Saga is the goddess of history and storytelling. She could be considered Asgard's "librarian", and she has her own hall named Sokkvabek (Sunk-Bench). It is said that Odin likes to hang out there with her, drinking ale and sharing stories. Saga's name became the word for "a history", and she knows all the old tales of the ancestors. She can be called upon for help in storytelling, research, and writing history, mythology, or historical fiction. A good ritual to invoke her might be a storytelling circle, especially if it featured tales of the ancestors or family legends. One could invoke her personally by writing down or compiling family stories, or interviewing elders.
Some scholars see Saga as the younger sister of Iduna, born to Hildegun the Valkyrie and Ivaldi the King of the Duergar. This would make her half-Aesir and half-Duergar like Iduna, whose work ethic is well-known.
Linda Demissy's story about Saga, drawn from personal gnosis from talking to the Handmaiden Goddesses, is as follows:
Sága is daughter to the Valkyrie Hildegun and the Dwarven king Ivaldi who captured her. Treated like a servant with little respect, she eventually escaped to Asgard with mother and siblings — but found no one there trusted a girl of mixed race. In proud rebellion against their demeaning offer — that she should spend centuries performing menial service to prove her allegiance to Asgard — she fled to Midgard. There she found a troupe of traveling entertainers who made more money as con artists than with theater. She learned to lie, cheat and steal, as she discovered a talent for acting and selling to the gullible. Her outlook changed when she killed a troupe member found to be stealing from them. From carefree delight in her skills, she turned to ever greater greed and cruelty in extracting what she wanted from poor and rich alike. Eventually even her fellow artistic thieves found her too callous, and she started grifting alone as she succumbed to the Dragon’s Disease. Her skin became scaly, her words venomous, and her spit so caustic it burned through metal. Only Andvari the Dwarf’s intervention prevented her from completely becoming a beast, as can happen to Dwarves who crave gold too much. Faced with death at the hand of heroes, she gave back what she stole as best she could, for keeping what is not yours by right slowly poisons your spirit. Then she humbled herself by working in a freak show — until her humanity had returned. From there, she chose to tell only stories that ennoble the soul, and returned to Asgard as Goddess of storytelling and performance. She is still as greedy as she is skillful and charming, but now she trades for and hoards tales that inspire all who hear them.
Her hunger is now in learning new stories, so tell her stories of your life as offerings, of funny moments and lessons learned. You can also offer her the telling of stories you perform for others — that you’ve heard, seen or made up — especially if these are meant to inspire and help in some way. Open to you is the path of the bard if you wish it, blessed by her, Odin, Gunnlod and their son Bragi, god of song and poetry. In her wiser aspect she likes porridge, in her younger one she prefers meat, and in both she likes nuts. A nut may be used as her token, as can a short story written on paper, folded or rolled up. Discouraging people from performance arts is not recommended if you would win her favor. Her name means “story,” and in Old Norse is pronounced “SOW-gah.” The accented “a” sounds just like the “ow” you make when you hurt yourself. Note that “skald” is the Norse word for poet.
Sága’s Prayer for a Higher Path
by Linda Demissy
Have you fallen prey to greed, to the Dwarven Dragon’s Disease like Fafnir? Did your love of gold blind you to the monster you were becoming, to the pain of people who would suffer for your gain? What started as necessity may have gone too far and spun out of control for you as it did for Sága, even to the point of murder. You may pray to her for your greed to be transformed. It can’t be removed, but it can be redirected toward something holier so that your name will live on in honor beyond your life.
A goal that gives, three generations
Reason to praise my name.
A hoard of hearts, inspired starts,
My footprints bloom in blessings.