Vegvísir

This is a second image created as part of the Galrastafir Project (see previous post).

This is one of the most well known magical staves (Björk has a tattoo of it) - Vegvísir means "signpost", or (literally) "way guide." It is often mistranslated as "Viking compass." However, it was most likely created after the Viking age; the oldest manuscript in which it appears is the Huld Manuscript, compiled around the 1860's.

The sign also appears in Galdrakver Lbs 4627 8vo circa 19th century, and Galdraskræða (Skuggi's Sorcerer's Screed) 1940. There are slight variations in each - This version is from Lbs 4627 and Galdraskæða.

There are no instructions as to how to draw the stave, but as per the Huld ms, "Carry this sign with you and you won't get lost in storms or bad weather, even though in unfamiliar surrounds"

The background photo was taken by my husband Adam Allan-Spencer in the Icelandic Vestfirðir (Westfjörds), on rt. 61, on a high finger of land jutting out between Álftafjörður (Swan Fjord) and Seyðisfjörður (Boiling Fjord), which affords stunning views of the Westfjords and the Hornstreandir Nature Reserve.