==Pre-Christian customs==
==Pre-Christian customs==
===Blót, feasting and drinking===
===Blót, feasting and drinking===
”[[Blót]]” often took place during Winter Nights celebrations, in which animals were sacrificed to the gods and their meat cooked and shared among those present. This was typically accompanied by ceremonial drinking of ale or mead.{{sfn|Magnell|2019|p=303}}{{sfn|Steinbock|2014|p=134}} ”[[Óláfs saga Helga]]”, for example, describes a {{lang|non|blót}} at Winter Nights in which toasts were made to the [[Æsir]], cattle and horses were killed and their blood was used to redden the pedestals that the images of the gods stood on in order to bring about a good harvest.{{sfn|Sundqvist|2015|p=321}} ”[[Eyrbyggja saga]]” similarly describes [[Snorri Goði]] holding an autumn feast to which he invited all his friends and where they drunk lots of ale.{{sfn|Gunnell|2000|pp=127-128}} In the longer version of ”[[Gísla saga]]”, a feast is held at Winter Nights to welcome winter and to {{lang|non|blót}} to Frey.{{sfn|Gunnell|2000|pp=128-129}} The shorter version instead references a {{lang|non|vetrnáttablót}} (“Winter-Nights’ {{lang|non|blót}}”).{{sfn|Gunnell|2000|pp=128-129}}{{sfn|Sundqvist|2015|p=323}}
”[[Blót]]” often took place during Winter Nights celebrations, in which animals were sacrificed to the gods and their meat cooked and shared among those present. This was typically accompanied by ceremonial drinking of ale or mead.{{sfn|Magnell|2019|p=303}}{{sfn|Steinbock|2014|p=134}} ”[[Óláfs saga Helga]]”, for example, describes a {{lang|non|blót}} at Winter Nights in which toasts were made to the [[Æsir]], cattle and horses were killed and their blood was used to redden the pedestals that the images of the gods stood on in order to bring about a good harvest.{{sfn|Sundqvist|2015|p=321}} ”[[Eyrbyggja saga]]” similarly describes [[Snorri Goði]] holding an autumn feast to which he invited all his friends and where they drunk lots of ale.{{sfn|Gunnell|2000|pp=127-128}} In the longer version of ”[[Gísla saga]]”, a feast is held at Winter Nights to welcome winter and to {{lang|non|blót}} to Frey.{{sfn|Gunnell|2000|pp=128-129}} The shorter version instead references a {{lang|non|vetrnáttablót}} (“Winter-Nights’ {{lang|non|blót}}”).{{sfn|Gunnell|2000|pp=128-129}}{{sfn|Sundqvist|2015|p=323}}
===Association with dísir===
===Association with dísir===
Time of year in medieval Scandinavia
Winter Nights (Old Norse: vetrnætr) are the days beginning the winter season in early medieval Scandinavia and modern Heathenry. Before the Christianisation of Scandinavia, the time was often marked with blót, including drinking and feasting.
Etymology and derived terms
According to Zoega’s Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, vetr-nætr referred to “the three days which begin the winter season”. The term is attested in the narrative of some of the Fornaldarsögur, mostly to express passage of time (“as autumn turned into winter”). The first day of weather was believed to set the course for the rest of the winter, for example snow during the event would mean a snowy winter. It would usually be marked with a leaf-less (defoliated) tree.[1]
From the term are derived vetrnátta-helgr (“the first Sunday in the winter-season”) and vetrnátta-skeið “the season when winter sets in”).
Timing
Winter Nights likely occured around mid- to late-October and in coordination with the phase of the moon before Christianisation. This is based on later Icelandic conceptions of the beginning of winter, which was seen as between the 10th and 16th October in the Julian calendar, and between the 21st and 27th October after 1700, when the Gregorian calendar was adopted. This timing would be further consistent with the moving of Winter Nights to All Hallows.
The term vetrnætr is plural, suggesting it lasted several days.
The 13th century Valla-Ljóts saga references hinn þriðju veternætur (“the third Winter Night”) and the period is typically interpreted as having lasted three days.
The relationship with the phase of the moon has been suggested in light of early Germanic calendars, in which months corresponded to moons.
