Study › Runes & Norse › The Disir
The disir are female guardian spirits of Norse families, who watched over a household or bloodline and warned of what was coming. They had their own feast, the disablot.
Who are the disir?
The disir are female guardian spirits bound to family and fate, honoured across the Norse world with their own sacrifice, the disablot. They watch over a household or a bloodline, protecting its members and sometimes appearing in dreams to warn of what is coming.
The disir and fate
Their nature shades into that of other fate-women — the norns and the valkyries are sometimes counted among them. A dis might guard a warrior in battle or, if offended or if his luck had run out, turn away and leave him to die. Personal, ancestral and closely tied to a single family's fortune, the disir show how intimately the Norse felt the presence of fate at their own hearths.
They are kin to the Norns and the valkyries.
Questions
What is the disablot?
The sacrifice held in honour of the disir.
Are the disir valkyries?
Their nature shades into that of the valkyries and the norns; they are sometimes counted together.