Álfablót

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The Álfablót (old North, "sacrifice to the albums ") or elf sacrifice is a pagan Scandinavian sacrifice for the elves . It's by the old north. Literature survived in three cases. The first mention comes from the Austrfararvísur of the skald Sigvatr Þórðarson (also: Sighvatr Þórðarson, Sigvat Tordarson) from a trip to Sweden, which he had undertaken in autumn 1018. He says that he was turned away at several courts because the á. was held. The ironic description seems to indicate that he was not familiar with this victim from Norway. This is the only explicit mention of the á., But the Kormáks saga tells of a different kind of sacrifice to the albums, where the wounded Þórvarðr is recommended to pour the blood of a bull on a hill inhabited by albums and give them a meal of meat to prepare: according to the internal chronology of this saga, this event falls in the 2nd half of the 10th century, but the saga itself only came into being in the 1st half of the 13th century, so that this belief in a healing power of the Albums, if not at all fictional, can only accept for this time. The third mention refers to King Oláfr Guðrøðarson, who was buried after a good reign in Geirstad, who after his death was called Geirstaðaálfr by the population and was offered to the sacrifice (Ynglinga saga 48, 49); his great-great-grandfather King Hálfdan hvítbeinn is referred to in a stanza as brynjálfr, although this is to be regarded as a kenning and not a surname (Ynglinga saga 44). Even if nothing certain about the á today. is documented, it is still possible that albums (in contrast to the dwarfs) were dedicated to a certain cult.

Álfablót

The Álfablót was celebrated towards the end of autumn when the harvest was brought in and the animals were at their fattest. Unlike the big blóts in Uppsala and Mære , the Álfablót was a local homestead celebration and was mainly administered by the housewife. Nothing is known about the special rites as they were kept secrecy and strangers were not welcome in the homesteads during the celebrations. However, since the elves were collective forces with a close connection to ancestors and fertility, it is possible that the Álfablót concerned ancestor worship and the life force of the family. It also appears that Odin was implicated and that the master of the house was called Ölvir in administering the rites. The first syllable of Ölvir means "beer," which was an important element in the Norse pagan sacrifice. There is a remarkable report ( Austrfararvísur ) about the ceremony of the Norwegian skald Sigvat Tordsson .

Austrfararvísur

Sigvat Tordsson reported on his trip to Sweden in his Skaldic poem Austrfararvísur . Sighvatr Sturluson and his companions had been sent on a diplomatic mission to Skara in Västergötland to meet Jarl Ragnvald Ulfsson , but they had not yet reached their destination and had to find night quarters. After a strenuous journey, Sighvatr and his companions arrived at a farm called Hof, which is likely to be identified with today's Stora Hov near Edsvära in Västergötland. They expected to be received according to the laws of hospitality, but the door remained closed. Sighvatr had to stick his nose into a narrow opening to present himself, but the household people refused, saying that the place was sacred. Sighvatr replied that the trolls should take them and went on to the next homestead. On the next farm he met a woman who told him to go away and said, “Don't go any further, unhappy man! We are afraid of Odin's wrath; we are pagans! ”Then she chased him away as if he were a wolf and said that they had the elf sacrifice on the farm. They tried three more times to find a place to rest, but each time they were chased away by men who called themselves Ölvir. Then they decided to find the man who was supposed to be the most hospitable man in the district. The last man just scowled at her and called the man the "guardian of the pickaxe". Sighvatr said that if this man was the "best man," the worst man must have been really bad.

Kormáks saga

In the Kormáks saga there is an account of how sacrifices were made to the elves in order to heal a battle wound. In contrast to the sacrifices Sigvatr described, this appears to have been a sacrifice that could have been made at any time of the year:

Hún segir: “Hóll an er héðan skammt í brott er álfar búa í. Graðung þann er Kormákur drap skaltu fá og rjóða blóð graðungsins á hólinn utan en gera álfum veislu af slátrinu og mun þér batna. "

Hún says: “There is a hill there,” she replied, “not far from here, where elves have their favorite place. Now get the bull that Cormac killed and redden the outside of the hill with his blood and make a feast for the elves with their flesh. Then you will be healed. "

literature

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b c d e Mats G. Larsson: Götarnas Riken: Upptäcktsfärder Till Sveriges Enande. Bokförlaget Atlantis AB, 2002, ISBN 978-91-7486-641-4 .
  2. ↑ a b c G. Steinsland, P. Meulengracht Sørensen: Människor och makter i vikingarnas värld. 1998, ISBN 91-7324-591-7 .
  3. ↑ Sigvatr Þórðarson: Austrfararvísur In: hi.is accessed on December 6, 2017. ("Gakkattu inn", kvað ekkja, "armi drengr, en lengra. Hræðumk ek við Óðins, erum heiðnir vér, reiði.")
  4. ↑ Kormáks saga In: snerpa.is accessed on December 6, 2017.
  5. ↑ Chapter 22, What the Witch Did for Them in Their Fights, in an English translation called "The Life and Death of Cormac the Skald" ( Memento of January 7, 2007 in the Internet Archive )