the Vanir (Freya's original pantheon), being earth-centered, possessed certain matriarchal elements. Also, seiðr, the magic of the Vanir used to perform the shape-shifting ritual, has strong feminine elements. Finally, there are distinctly feminine aspects of the characters of Odin, Loki, and, of course, Freya.

Another manifestation of Loki’s, Odin’s and Freya's forfeiture of self-command is their frequent lack of compliance with the power-centered ideals of the Aesir culture. This lack of regimen, like their effimeninancy, represents, from the Norse perspective, loss of self-dominion.

Finally, there are obvious influences of the giants in the characters of Odin and Loki. These giants represent chaos, or complete disorder and loss of control, and consequently, were far more widely capable of shape-changing than the gods.

The impassive Norse viewed negatively any loss of control. This largely explains why Thor, who epitomized the Norse ideals of masculinity and power and was the sworn enemy of the giants, enjoyed more worship and sacrifice than did Odin. It is also evident that because Thor represents such masculinity, power, and enmity to the giants—all antithetical elements to shape-shifting—he is incapable of changing form.

Unlike the Aesir who were sky-god deities, the Vanir are believed to represent an older, earth-centered, culture. Like other earth-centered cultures, the Vanir had matriarchal leanings; Frigg and Freya, who had their origins in this pantheon, were extremely important deities in the households of the worshippers of the day. The culture of the Vanir included rituals involving orgies, ecstasies, and sacrificial rites, (Davidson 126) and remedies which were natural or herbal and were learned through interaction with nature instead of technological or scientific means. These rituals and remedies were mainly ascribed to women. Although magic was practiced by men, wicce, spâkona, and galdrakona, were considered far more expert than their male counterparts, the wigerlere, spâmaðr, or galdramaðr. This female association put off most Northmen, who considered dabbling in these magical arts a doubtful and undignified undertaking (Grimm 3: 1038-1039).

Freya is generally believed to be the same as Gulleveig, the sorceress who came to the Aesir as a hostage of the peace between the Aesir and the Vanir. She was a priestess of seiðr, the magic of the Vanir, and trained Odin in this art as well (Turville-Petre 159). The earth-culture nature of Seiðr is evidenced by its reliance on a rapport with animals. The practitioners believed this enabled them to assume animal form or other disguise; a practice known as hamrammr (Pennick 120). Freya could transform by way of her falcon-suit, (Davidson 117) and Odin could change into a wolf, horse, or an eagle (Turville-Petre 61). Practitioners of hamrammr wore a girdle of untanned wolf-skin or wolf leather for the purpose of transforming into a wolf. The berserks, followers of Odin who receive their name from their frenetic abandonment of self-control were called "wolf-coats" for the pelts they wore into battle (Davidson 67), and were believed capable of changing shape (Dumézil 29).

Seiðr, like its host pantheon, the Vanir, had matriarchal correlations. The lead practitioner was usually a woman and was called a volva. Often a large group acted as a choir for the volva, who, like the oracles of Delphi, would fall into an ecstatic trance-like state, at which point she could receive information about such matters as the coming seasons, or the destinies of young men and women in attendance (Davidson 117). Although unequaled as a galdramaðr, Odin sought to learn the art of seiðr. In volva fashion, he "would lie as if asleep or dead" when changing shape (Turville-Petre 61).

The Northmen considered Seiðr, like some other forms of magic, distasteful due to its feminine nature. According to Snorri Sturluson:

Odin had that skill—indeed he practised it himself—which brought with it great power. It was called seiðr . . . . but this sorcery, when it was performed, carried with it such effeminacy that it was thought shameful for men to have anything to do with it. So its practice was taught to the priestesses. (Dumézil 28)

More than mere effeminacy, seiðr accompanied Ergi, or passive homosexuality, considered the most despicable of all crimes to the Norse (Turville-Petre 131).

