Magic and Medicine : A Study of Magical Healing in Pre-Christian Scandinavia

Abstract: This thesis aims to explore the various forms of healing magic; seiðr, galdr, and herbal medicine, of the Late Scandinavian Iron Age. I aim to analyse how magic can be found in the medicinal empirical material, who used these objects, and, on whom. The analysis is limited to physical sickness and what caused said diseases. The empirical material is limited to objects of clear magical medicinal use in order to dive deeper into the analysis of how the magic can be found, why, and who used said object or herb. Magic and medicine are two sides of the same coin and have walked hand in hand all through history. In fact, the two are so deeply ingrained in each other that medicinal practices were long thought to derive from magic. The empirical material and theoretical framework in this analysis reflect that belief. I developed my own theoretical framework expanding from existing theories by building on cognitive approaches to shed new light on magic as a means to manipulate this world with powers deriving from another. This framework will help with addressing hitherto unexplored aspects of magical medicine in the Late Iron Age Scandinavia.