Fiction: Seiðr's Block (Freyja / Völva)
Hello my lovelies,
Seiðr's Block is free to read all week in honour of Lesbian Visibility Day.
Enjoy! 💗🤍🧡
Spring is here but in Norway there is still snow and ice and therefore the völva meets with her goddess tonight.
ð: a letter from the Old English and Icelandic alphabet that was used in medieval Scandinavia. It is pronounced like a voiced th, i.e. in the word father.
Dís: a female deity, ghost, or spirit associated with Fate, protective spirits of Norse clans. Freyja's name Dís of the Vanir might just mean Woman of the Vanir or Goddess of the Vanir but it could also paint her as a protector of the Vanir, her people.
Freyja: Norse goddess of love, fertility, war, and sorcery. It was her who introduced the practice of seiðr ("magic", see below) to the Æsir, the gods of Asgard.
fuð: Old Norse word for vulva and vagina in the same way that "pussy" doesn't really discriminate between the two.
mugwort: part of the Anglo-Saxon Nine Herbs Charm and a plant with oneirogenic properties, therefore I chose it for Freyja and her aspect as a Goddess of Magic.
Norns: three goddesses who spin the destinies of gods and mortals, the Fates akin to the Moirai in Greek mythology.
Seiðr: a type of magic that Freyja is said to have taught to Odin. It seems to have been used as a tool for seeing into the future and for cursing enemies. Women and men practiced seiðr but since it was seen as a feminine craft, there was a stigma for men who practiced it.
Vanir: a groups of gods known for fertility, wisdom, and magic who are the namesake of the location Vanaheimr ("Home of the Vanir"). After the Æsir–Vanir War, the Vanir became a subgroup of the Æsir. Freyja is one of the Vanir.
völva: a staff-bearing seeress and sorceress in Germanic paganism. Völvar (plural) enjoyed a high status in Germanic society. Even the god Odin himself consulted them.
The title is a play on "writer's block".
Seiðr's Block
"There resides in women an element of holiness and a gift of prophecy."
Publius Cornelius Tacitus, Germania
Heiði had performed the ritual. The women had sung the Varðlokkur, the song of protection, and they had circled around her highseat and made all the right sacrifices. But Heiði had not reached the ecstatic state of magical power that was needed to unlock her ability of second sight, allowing her to see all that was and all that would be. She had been unable to open the gate to that sacred space between the past, the present, and the future, an embarrassment before the queen who sought answers about her unborn child. Heiði had told her that hers were difficult questions and that she would like to repeat the ritual on the next full moon to further look into what she had seen when in truth she had not seen a thing. She had requested to take her leave under the pretence of collecting sacred herbs and now she was here, in the woods, all by herself. She sighed, sitting down on a fallen tree. Why did the Norns block her visions? Or was it one of the other gods? By Freyja, whatever had she done to offend them? Her hand tightened around her birchwood staff. An offering to the Mistress of Magic, a plea for help and promises of more, that much she could do right now.
She cleared a spot of snow with a bunch of mugwort, then lit the leaves on fire to purify the area before she laid out four strips of dried pork for the goddess.
"Freyja, Dís of the Vanir, first of the völvar and greatest of seers, help me in my hour of need! The queen demands answers I cannot give. Why are you blocking my sight, beautiful, terrible goddess? How, Lady of the Slain, have I done you wrong?"
There was a rustling in the leaves. Heiði turned towards the sound. It was a falcon, perching on a nearby tree. Either it had been attracted by the meat or...
"It is not I who is preventing you from gazing into the future," a stern female voice spoke. Heiði threw herself onto the snowy ground. The falcon left its branch and in flight turned into a beautiful woman with long, red hair worked into thick braids, wearing a stunning feather cloak over a goldenbrown dress. There was no doubt that this was Lady Freyja! Tears of fear and relief ran down Heiði's cheeks.
"Please, beloved goddess, protect me and clear the path for me so that I may see again?"
Freyja stepped towards her, grass and blooming flowers springing up where her feet touched the ground.
"It is no divine being preventing you from drawing from your power," Freyja spoke in a gentler tone, "It is you who is blocking your way."
