Old Scandinavian festivals

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The events (markets, etc.) and pagan religious celebrations in early Scandinavia and Iceland are treated as Old Scandinavian festivals .

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There are hardly any sources about the execution of the celebrations. The Edda and Skald poems provide extensive mythological material, but say little about how a ritual was performed. The saga literature offers a little more in this area, but is of rather dubious source value. The fact that the sources on the rites are so scarce may be due to the fact that the written tradition was hindered by the church and therefore the rites were forgotten when the sagas were written, while the mythological material could still be processed poetically. But archeology and name research give some more insight. In addition, the comparative phenomenology of religion can provide insights, since similar types of society have similar types of religion. The folk religion is characterized by a decentralized cult, the lack of a specialized cult leader and the equality of men and women in carrying out cult acts. In addition, place names and more recent legal texts with their prohibitions on certain cult activities give information about the rituals. However, there are no precise descriptions. It is not possible to tell how a funeral went in detail.

Public festival locations

At the central thing and cult sites, markets were held, religious ceremonies and legal acts were carried out during the gatherings. In pre-Christian times such central places were in Denmark Viborg, Odense, Ringsted, Lund, and Gudme on Funen, in Sweden Uppsala, Strängnäs, Skara, Linköping, Västerås and Enköping. For Norway, such a connection between cult and market is documented for Borg , and Iceland is not at all, but it is between the Ting meeting and market. This may also be due to the extremely poor sources. The fixed-time markets - there were also permanent or weekly markets, especially for food - were held at the time of the cults of the gods. B. on January 7th, the later St. Knuds Day, and also included large feasts, which is why they were also called "Drikting" (drinking meeting). In the course of the 15th century, this festival, which was also called "Snapsting", was held on the "20th Day after Jul “= January 13th relocated. Another fixed date was St. John's Day, which was closely related to the summer solstice. In Norway, Borg in Lofoten is a well-known central place of worship.

Archaeological research has shown a long development of the sacrificial festivals in the Scandinavian region, from large collective sacrificial ceremonies to cult at the seat of the ruler or chief. In the period from the 3rd to the 6th centuries, traditional sacrificial ceremonies took place through the laying down of large quantities of weapons and prisoners of war in areas with lakes. From the 6th century, bracteates and pieces of gold were deposited at the dwellings of those in power, and these sacrifices were dedicated to him. Some researchers see this as a radical change in belief, which was of greater social importance than the later change to Christianity. In addition, private blóts took place at the farms of the large farmers.

The blót

The great public festivals took place on the boundaries of the quarters of the bound lunar year. In contrast to the Christian celebrations, it was about holy feasts. The guests usually brought the food with them. Consecrated meat from sacrificial animals and blessed mead or beer were consumed. The sources testify that intoxicating beverages had special powers. In the Hávamál it says:

hvars þú oil drekkir,
kjós þér jarðar megin,
því at jörð tekr við Ölðri ...

When you drink beer,
wish the earth strength,
the earth accepts the drink ...

Beer and mead were festive drinks. In daily life one drank water or milk or a mixture of both. Beer could not be stored. Therefore it was only brewed for festivities.

Mead was made from honey. It could be stored, but it was very expensive because honey was only available in small quantities. The special power of mead is also explained in the Sigrdrífumál :

Allar vóro af skafnar
þær er vóro á ristnar,
ok hverfðar við inn helga miǫð
ok sendar á v´ða vega;
þær ro með ásom,
þær ro með álfom,
sumar með vísom vǫnom,
sumar hafa menzkir menn.

All [runes] were scraped,
which were carved,
and with the Holy Met stirred together
and sent on long distances;
they are with the sir,
they are with the albums,
some with wise Vanes,
some have the human men.

The full cup went from hand to hand around the table, having been consecrated by an act of blessing to Odin for victory and then to Njörðr and Freyr . With the onset of intoxication, the men received divine inspiration. There were also “souvenir cups” for the deceased. These were not passed around, but everyone drank their own horn. In addition, there was the “Bragafull”, with the drink of which one made a vow for a heroic deed still to be accomplished. For this a large boar was brought into the room, and the vow was sealed by laying a hand on the boar.

Through this common feast the table community was connected with each other and with the gods. There was a cult formula for the common drink: "Til árs ok friðar" (For (a good) year and peace). The peace that was invoked here was harmony within the clan and with the gods. The word was also related to fertility. The animals should multiply, the grain should grow and humans and animals were in good health. In the past, this formula was considered to have emerged late under Christian influence. But Anders Hultgård has shown that this formula can already be found in pre-church sources, so that it is a very old cult formula. A silent pious devotion while the drinking horn circled, as we know it from the Christian Last Supper, did not occur, as the description of a disablot in the Egils saga shows (see below).

Family celebrations

For family celebrations, the word "Øl" was often used instead of "Blót". The word "Øl" in Norwegian not only meant beer, but also "feast". The beginning of the life was the " Barnsøl " (child's beer), then came " Brudeøl " (bridal beer) and at the end " Gravøl " or " Arveøl " (funeral beer, inheritance beer), in between often " Festensøl " (festival beer). The "frælsis øl" (release beer), which the released slave kept and which determined the future relationship with his previous master, had special legal significance. The freedman had to brew a certain amount of beer and formally invite his freedman with a fixed number of guests.

