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In old Germanic culture, a galdr (; , , ; , galdor, ), among other forms in old Germanic languages, refers to a Incantation; these were usually performed in combination with certain rites.The article Galder in Nationalencyklopedin (1992)
(plural galdrar) and or galdor]] (plural ġealdru) are derived from the reconstructed Proto-Germanic ''*galdraz'', meaning a song or incantation. The terms are also related by the removal of an Indo-European ''-tro'' suffix to the verbs and , both derived from Proto-Germanic ''*galaną'', meaning to sing or cast a spell. In Old High German the ''-stro'' suffix produced ''galster'' instead.[https://runeberg.org/svetym/0265.html Hellquist, E. (1922). ''Svensk etymologisk ordbok''. C. W. K. Gleerups förlag, Lund. p. 177]
The German forms were Old High German galstar and Middle High German (MGH) galster "song, enchantment" (Konrad von Ammenhausen Schachzabelbuch 167b), surviving in (obsolete or dialectal) Modern German Galsterei (witchcraft) and Galsterweib (witch).
The Modern Scandinavian word for "crazy" (, , ) is a derivative of the same root as galdr, and originally referred to someone whose mind has been distorted by a spell. Other related descendants of these words are, ("to sing, call out, yell"), ("to yell, crowing of a rooster"), the latter component of English nightingale (from nihtegale), related to ġiellan, the verb ancestral to Modern English yell, also cognate with Dutch language gillen ("to yell, scream").
A practical galdr for women was one that made childbirth easier,Steinsland, G. & Meulengracht Sørensen 1998:72 but they were also notably used for bringing madness onto another person, whence modern Swedish language galen meaning "mad", derived from the verb gala ('to sing, perform galdr'). Moreover, a master of the craft was also said to be able to raise storms, make distant ships sink, make swords blunt, make armour soft and decide victory or defeat in battles. Examples of this can be found in Grógaldr and in Frithiof's Saga. In Grógaldr, Gróa chants nine (a significant number in Norse mythology) galdrar to aid her son, and in Buslubœn, the schemes of king Ring of Östergötland are averted.The article galder in Nordisk familjebok (1908).
It is also mentioned in several of the poems in the Poetic Edda, and for instance in Hávamál, where Odin claims to know 18 galdrar. For instance, Odin mastered galdrar against fire, sword edges, arrows, fetters and storms, and he could conjure up the dead and speak to them.Schön 2004:86 There are other references in Skírnismál, where Skirnir uses galdrar to force Gerðr to marry Freyr as exemplified by the following stanza:
A notable reference to the use of galdrar is the eddic poem Oddrúnargrátr, where Borgny could not give birth before Oddrún had chanted "biting galdrar" (but they are translated as potent charms, by Henry Adams Bellows below):
In Medieval Sweden, a drawn or written spell or incantation was called a "galdr letter" (Old Swedish: galdra breff, , roughly "written spell"). Such, intended to make the holder invulnerable, could be worn as an amulet (for example around the neck) and was called a "sword letter" (Old Swedish: swärdhbref, ; Old Danish: sværdbrev, ). This type of drawn spell was later banned.
There exist records from the 16th century of Icelandic Medieval magic called "galdr staves" (, roughly "magic glyph"), today commonly referred to as Icelandic magical staves in English.
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