"No, no, no, I'm trying so hard! I sang the songs, I made the sacrifices, I asked for help from you and the other gods."
"You have done everything right," Freyja confirmed, "And yet none of these things are the source of your power."
"What can I do?" Heiði asked, her voice cracking. "The queen demands answers. I need my gift now more than ever. Please, Lady Freyja, have mercy on this servant of yours."
The goddess laughed, a sound like birdsong and clinking blades.
"I can certainly help you with that," she said, giving Heiði an elusive grin. "But it requires your participation."
"Of course!" Heiði hurried to agree, "Of course! What do you need me to do?"
Freyja took off her dark feather cloak and spread it out on the ground. The snow melted and soft green grass shot from the earth around the feathers imbued with the power of the goddess. She gestured at the makeshift blanket.
"Make yourself comfortable."
Heiði obediently sat down on the divine cloak, feeling Freyja's energy emanating from it like fragrant Spring air.
"Your problem," Freyja explained, "is your womanhood. You have lost connection to it. But I know just the way to set that right again." She smirked.
"What way?" Heiði asked fearfully.
"A way that requires full and utter devotion from you, Heiði." Freyja speared her with a piercing, hawk-like gaze. “I am more than the Mistress of Magic.”
Heiði grew pale.
"Do you doubt my devotion to you?"
"I doubt your devotion to all parts of my realm. I have witnessed for myself that you are a great seeress. But there is more to a völva than her predictions of the future."
"What do you mean? I carry the insignia. I know the words and songs and rituals. I honour and worship you as befit you. No?"
Freyja came close, sitting down on the cloak beside her.
"You do not fail to honour me. But you are only focused on one aspect of me. The seiðr. If you wish to unblock your true potential and regain your power, you need to worship all of me."
Heiði looked up into the amber eyes of the goddess.
"I worship all of you, with all that I am."
"No." The word came cold and harsh. "You are ignoring the lust-bringing, fruitful side of me."
Heiði blushed.
"I do not wish to bear a child nor do I call herds of cattle my own. I do not ask for love affairs nor for abundant stock."
Freyja ran a bejewelled finger up her thigh.
"And you don't have to. But you cannot neglect the love of your fuð. She's the seat of your power, right there, at the centre of your being."
Freyja caressed her fuð’s lips, her touch light as the feathers of her cloak. Heiði stared wide-eyed.
"My fuð is at the– I didn’t know. I didn’t know that a fuð is required. Men work seiðr as well."
"Your staff's phallic shape is no accident."
"Is this why it's weird for men to practice seiðr?" Heiði asked, trying to ignore the ethereal caress of her nether lips.
"I don't consider it weird," the goddess replied, "Anyone can learn this art, with or without a fuð. I taught Odin the Allfather myself."
“But how–”
“Those without a fuð use different points of entry.”
Heiði nodded but she was not convinced. For a man to carry a phallic staff and draw his power from… from his arse? was either quiteobscene or suggested an unmanly display of submission. A völva had to open up to receive her visions. A man doing that... it sounded outrageous. But if it was true that Odin practised seiðr and not just a story... maybe it wasn't so outrageous after all.
"But for you it is your womanhood that gives you power. The fuð is a great way to access it. Have you never felt more clear-sighted after a great climax?"
Heiði blushed. The beautiful goddess flustered her.
"I... I don't know."
"Then I suppose you will find out very soon."
Freyja's amber eyes gleamed. She was not talking about her völva rubbing it out quietly in the woods all by herself, was she? She wanted get involved.
"Are you going to help me?" Heiði asked, doing her best to keep her voice from quivering.
"I will." Freyja smirked, her teeth shining like the ivory of deadly tusks. "You asked me for help, did you not?"
"Please, I will gladly give you my body if that means I can give answers to the queen."
The goddess pushed her down onto her dark-feathered cloak.
"I promise you that you will."
Her fingers danced up Heiði's slit, right between the fleshy lips bedecked with soft, curly hair. The völva shivered with anticipation, those warm, divine hands such an unexpected delight. Never in a thousand worlds would she have believed her eyes if she had seen a goddess taking her pleasure with her. Freyja's touch was light and soft, teasing her with glimpses of what might lie in store for her.
