The Spell of Gróa (Grógaldr) - Page Two

The Spell of Gróa (Grógaldr) 

Poem belonging to the Svipdagsmál ('The Lay of Svipdagr'). It is an Old Norse poem, sometimes included in modern editions of the Poetic Edda, comprising two poems, The Spell of Gróa and The Lay of Fjölsviðr. 

It is about a romantic myth of two young people destined for one but seemingly separated by an impassable gulf. Young Svipdag is given, by an evil stepmother, the task of winning the hand of Mengloth in Giant-Land. He seeks the grave of his mother Gróa, a wise woman, and wakes her from her death sleep to ask for the help she had promised to give him in his hour of need. She chants for him nine spells which are to aid him in his dangerous undertaking. 

The essence of the story, the hero's winning of a bride ringed about by flames, is strongly suggestive on how Svipdag reaches to reunite both soul of the human psyche, the conscious (male) and the (feminine) in perfect marriage. 

It’s origins are prehistoric, yet it uses the same model described by modern psychologists and neurologist:

• One soul (masculine) is objective, rational, intelligent, active and possessing independent free will

• The other soul (feminine) is subjective, emotional, responsive and in possession of the memory record

Thus, the character in this beautiful poem becomes One indivisible and whole. The word "one", in the old testament is "echad" (Hebrew passage), which specifically refers to a compound unity, a whole made up of parts (the Gnostics saw Adam and Eve story as a variation on that theme). The two divine halves mated, and th eworld we know today is the fruit of that union. While there indeed was a divine Father, the cultures believed, there was also a divine mother.

In deed the divine Mother is wel represented in Judeo-Christian scripture, appearing in the Old Testament as Sophia (Gróa), the divine personification of wisdom Itself.

For more information, check out this article with a further explanation about this subject:

• Division of The Self - Binary Soul Doctrine

Gróa's Spell

Svipdag spoke:

"Wake thee, Groa! wake, mother good!

At the doors of the dead I call thee;

Thy son, bethink thee,  thou badst to seek

Thy help at the hill of death."

Gróa spoke:

"What evil vexes  mine only son,

What baleful fate hast thou found,

That thou callest thy mother,  who lies in the mould,

And the world of the living has left?"

Svipdag spoke:

"The woman false  whom my father embraced

Has brought me a baleful game;

For she bade me go forth  where none may fare,

And Mengloth the maid to seek."

Gróa spoke:

"Long is the way,  long must thou wander,

But long is love as well;

Thou mayst find, perchance,  what thou fain wouldst have,

If the fates their favor will give."

Svipdag spoke:

"Charms full good then chant to me, mother,

And seek thy son to guard;

For death do I fear on the way I shall fare,

And in years am I young, methinks."

Gróa spoke:

"Then first I will chant thee  the charm oft-tried,

That Rani taught to Rind;

From the shoulder whate'er  mislikes thee shake,

For helper thyself shalt thou have."

"Then next I will chant thee,  if needs thou must travel,

And wander a purposeless way:

The bolts of Urth shall on every side

Be thy guards on the road thou goest."

"Then third I will chant thee, if threatening streams

The danger of death shall bring:

Yet to Hel shall turn both Horn and Ruth,

And before thee the waters shall fail."

"Then fourth I will chant thee, if come thy foes

On the gallows-way against thee:

Into thine hands shall their hearts be given,

And peace shall the warriors wish."

"Then fifth I will chant thee, if fetters perchance

Shall bind thy bending limbs:

O'er thy thighs do I chant a loosening-charm,

And the lock is burst from the limbs,

And the fetters fall from the feet."

"Then sixth I will chant thee, if storms on the sea

Have might unknown to man:

Yet never shall wind | or wave do harm,

And calm is the course of thy boat."

"Then seventh I chant thee, if frost shall seek

To kill thee on lofty crags:

The fatal cold shall not grip thy flesh,

And whole thy body shall be."

"Then eighth will I chant thee, if ever by night

Thou shalt wander on murky ways:

Yet never the curse of a Christian woman

From the dead shall do thee harm."

"Then ninth will I chant thee, if needs thou must strive

With a warlike giant in words:

Thy heart good store of wit shall have,

And thy mouth of words full wise."

"Now fare on the way where danger waits,

Let evils not lessen thy love!

I have stood at the door of the earth-fixed stones,

The while I chanted thee charms."

"Bear hence, my son, what thy mother hath said,

And let it live in thy breast;

Thine ever shall be the best of fortune,

So long as my words shall last."

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