Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

völva

/ˈvɑlvə/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: vol-va
IPA: /ˈvɑlvə/

10

Scrabble Score

5

Letters

2

Syllables

4

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

In Old Norse society, a female practitioner of magic divination and prophecy.

noun

Any prophetess, sooth-sayer, or witch.

Example Sentences

"In the Eddas, Odin conjures up a dead volva and questions her about Baldur's fate."
"In another account a volva was paid by a king to find his nephews who had been hidden by a man skilled in magick."
"There is another story in Landnamabok telling of a volva who actively brought prosperity to the fishing activity of the people through her use of seidr."

Etymology

From Old Norse vǫlva (völva in modern Icelandic).

Origin

Source language: Old Norse

Word Breakdown

Root: vǫlva

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈvɑlvə/
British English: /ˈvɜːlvə/

Inflected Forms

völvas (plural) volva (alternative)

Synonyms

seiðkona

Questions

How do you pronounce völva?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈvɑlvə/.
What does völva mean?: In Old Norse society, a female practitioner of magic divination and prophecy.
Where does völva come from?: It is traced to Old Norse.

How to pronounce völva

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “völva”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈvɑlvə/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “völva”.
Repeat and practice — Say “völva” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.