"Come on, sweet völva, don't be stingy. Give this weary traveller some water from your well."
Heiði opened her thighs. There was no cold chill of the forest's air, just a warm summer breeze, the light around them golden as dawn. It felt as if they had moved outside of time and space, as she did for her visions, but this must be Freyja's doing.
"Relax," the goddess purred, "I will draw water from you yet."
With the patience of a lurking cat she continued her caress, her strokes as soft as silk, but Heiði wanted more. Her nether lips were swollen and throbbing and if she touched herself, she must be so very wet right now.
"It seems like you have opened up. Let me take a sample." Freyja smirked, dipping her perfect finger into the soaking fuð. She held eye contact while licking the juices off in delight.
"Hmmm, what an excellent brew!"
The goddess reached for Heiði's staff, symbol of her status. It was carved from birch wood and had a nice, smooth knob.
"You will not be surprised that this is an old fertility rite I brought from Vanaheimr," Freyja said, pulling a small jar from the pouch hanging from her belt.
Her fingers scooped grease from the jar and worked it into the polished knob of the staff in slow, sensual motions. Heiði gulped. Any man would be lucky to be handled like that.
"How does it work?" she asked, her eyes following the suggestive to and fro of Freyja's arm.
"Just like you would expect," the goddess replied, giving her a wink. She lifted the greased staff and showed it to her. "This should help with the blockage. I think that you are ready for it. But do you?"
Heiði nodded. Even though she had never used her staff in this way, the thought had crossed her mind more than once. “I am ready.”
Freyja glided the slick knob over her devotee’s engorged fuð. "Brace yourself."
Heiði held her breath. The smooth, greased wood glided into her easily. It felt hard and cool, her fuð gripping it tight. Freyja gave her a smirk.
"I will now begin with the rite."
She moved the staff, small thrusts at first but as Heiði got used to the treatment, she pushed further and further inside. The shaft seemed to pulsate, the lifeless wood soon as hot as she was. It squelched as Freyja kept the well-greased knob moving, pounding her, indulging her. The simple stimulation released a tension she had never been aware of before. Jolts of pleasure flashed every time the staff pushed against her walls with delicious momentum. Her thighs were moist and sticky with her juices, her staff and Freyja's hands completely coated with it, and sweat dampened the skin beneath her finely-spun linen undergarment. She squirmed on the goddess' cloak, the scent of Spring flowers filling her senses while the unyielding hardness of the wood pounded her without cease. Freyja's sharp gaze felt hot like embers on her body. She felt her presence so strongly, so overwhelmingly, as if she were not only beside her but all around her, within her, enfolding every part of her. Freyja was the warmth and the fragrant flowers, the softness of the cloak and the fresh grass on her skin, the fingers caressing her mound and the merciless thrusts of the seiðr staff. She was the pleasure building to a climax, she was everything in this moment, she was all that mattered. Her breath came ragged and noisily, her muscles trembled, but Freyja's onslaught continued, unwavering. Heiði whinedand whimpered, surrendering tothe magic of theshaft. The angle was just perfect and no matter how much she squirmed, Freyja's thrusts were always hitting true. Her groans rang through the forest, Lady Freyja's many names gushing from her quivering lips. She was almost there, almost, almost, almost...
"Just a few strokes more," Freyja said, keeping up her perfect momentum. "Relax. Don’t force it."
Heiði tried to relax, tried to will her muscles not to flex, but it was inevitable: her body finally gave in to the constant stimulation and with a throaty groan, she tightened around the polished wood, releasing in sputtering cries of pleasure. Freyja kept up her work, never wavering.
"That's a good girl. Keep on coming. We are not done yet."
The stimulation was so intense that Heiði tried to roll away but no matter how much she moved, Freyja had the precision of a master smith. And just like a master smith she hammered away. Heiði felt tears streaming down her face. Another climax built, responding to the merciless onslaught of the Mistress of Battle. Heiði covered her face to somehow soften the sensation but it hit her like a lightning strike, setting her veins ablaze with pleasure rushing through every part of her body. She was spent. She was exhausted.
