In Norse mythology, Gróa (possibly from Old Norse "growing"[Orchard (1997:63).]) is a völva (seeress) and practitioner of seiðr. She is the wife of Aurvandil.
Attestations
Prose Edda
Gróa appears in the
Prose Edda book
Skáldskaparmál, in the context of
Thor's battle with the jötunn
Hrungnir. After Thor has dispatched Hrungnir with the hammer
Mjollnir, Gróa is asked to help magically remove shards of Hrungnir's whetstone which became embedded in Thor's head. Unfortunately while Gróa was about her work, Thor distracted her by telling her of how he had earlier helped
Aurvandil cross the river Élivágar, and had saved her husband's life by snapping off his frost-bitten toe. Gróa's spell miscarried and the pieces of whetstone remained permanently embedded in Thor's head.
Poetic Edda
Gróa is also a völva (or seeress), summoned from beyond the grave, in the
Old Norse poem
Grógaldr, (a section of
Svipdagsmál), by her son
Svipdagr. In death she has lost none of her prophetic powers, and is able to assist him in a successful conclusion of the task which he has been set by his cruel stepmother. It is possible that this second Gróa is the same as the first one, but the poem is a late 17th-century imitation of the Edda. The interaction between Groa and her son Svipdag also offers insight into how necromantic practices were carried out. We see Svipdag waking his mother at the door of her burial mound by calling her name. Because Svipdag merely calls out his mother’s name and beseeches her for help, it appears as though the magic is not tin the words themselves but that he spoke them at the entrance of her grave mound.
Groa’s skill as a volva is apparent when she speaks nine magical charms over Svipdag to help him survive the ordeal his stepmother has set before him. They include one that calms storms at sea, one that blunts the edges of his enemies' weapons, and one that frees him from fetters if he breathes on the restraints.
Gesta Danorum
In
Gesta Danorum,
Gro is a woman saved from marrying a giant by King Gram. She is the daughter of
Sigtrygg, King of Sweden, and the mother of
Guthorm (and possibly Guthorm's sister) by Gram.
In Viktor Rydberg's elaborate theories on Norse mythology, this Gro is identified with the seeress described in other sources.[ Rydberg's Teutonic Mythology, Chapter 24]
Notes
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Orchard, Andy (1997). Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend. Cassell.
