Gand-reið

Meaning of Old Norse word "gand-reið"

As defined by the Cleasby & Vigfusson Old Norse to English dictionary:

gand-reið

f. the ‘witches’ ride;’ in nursery tales a witch is said to ride on a broomstick, Germ. besenstiel; in old lore they were said to ride by night on wolves, which are hence in poetry called ‘the steeds of witches;’ fá þú mér út krókstaf minn ok bandvetlinga því at ek vil á gandreið fara, FmS. iii. 176; ekki skorti gandreiðir í eynni um nóttina, FaS. ii. 131; hann kvað hann séð hafa gandreið, ok er þat jafnan fyrir stórtíðindum, Nj. 195; cp. also on this subject Ísl. ÞjóðS. i. 440 sqq.; renna göndum, to slide on ‘gands,’ ride a witch-ride; víða hefi ek göndum rennt í nótt, of a witch in Fbr. 124; víta ganda, to bewitch ‘gands,’ i. e. to deal in sorcery, Vsp. 25, cp. the passage in Þiðr. S., fór Ostracia út ok rœrði gand sinn, then O. (a witch) went out (cp. útiseta) and reared her ‘gands,’ i. e. raised ghosts, or gener. exercised her black art,—the MSS. have here even neut. gannd (gönd) sín. The compd spá-gandar in Vsp. seems to mean ‘spae-ghosts’ or spirits of divination.

Possible runic inscription in Younger Futhark:ᚴᛅᚾᛏ-ᚱᛁᛁᚦ
Younger Futhark runes were used from 8th to 12th centuries in Scandinavia and their overseas settlements