"Well done, my sweet seeress," Freyja praised her, withdrawing the staff from her cunt. "That should have cleared your vision well."
"I don't understand."
"Second sight. I promised you will see visions again."
"Right." The queen’s questions seemed so distant and irrelevant now.
Freyja gave her a kiss on the lips.
"You will soon find the answers that you seek."
The goddess picked up her cloak and where she had stood a beautiful falcon took to the air. Heiði felt a sudden chill and wrapped her own cloak around her. Where green grass and flowers had bloomed, the world returned to its wintery reality. Heiði picked up her staff and made her way through the snowy forest back to the castle.
FIN
Notes
The number 13 is associated with Freyja in modern neopagan practice but I did not find a historical source for it. I went with the number 4 because in Norse mythology, Freyja sleeps with four dwarves to gain her Brísingamen necklace, which is also a number associated with her Greek colleague Aphrodite.
Mugwort appears to also be referred to as una, in the Nine Herbs harm. Its meaning is unknown.
Remember, Mugwort,
what you brought to pass,
what you readied,
at Regenmeld.
You’re called Una, that most ancient plant.
You defeat three, you defeat thirty,
you defeat venom, you defeat air-illness;
you defeat the horror who stalks the land.
I chose to use the Old Norse word fuð instead of vulva to avoid confusion with the word völva but also because vulva is a Latin word, and a modern one at that, while fuð is still used in Germanic languages today, albeit rarely, i.e. in Norwegian Nynorsk fud and Northern German Fut.
The sexual connotations of seiðr were not entirely made up by me. There is at least one archaeologist, Neil Stuppel Price, who argues for sexual acts in the practice of seiðr in his doctoral thesis The Viking Way, a work dedicated to Viking Age magic.
Freyja's falcon coat is referred to in the medieval sources as fjaðrhamr (feather cloak) in the Þrymskviða, valshamr (falcon-feathered cloak) in the Skaldskaparmál, and hauks flugbjalfa / hauks bjalfi (hawk's flying-fur / hawk's skin) in the poem Haustlöng.
I want to give special thanks to Fire for finding the Norwegian source on Old Norse slang for me 💖
Sources
The Völva (vǫlva), Seidr, and Dark Magic, vikingr.org (visit for the reconstruction drawing of a völva's burial)
The magic wands of Viking seeresses? National Museum of Denmark (visit for photos of two magic staffs and Scandinavia's only silver figure of Freyja)
Freyja: Lady of Love and Life, hrafnar.org (neopagan site, visit for quotes concerning Freyja from the Edda and other medieval sources)
Nine Herbs Charm with annotations, mimisbrunnr.info
Feather Cloak (Germanic mythology), wikipedia.org (visit to see the different words used for Freyja's feather cloak and similar cloaks of other deities)
Fuð in the Cleasby & Vigfusson Old Norse Dictionary
Griseprat i tusen år, forskning.no (Norwegian article on Old Norse sexual slang)
Women and Magic in the Sagas: Seiðr and Spá, vikinganswerlady.com (visit for info on Norse magic with historical and academic sources)
Germanic Seeress, wikipedia.org (visit for a list of named seeresses in historical records as well as mentions of seeresses in Norse sources, including a quote from Erik the Red's Saga of a detailed description that I drew on for this story)
Eth, wikipedia.org (Eth is the letter ð)
Hávamál, wikipedia.org (a poem including the story of how Odin received knowledge of the runes and a list of magic chants or spells)
Hávamál from the Poetic Edda, translated by Olive Bray, pitt.edu (archived 2006)
Hávamál from the Poetic Edda, Old Norse, heimskringla.no
Havamal 111, Old Norse with German translation
Herbal Magic for Honoring Freya: How to Use Plants in Your Worship of the Norse Goddess of Love, eclecticwitchcraft.com (a neopagan website that inspired me to use mugwort for the worship of Freyja in my story)
The Return of the Völva: Recovering the Practice of Seiðr by Diana L. Paxson, 1993