Pre-Christian customs
Blót, feasting and drinking
Blót often took place during Winter Nights celebrations, in which animals were sacrificed to the gods and their meat cooked and shared among those present. This was typically accompanied by ceremonial drinking of ale or mead. Óláfs saga Helga, for example, describes a blót at Winter Nights in which toasts were made to the Æsir, cattle and horses were killed and their blood was used to redden the pedestals that the images of the gods stood on in order to bring about a good harvest. Eyrbyggja saga similarly describes Snorri Goði holding an autumn feast to which he invited all his friends and where they drunk lots of ale. The hall was also decorated for the occasion with tapestries, possibly depicting mythical scenes. In the longer version of Gísla saga, a feast is held at Winter Nights to welcome winter and to blót to Frey. The shorter version instead references a vetrnáttablót (“Winter-Nights’ blót“).
Association with dísir
Some blót taking place at Winter Nights were specifically dedicated to the dísir, female supernatural beings often associated with fate. In Víga-Glúms saga, the dísablót coincided with a feast that all were expected to take part in. Þiðranda þáttr ok Þórhalls, found in Flateyjarbók, gives an account in which a special bull is killed in a blót at Winter Nights. That night, when a storm was taking place, nine dísir come riding to the home where the feast had taken place and kill a man named Þiðrandi who had gone outside, despite a spámaðr (“seer”) warning him not to. It is later explained in the saga that they took the life of Þiðrandi in place of offerings that they had expected to be given.
This time of year may also have been seen as a time in which female beings could give information about the future, including that those they came to were soon to die. In Gísla saga, for example, Gísli begins having dreams after the Winter Nights’ blót that foretell the future, including of two women who tell him his fate. Similarly, a skald gives a verse in Bjarnar saga Hítdælakappa describing how a dís appeared in a dream to him in autumn and told him he would die soon. This likely reflects pre-Christian ideas, closely resembling other women with close connections to deciding or telling the fates of humans. These include the nornir in Vǫluspá, ásynjur pouring blood over a farm in a dream of Víga-Glúm and the völva Þorbjǫrg lítilvǫlva in Eiríks saga rauða.
Sagas such as Vatnsdæla saga and Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu describe weddings taking place around Winter Nights. While this may partly be through the practicality of holding one feast for multiple events, it may also be linked with the prominence of the dísir at this time, who have been suggested to be connected to fertility and could be called upon to help with childbirth.
It has been further argued that winter had a particularly female aspect, in contrast to summer being more male. This would tie in with the role of the dísir at Winter Nights and may stem from people typically spent more time inside in the winter; the home was typically the responsibility of women and was the location of typically female activities such as spinning and weaving.
Games
The game Knattleikr is played at Winter Nights in texts such as Gísla saga and Eyrbyggja saga, while Víga-Glúms saga talks more generally of many kinds of sports and games being played.
Significance
The heathen Scandinavian year was likely split into two seasons, summer and winter, rather than four. Winter Nights therefore was positioned at a liminal point of transition into the dark, and more dangerous, half of the year.
Similar to Yule, this could correspond to an increased threat from supernatural beings, as in Þiðranda þáttur og Þorhalls.
Christianisation and later traditions
Incorporation into Christianity
Winter Nights likely was likely merged with All Hallows Mass or St Michael’s Mass during the process of Christianisation, as was the case with other heathen festival periods, such as the blending of Yule with Christmas. This is suggested by the Gulaþingslög, which enforces the brewing of ale at All Hallows Mass, which it notes took place after the time of the old Winter Nights, at the start of winter.
Supernatural visitations
It has been further suggested that the concept associated with Winter Nights of dangerous supernatural figures roaming the landscape may be reflected in modern Scandinavian Christmas traditions, in which this also takes place.
Specific sacrifices held at the beginning of winter during the Old Norse period were álfablót and dísablót. Of these, dísablót came to be a public sacrifice, according to the Ynglinga saga performed by the king of Sweden. By contrast, álfablót was a sacrifice held at each homestead separately for the local spirits, under the explicit exclusion of any strangers.[26]
Modern Heathenry
See also
- Samhain, a Gaelic festival taking place at a similar time
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
Primary
- Viga-Glums saga, with the tales of Ögmund Bash and Thorvald Chatterbox. Translated by McKinnell, John. Edinburgh: Canongate. 1987. ISBN 0862410843.
