ABSTRACT
Many of the accounts of seidr, as earlier indicated, are of women practitioners, to the extent that scholars and practitioners alike speak of seidr as ‘women’s magic’. I have, however, referred to accounts of men who did seidr, and how they might be regarded. The term ergi can be interpreted in many ways (and was not only applied to seidworkers). It appears in the literature as an insult directed differently to men and to women. In this chapter I examine some of the ways that the term was applied, and is regarded today. I also look at related controversies, which include the status of seidr as either ‘indigenous’ practice or ‘borrowed’ from the Sámi during the Viking ages, before returning to implications for today’s practitioners.
