No Shaman

The shaman, or tietäjä (“one who knows” in Finnish), originated in Siberia and became prevalent in Baltic regions of Finland, Estonia, and Karelia. The shaman became the foundation of Finnish paganism, which was the indigenous polytheistic religion of the land until Christianization.

Finnish Paganism, however, never had any connection or relation to Norse culture, and thus Forn Siðr, which was born in Norway. The concept of a shaman, or shamanism, therefore does not exist in Norway, or in Norse culture. In fact, within Forn Siðr, magics are the realm of women exclusively, namely vǫlur (singular vǫlva), as magics are indeed considered a female gift associated with femininity. Practice of magics by men in Norse culture is therefore greatly stigmatized. This is best expressed by Óðinn being described in ancient texts in exceptionally derogatory terms, as in being vaginally receptive for the purpose of learning magics. His learning of the runes was indeed seen as an affront to any man (due to the stigmatization of feminized behavior in Norsemen), thus a great sacrifice, and reported for the purpose of strongly reinforcing the fact that magics are to remain the realm of women. Not men. Ever.