Outer shape or body that a seiðr practitioner can shed.
Hamr refers to the physical shape of a being, but also to the capacity to change form. Shape-shifting is called hamskipti and is a central motif in saga literature.
The most powerful seiðr practitioners and berserkers were believed able to send their hamr in animal form while the body lay motionless. Injuring the hamr during such journeys could wound the true body.
Attestations
- Cleasby & Vigfusson, An Icelandic-English Dictionary (1874)
- Attestations for hamr and its compounds.