Old Icelandic calendar

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The old Icelandic calendar ( isl . Misseristal - "half year count ") goes back to the time of the Vikings . It was one of several calendar systems in use in Northern Europe .

Time calculation

The Vikings did not use an absolute year number system ( absolute chronology ), but referred to important or generally known events and calculated in "years (or winters) after ...", for example "four winters after the battle of Hafrsfjord " ( relative Chronology ).

It is thought that the first time the Icelandic Ari Þorgilsson in the 12th century tried the Nordic times by the method of the Anglo-Saxon historian Bede in his time accounting system to convert.

The age of a person was determined by the number of winter, he lived specified.

Seasons and months

The Icelandic calendar differentiated between two seasons, summer and winter , and divided the twelve months accordingly into winter months and summer months. Each month has 30 days. In order to compensate for the differences, four 'additional nights' (aukanætur) were switched on every year after the 'sunny month' (see below). A year therefore comprised a total of 364 days. However, there remained a discrepancy to the solar year, which always accumulated to a whole week and was accordingly inserted every 5–7 years as a 'summer supplement' (Sumarauki) after the additional nights.

The old names of the months are sometimes still used in Iceland today alongside the month names of the Gregorian calendar ( Janúar , Febrúar , Mars , Apríl , Maí , Júní , Júlí , Ágúst , September , October , Nóvember and Desember ).

Winter months

Month name translation Period / other
górmánaðr Slaughter month Beginning of winter; starts on Saturday between October 21 and 27
frermánaðr , Ýlir Frost month Starts on Monday between November 20th and 26th
jólmánaðr ,
mörsugr,
hrútmánaðr 		Julmond , Christmas
month, literally sebum,
Aries month		 starts on Wednesday between December 20th and 26th
þorri þorri is the name of a frost giant, literally probably the drought month (in Old Norse , winter was often referred to as drought) starts on Friday between January 19th and 26th
gói or góa Gói is the name of a frost giantess, (Góa probably indicates a winter flower, the word itself is probably from the origin 'old snow') starts on Sunday between February 18th and 24th
einmánaðr literally "one month" starts on Tuesday between March 20th and 26th

Summer months

Month name translation Period / other
gaukmánaðr ,
sáðtið,
harpa 		Gauch or cuckoo month,
sowing time,
 starts on Sumardagurinn fyrsti the Thursday after the 19th and is the first month of summer
eggtið ,
stekktið,
Skerpla 		Egg
time , time in which the lambs are separated from the ewes,
the name Skerpla, related to the adjective skarpur and the verb skerpa, indicates little vegetation. The word also exists as the name of farmsteads and probably indicates barren agricultural areas. 		starts on Saturday between May 19th and 25th
sólmánaðr ,
selmánaðr
Sunny month, summer month 		starts on Monday between June 18th and 24th
miðsumar ,
heyannir 		Midsummer,
hay month 		starts on Sunday between July 23rd and 29th
heyannir ,
tvímánaðr
Today month , two month 		starts on Tuesday between August 22nd and 28th
kornskurðarmánaðr ,
haustmánaðr 		Grain mowing month,
autumn / harvest month		 starts on Thursday between September 21 and 27

See also

literature

  • EG Richards: Mapping Time. The Calendar and its History . Oxford University Press, Oxford et al. 1998, ISBN 0-19-286205-7 , pp. 204f.
  • Svante Janson: The Icelandic calendar . In: Scripta Islandica , 62 (2010) pp. 51-104.

Web links