The vegvísir according to the Huld manuscriptIcelandic singer Björk has the vegvísir tattooed on her armModern use on a T-shirt
The vegvísir (Icelandic for "wayfinder", lit.'way shower') is an Icelandic magical stave intended to help the bearer find their way through rough weather. The symbol is attested in the Huld Manuscript, collected in Iceland by Geir Vigfusson in Akureyri in 1860,[1] and does not have any earlier attestations.[2][3][4] Despite its lack of a clear connection to the Viking Age, the symbol is often erroneously called a Viking compass.
A leaf of the manuscript provides an image of the vegvísir, gives its name, and, in prose, declares that "if this sign is carried, one will never lose one's way in storms or bad weather, even when the way is not known".[5][1]
Stephen E. Flowers lists the Vegvisir in his translation of the Galdrabók,[6] but in a later publication cites it in “Isländische Zauberzeichen und Zauberbücher” by Ólafur Davíðsson rather than the Galdrabók.[7] Tomáš Vlasatý claims that it is not only in the Huld manuscript but also in two other Icelandic grimoires, Galdrakver (designated Lbs 2917 a 4to and Lbs 4627 8vo) and has Christian roots.[8]
Etymology
Vegvísir is a compound word formed from the two Icelandic words: vegur (lit.'way') and vísir (lit.'show + -er'). Vegur means 'way, road, path', and vísir is an inflected form of vísa, 'to show, to let know, to guide, point out, indicate'.[9] Its meaning is comparable to English wise, as in, 'it points someone the right way'.[10]
The cognate word also exists in the other Norse languages: Danish: vejviser, meaning 'directory' (among others),[11] and Swedish: vägvisare, meaning 'signpost' (among others).[12] The word can be traced back to the 15th century (Old Danish: veivisere;[11]Old Swedish: væghvisare) in its literal and figurative sense.[13] Akin to Swedish, the word also exists in German as a word for signpost etc: Wegweiser.
12"Huld Manuscript". Handrit.is. p.26. Archived from the original on 16 October 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2024. in the National Library in Reykjavík
↑Vlasatý, Tomáš (5 April 2019). "Origins of the "vegvísir" symbol". Projekt Forlǫg. Retrieved 3 May 2025. The "vegvísir" is depicted on page 60 (27r) of the Huld manuscript (ÍB 383 4to), compiled by Geir Vigfússon in 1860. There are no known earlier attestations of the symbol.
↑"Vegvisir Symbol Origin Facts ans Sources". Skjalden.com. 23 May 2019. Retrieved 3 May 2025. The earliest description and depiction of the Vegvísir symbol is on page 60 in the Huld manuscript from 1860, compiled by Geir Vigfússon. There are no known earlier sources.
↑Flowers, Stephen E.; Galdrabók: An Icelandic Book of Magic (Second, Revised Edition), Rûna-Raven Press, 2005, p. 64 (originally published in 1989 by Samuel Weiser as Galdrabók: An Icelandic Grimoire.)
↑Flowers lists the image on page 88 of Icelandic Magic: Practical Secrets of the Northern Grimoires, Inner Traditions, 2016 giving the source, page 125, as “Isländische Zauberzeichen und Zauberbücher.” Zeitschrift des Vereins für Volkskunde 13 (1903): 150–67, 267–79; Tables III–VII. English version: Icelandic Magic Symbols and Spell Books. Translated and annotated by Justin Foster. www.academia.edu (accessed July 17, 2015).
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