Viking magic in Valheim - or Odin's craft

[Falaris]

Odin was the god of kings, and he was a sorcerer. He knew 'galdring', basically incantations. He gained this art by sacrificing himself to himself, by hanging himself to death from Yggrasil (but lived). and learnt it from his uncle - his mother, Bestla's unnamed brother. (She was a Jotun).

It would be interesting if, instead of typical wizardry, Valheim's magic was much more tied to how it was viewed by the vikings.

Now, I've read the kings' sagas, and Håvamål, the book of Odin's advice to a prince (Good read actually, a lot of that advice has aged very well - some is for a culture more violent than ours, but other things - how much gratitude to show when you get a gift, you should visit friends often, but not for too long, don't overstay your welcome, give gifts of equal worth back, every man is master in their own house, whether it's a hovel or a palace, give if someone needs it - asking hurts, don't force them to do that. And so on and so forth. And the two classics - 'it's not as good as they say, drinking too much ale' (the main argument is it robs you of your wits in a place where not everyone are your friends.) and 'friends die, cattle die, you die as well, but one thing that never dies, is the tales of great deeds done'.

The kings' sagas are primarily a tale of real people and doesn't involve much magic. But there was a reference or two anyway. A small part of Håvamål is about Odin and mythology, and in it he speaks of what magic he knows. It's worth keeping in mind the Kings' sagas was written by a christian munk, who loved history (and did us a HUGE favor in writing this down) - but his heroes were the Vikings who spread christianity, and that colors the tales a bit.

Now, Håvamål is very relevant - as the high one's speech (literally the name of the book) - it includes a (slightly self-congratulatory) bit about the magic Odin knows. This is HIGHLY interesting, because that's basically a list of spells or magical effects that would be relevant in Valheim.

On runes and runecrafters:

"For aesir Odin,
For elves Dain,
Dvalin for dwarves,
Even those
for jotuns cut,
I scribe them too"

(Basically, I know all the spells known to aesir, elves, dwarves and jotuns. So there!).

"Know you to scribe them?
Know you to rule them?
Know you to color them?
Know you to tempt them? (Could also mean dare - 'tempt fate' - dare you to use them?).
Know you to pray them?
Know you to blood them?
Know you to send them?
Know you to butcher them?"

(You don't, do you, sucker?)

Better than over-blooded, ('blot (blood) means sacrifice in this context').
Unbidden is,
Gift requires gift back,
better unsent,
than given too much,
*snip*

So... gifts require gifts back - a strong tradition among vikings. Blot (literally blood sacrifice but could be other things) are a gift to the gods, and they, too, require gifts in return. But, like in regular life, giving too much is rude and can land you in trouble.).

And now, over to the spell list. This is told in rhyme and allegory. Vikings were big on that. A ship isn't a ship, it's a wave dancer. A battle - raven's feast, for one. A good skald had many names for the same thing; this is why Odin in 'american gods' says 'I have as many names as there are ways to die'. So, he's gallows-dancer, the one-eyed, the gray walker, etc.).

My songs are known by neither
king's wife,
neither man or maid,
'Help' one is named,
And it help you will
With cases and sorrows,
and aches all.

The second I know,
great is for those
who wants healing to learn

The third knows I,
if necessary is,
to tame enemies' arms,
edges I dampen,
for unfriends,
so neither arms or staves sting.

The fourth I know,
if people me want
bound of limb
so I sing,
walk I can
fetters fall off my feet,
chains on hands loosen

The fifth I know,
see I unfriendly arrow loosed,
I stop her well,
however strong she flies,
as long as with eyes I see her

The sixth I know,
Harms me anyone,
with runes cut in fresh roots,
he who to hostility
provokes me
harms him more than me (Basically, reflects runes on the crafter)

The seventh I know,
if halls I see
burning around sitting companions,
however hot it may burn,
I save the hall,
this song I can sing

The eighth I know,
good for all men might be
useful to name;
if hate springs up,
between sons of chiefs,
that I can mend quickly

The ninth I know
when need is constant
to save a boat at sea
wind I then
on waves stills
and turn the sea all

The tenth I know,
If field-trolls I see
playful in the air
I then they turn
Their will they go
home to the wall
home without memory

The elleventh I know
when out into battle
old friends i shall lead
beneath the shield-rim I spell, (Shout?)
they go whole into battle
the come whole from battle
whole they come home

The twelfth I know
If in tree high
I see a dead man dangle
so I rune, carve and spell,
that he who hung there
walks with me and talks

The thirteenth I know
when young signs
I pour with water and charms,
he will not fall
if in conflict he comes,
that skull will not break for hacking
(Bad translation but the original is ... difficult.).

The fourteenth I know
if for people I will
gods mention by name
all aesir,
all elves I know
there stand no control

The fifteenth I know
as Tjodrøyre sang,
the dwarf before the door of Delling
He who shouted strength,
elven dought,
Ropta-ty's memory in head.

The sixteenth I know
if with clever maid,
i want her desire and play,
desre i turn
on white-armed wife,
and turn all her mind

The seventeenth I know
(Corollary to the previous - which is about gaining a lady's favor, this one is about keeping it.).

