Galdr

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An ancient form of shamanic chanting, an improvisational magical song, especially for a protective effect. Compare the custom of the joik and other chanting traditions among the Sámi shamanic noaidi who shares mutual influence with the Norse shamanic vǫlva and other Norse magical customs.
  2. 2
    A similar style of chanting that is a modern reinvention of Norse and later magical traditions.

    "There are different kinds of galdr; the most common is runegaldr, which consists of singing the various names of a single rune with Intent."

Synonyms

All synonyms
incantation

Example

More examples

"There are different kinds of galdr; the most common is runegaldr, which consists of singing the various names of a single rune with Intent."

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Norse galdr (“witchcraft, sorcery, magic arts”), akin to Old English ġealdor (“incantation, magic”). Related to English gale, yell.

More for "galdr"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.