Along with being shape-changers, Loki and Odin were also sex-changers and there were instances in which both proved to be bisexual, or sexually inverted (Turville-Petre 131). In the story of The Building of Asgard's Wall Loki changed his form, into a mare in order to woo the giant's horse away, and later bore Odin's famous mount Slepnir. Another instance of implied effeminacy comes in The Theft of Idun's Apples when Loki borrows Freya's hawk costume to retrieve the apples. In the Lokasenna (The Flyting of Loki), Loki flings insults at all the gods at the table, specially Odin and Freya. He accuses Odin of not being “even-handed,�?and chastises him saying he “once worked charms and spells like a witch.�?Loki goes on to say that Odin “moved amongst men in the shape of a witch, a woman through and through�?(Crosley-Holland 164). Loki’s admonishments, generally considered to be true to myth (Turville-Petre 10-11), are a stinging insult. To associate a man with witches was a gross affront. For instance, a common slight of the day was to refer to a man as a "witches' kettle-bearer," that is, one who demeans himself to carry witches utensils (Grimm 3: 1045-1046). For all his accusations in Lokasenna, Loki contents himself with merely calling Thor a bully.

If Odin did not always meet the Norse ideals, Freya had a practically disreputable side. According to Saxo she was put into a brothel and King Olaf in Flateyjarbòk pulled her along at the tail of his horse. In The Necklace of Brisings, she clearly prostitutes herself with the dwarfs for the necklace. Loki, in Lokasenna, says that she strays at night like a “she-goat among bucks�?(Davidson 122). Loki himself, of course, frequently swayed from the ideals of order and control, and needs no introduction as a shifty and ignominious character. The sometimes questionable three deities further illustrates a lack of regimen which may be equated to the lack of self-command essential to their shape-shifting abilities.

The giants epitomize lack of order and, consequently, were consummate shape-shifters. They have often been roughly equated to the Titans of Greek mythology, and one might assume that they represent a much earlier, probably earth-centered, culture. However, unlike the Titans, there seems to be little evidence of any worship or sacrifices to any of them (Grimm 2: 557). Whatever their origins, by the time the giants appear in the Prose Edda and other writings of the period, there function seems limited to posing opposition to the Aesir. Rather than resembling the Titans, they actually more resemble the immovable obstacle of Greek tragedy, a contrivance designed to illustrate and develop the hero's character. The obstacle the giants represent is disorder, or lack of control, to the Gods attempts to bring about order and control. The chaos of the giants, like the Chaos of Greek mythology, represents an entropy-like stage of non-creation, which is the necessary ingredient in their capacity to change form.

In addition to Odin’s training in seiðr and the feminine aspects of Loki and Odin, these two gods were also well suited for shape-shifting due to their strong ties with the giants. Odin's father was a giant, and Loki was actually a giant whom Odin accepted into the Aesir as a result of a blood pact between the two (Crosley-Holland xxix). Thor, on the other hand, was, with few exceptions, the sworn enemy of all giants.

Thor epitomizes the masculine, power-centered ideals of the Scandinavian culture, and was actually the most popular Norse deity. Although Odin heads the pantheon of the Aesir, he did not always meet the ideals of control and order. His worship was small and select; most of the tales about him come from the poets (he was the god of poetry) (Turville-Petre 65-66). Thor was viewed as noblest and most powerful of the gods (Turville-Petre 75) and his image stood in many temples of the period (Davidson 75). Thor's popularity was in no small part due to his adherence to aforementioned ideals of masculinity and self-control. If This manliness and stoic demeanor increased Thor's worship, it equally limited his capacity to change form.

A comic, yet revealing, example of Thor's ineptitude at disguise or changing form comes in "The Lay of Thrym," when the gods attempt to disguise him as a Freya in order to retrieve Mjolnir, his hammer which the giants had stolen. Although it is not a supernatural transformation, it is important to note that Thor's masculinity, i.e., his appetite and his fierce eyes, belies his disguise; only the shifty Loki saves the day. The feminine representation of Thor's changing form and his distaste for such practice, although intended as comedy, nonetheless denotes the masculine perspective of the Scandinavian audience. The message is that Thor, symbol of the manly Aesir culture and bastion of order and strength against the chaos of the giants, does not possess the "shameful" capacity to change shape.

Shape-shifting in the Norse tradition, then, is contingent on the relinquishment of one's self-control. One manifestation of this is effeminacy, which the masculine Norse related to loss of control. This effeminacy is evidenced in matriarchal aspects of the culture of the Vanir, in the practice of seiðr, and in the characters of Odin and Loki. Another aspect of loss of self-control was the lack of adherence to the power-centered ideals of the Aesir culture on the part of Odin, Loki, and Freya. Finally, there is the influence of the giants, symbolizing chaos and disorder, in the characters of Odin and Loki. Thor, on the other hand, epitomizes masculinity, power, and enmity to the giants and, consequently, possesses no ability to change form.

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