The eighteenth I know
which I will not say
to maid or man's wife
All is best,
which one lord knows
it is the end of the song
but only for who
in my arm hides
or if what my sister is.

Phew. Okay. Interesting tidbit - the third magic mentioned, the protection from weapons, is something that in the king's sagas - the 'historical' ones - may have been used to help one of the jarls in battle. It was mentioned that Finn sorceresses (Northern indigenous people) made magic on a bearskin cloak, and it warded him from all blows, making him basically unkillable in battle; where he was struck, smoke would rise.

So, none of these incantations are 'fireballs'. They're buffs, heals, and debuffs. Enchantments. Plus non-combat applications. I think that fits better in Vlaheim anyway. It has excellent swordplay and giving more dimensions to that would be much better than replacing it.

Valheim already has magic weapons - Frostner, for instance. Expanding the system whereby they are made or powered, would be interesting, but Valheim has a 'tier of challenges' whereby in or before a region, you learn the things letting you face the challenges or even thrive there, and the last thing you learn is getting to the next tier.

Magic should NOT short-circuit that system, it should be optional, and it should 'feell' appropriate for vikings.

Odin was JRR Tolkien's inspiration for Gandalf, and indeed, Gandalf was a god(well, more like the setting's equivalent of an angel) and a wizard. Odin would wander the world in many guises, and one of his names he would use were Gandalf, the gray walker - both names for Tolkien's Gandalf. But, he also had names like Raven-lord, Aesargrim, Bolverk, (Bale-worker/Evil-doer), Draugadrottin (Lord of the undead), Farmrgalga (Gallows' farmer), Geirtyr (Spear-god), Grimnir (hooded one) and so on and so forth. And like Tolkien's gandalf, he wore a hooded cloak, wielded a staff and sword - he was the master of both swordplay, magic and men.

And, yeah, many more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_names_of_Odin
(Not 100% on some of those translations, but they'll do.).

If from his names you get the idea that he was not a kind and forgiving god... you may be right. He was the lord of his hall, stern but fair.

Anyway, norse magic was through singing incantations. It was women's magic, or feminine; Odin was all about breaking rules and limits (His every act is one of surpassing the bonds that binds us - sacrificing himself to himself at the tree of life is a great example of that. Or throwing his eye into the well of wisdom - he breaks the 'rules' in ways that give him knowledge, insight - power. It's only natural that the foremost practitioner of a 'womanly art' is such a god.

Incidentally, they often carried staves with VERY phallic names in the sagas. Wizards using staves in DnD? You can thank vikings for that. You're welcome.

Back on topic. Right.

The TL;DR version of the spell list:

The first song - chant to remove debuffs 'sorrows and aches all'
The second song - healing 'spell' or HoT. Might give a '4th' food.
The third song - weapon turning. Less useful while in combat due to the stamina thing, but can also be enchanted in an item (bear fell?).
Fourth song - root protection/cancelling
Fifth song - protection from arrows and stones
Sixth song - spell turning. Any bonus/malus granted by an enemy's spells are reversed.
Seventh song - area building repair and fire dousing
Eight - while it could be shoehorned into a 'peace' spell, that is outside its actual scope, since it heals emnity between people who would otherwise be friends.
Ninth - better speed at sea, calming storms.
Tenth - this would be the 'calming enemy spell. Although... it may be a metaphor for something. Vikings were big on that.
Eleventh - team buff/heal
Twelfth - this is why there's so many undead in Valheim. Animate dead. (And speak with dead.). Could work as a 'chram undead' spell, but it's literally about hanged men.).
Thirteenth - bless a kid with luck for the future. Permanent, small buff, I guess?
Fourteenth - he can safely name gods and elves without reprisal. See the name tags of people and enemies? I mean, we do that allready.
Fifteenth - calls for strength. For the elves, it granted skill, which is why elves (including dwarves, are such mystically good craftsmen)
Sixteenth - charm woman into bed. I'm afraid we'll have to do that the old fashioned way.
Seventeenth - same
Eighteenth - 'NOt telling you what this does but it's a good one'. Yeah, you tease you, Odin.

The tenth can also be a potent spell locking a shapeshifter into their current form. If it's a timed duration ability, it could make it last longer or even be permanent. (Item based, possibly?). So, if you could become a werewolf/fenris, but only at full moon, this could make that form last until you stop/remove the item.

There is a reference to 'runes inscribed in fresh roots', in reference to runes to hurt or cause misfortune. That kinda suggests a source for 'magic components', and it fits well with a resource available by region (tree types).

It might be a good requirement to actually go to Yggdrasil and do some ritual there (that may or may not involve wells or gallows) to actually unlock magic.

I am not giving suggestions for actual implementation here, this is mostly a 'this is my read on what the vikings wrote on the subject of magic'. I must add that I haven't read all the sagas. One that is kinda cool - and the source for the witch-king and that bit in LOTR - is the one about Hervor and the sword Tyrfing. She... was a piece of work.