A ( Icelandic for "wayfinder", ) is an Icelandic magical stave intended to help the bearer find their way through rough weather. The symbol is attested in the Huld Manuscript, collected in Iceland by Geir Vigfusson in

Akureyri Akureyri (, locally ) is a town in northern Iceland. It is Iceland's fifth-largest municipality, after Reykjavík, Hafnarfjörður, Reykjanesbær and Kópavogur, and the largest town outside Iceland's more populated southwest corner. Nickn ...

1860 Events January–March * January 2 – The discovery of a hypothetical planet Vulcan is announced at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris, France. * January 10 – The Pemberton Mill in Lawrence, Massachusett ...

,Huld Manuscript ÍB 383 4
in the National Library in Reykjavík and does not have any earlier attestations. A leaf of the manuscript provides an image of the , gives its name, and, in prose, declares that "if this sign is carried, one will never lose one's way in storms or bad weather, even when the way is not known".Flowers (1989:88).Huld Manuscript ÍB 383 4
in the National Library in Reykjavík It has been claimed that it also features in the '' Galdrabók'', a magical

grimoire A grimoire ( ) (also known as a "book of spells" or a "spellbook") is a textbook of magic, typically including instructions on how to create magical objects like talismans and amulets, how to perform magical spells, charms and divination, and ...

. although this latter location is denied and contested by Jackson Crawford.

Stephen E. Flowers Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

lists the Vegvisir in his translation of the Galdrabók, but in a later publication cites it in “Isländische Zauberzeichen und Zauberbücher” by Ólafur Davíðsson rather than the Galdrabók. It is also only claimed to be in the Huld manuscript by Daniel McCoy. Tomáš Vlasatý claims that it is not only in the Huld manuscript but also in two other Icelandic grimoires, Galdrakver (designated Lbs 2917 a 4to and Lbs 4627 8vo) and has Christian roots. The is often confused to be a

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

symbol. There is however no evidence of this, and the Huld Manuscript, where it is mentioned, was collected eight centuries after the end of the

Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Germ ...

Etymology

is derived from two Icelandic words, and . means 'way, road, path', and means 'path, guide'. is derived from the

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

Proto-Germanic Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. Proto-Germanic eventually developed from pre-Proto-Germanic into three Germanic bran ...

, or the

Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo- ...

. is derived from the Old Norse meaning 'to show, point out, indicate', or the Proto-Germanic or , meaning 'to visit'. ('way') + ('pointer') derives its meaning from the same word as the English ''wise''. It points someone the right way.

Notes

Bibliography

* Flowers, Stephen (1989). ''The Galdrabók: An Icelandic Grimoire''. Samuel Weiser, Inc. * Justin Foster Huld Manuscript of Galdrastafir Witchcraft Magic Symbols and Runes - English Translation (2015) * Geirsson, Olgair (2004). ''Galdrakver: A Book of Magic''. Landsbokasafn Islands Haskolabokasafn *Skuggi J Eggertsson ''Galdraskraeda'' The Sorcerer's Screed

External links

Scans of the Huld Manuscript, including the Vegvísir, at Handrit.is
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vegvisir Icelandic folklore Icelandic culture Witchcraft in Iceland Magic symbols

Etymology

See also

Notes

Bibliography

External links