Today if one thinks of either elves or dwarves, the first thing to come to mind is likely to be the works of J.R.R Tolkien. Thanks to him, fantasy fiction goes hand in hand with elves and dwarves. Yet ...

In the Viking Age, the völvas (female shamans) were both feared and respected: they exercised seiðr (Norse magic) and were supposedly in direct contact with Odin, the Allfather. The word völva derives ...