Meeting the Sidhe and the Landwights

A Livestream Class with Dr Linda Sever

Time and Room Not Chosen Yet for This Class

Landvættir or Landwights are deeply embedded within Norse and early Anglo-Saxon cultures and landscape. But there is no good definition of Landwights anywhere, of what they actually are, except that they are spirits and they in some way control the safety of the land, the fertility of the land, and so on. We do know a Landwight is a spirit, or a soul, who uses land for a body, instead of a biological body. The Landwights would be tied to a spot in the landscape, to a huge rock, to a mountain, or to a specially beautiful place. It is said you will know where they are because “there, things are a little better. The grass is a little greener, all the colours of the flowers are a little bit brighter, and the bird song is more lilting and beautiful, than just a few yards away”. (Jörmundur Ingi Hansen)

In Ireland, the Sidhe and other otherworldly being perform the same function, but with a slightly different perspective.

Let us take a journey through the landscape to encounter the Landvaettir and the Sidhe, the guardians of our sacred land and other beings who inhabit the ancient and modern landscape.