Fixed dates

See main article Old Scandinavian Calendar and the list of Germanic-Neo-Pagan Holidays

Time had a mythical dimension. It was created by the gods after the Völuspá by regulating the course of the sun and moon. Thus time and the calculation of time also had cultic significance. The celebrations were linked to the lunisolar calendar of the time. The basis of the fixed calculations were: The bound lunar year, the anchoring in an eight-year cycle, the winter solstice as the decisive criterion as to whether a leap month was to be inserted and that the first July moon always had to shine at the time of the winter solstice. This pre-church calendar formed the basis of the ritual festivals as well as the economic and legal organization.

The main celebrations were apparently the beginning of the shifted year quarters instead, and these were: the "Winter Nights" (vetrnætr, between 11 July and 17 October in July ), the "midwinter" (between 9 July and 16 January. July ), the "early summer" (9. between July and April 15. July ) and the "Midsummer" (between 13 July and 20 July July ). Three of them were fixed dates. The earliest account of this can be found in the Ynglinga saga by Snorri Sturluson :

"Þá skyldi blóta í móti vetri til árs, en at miðjum vetri blóta til gróðrar, it þriðja at sumri, þat var sigrblót"

“One should celebrate the festivals at the beginning of winter for the annual growth, at mid-winter for the harvest and for the third time at the beginning of summer. This is the victory festival. "

But the three festivals are also mentioned several times in the Ólafs saga helga. The feast of midwinter nights (between July 9th and January 16th July ) is most frequently mentioned in the early literature , probably because this was the pre-church lunisolar New Year in contrast to the pre-church astronomical New Year, which was determined by the winter solstice. This midwinter festival was also called "Disablot" (festival of the Disen) and was probably dedicated to fertility goddesses. The god Freyr is often mentioned in this context .

The festival Midsummer is mentioned much less frequently, and in Agrip states that the feast for in Christian times Johannisfest had been converted.

While this information is assessed as unreliable in research, it seems to be certain that important thing meetings took place on this date, gulathing , frostathing and the Althing in Iceland.

In the bound lunar year , the lunar month periodically drew nearer and closer to a fixed date in the solar calendar. In the old Scandinavian calendar, the July moon began with the first appearance of the crescent moon after the winter solstice. The distance between the winter solstice and the first appearance of the crescent moon changes from year to year. After 19 years, the distance is the same again ( golden number ). This 19-year cycle was possibly also of importance for the old Scandinavian festivals. Even Diodorus attributes the Hyperboreans :

“Apollo comes to the island every 19 years, that is, at the time when the stars [sun and moon] return to the same position; ... "

-

The mention of the presence of a god after the cycle is over indicates the religious significance. However, apart from the rather legendary report by Diodorus, there are no sources that indicate a 19-year cycle for Scandinavia. There are indications that at least towards the end of the Germanic Iron Age (375–650 AD) an eight-year solar annual cycle was used for the festivals. This lunar cycle over eight solar years contained exactly 99 lunar months to within one and a half days.

The sources mainly speak of a nine-year cycle. In chap. 25 of the Ynglinga saga it is said that every ten years King Aun sacrificed one of his sons to Odin to extend his life for another ten years. After sacrificing nine sons, his subjects prevented him from sacrificing his tenth and last son. And so he died. This episode is also mentioned in the Historia Norwegiæ and another source, with the exception that the victim was carried out every nine years. There are many indications that this period is the older. Thietmar von Merseburg deals with the main festival of sacrifices in Lejre on Zealand and the festival of sacrifice in Uppsala described by Adam von Bremen . He wrote at the beginning of the 11th century, but the last festival of sacrifice in Lejre was held under King Henry the Pious in 934. Thietmar reports:

"Est unus in his partibus locus, caput istius regni [Lederun nomine, in pago, qui Selon dicitur], ubi post VIIII annos mense ianuario, post hoc tempus, quo nos theophaniam Domine celebramus, omnes convenerunt, et ibi diis suimet LXXXX [et VIIII] homines et totidem equos, cum canibus et gallis pro accipitribus oblatis, immolant, pro certo, ut predixi, putantes hos eisdem [erga inferos] servituros et commissa crimina [apud eosdem] placaturos. "

“In that country, Leire is the capital of their kingdom in the Gau Seeland; here they came together every nine years in January after the day on which we celebrate the apparition of the Lord, and offered 99 people to their gods, and as many horses, dogs, and cocks (instead of hawks) as a bloody sacrifice; they considered it certain, as I said, that they would be of service to the subterranean and that they could please them after their crimes ”

- Chronicon I, 17th

The interval of nine years is also mentioned by Adam von Bremen when describing the festival of sacrifice in Uppsala:

"Omnibus itaque diis suis attributos have sacerdotes, qui sacrificia populi offerant. Si pestis et fames imminent, Thor ydolo lybatur, si bellum, Wodani, si nuptiae celebrandae sunt, Fricconi. Solet quoque post novem annos communis omnium Sueoniae provintiarum sollempnitas in Upsola celebrari. "

“They have assigned priests to all their gods to offer sacrifices to the people. When disease and hunger threaten, the idol is given thor. When disease and hunger threaten the Wodan, a wedding should be celebrated, the Frikko. Every nine years in Upsala there is also a common festival for all Swedish tribes. "

- Adam von Bremen: Bishops history of the Hamburg church. 4th book chap. 17. Translation by Werner Trillmich.

Research interprets the text to mean that there was an annual sacrifice festival in Uppsala, but a particularly lavish one every ninth year. But apart from Thietmar no one reports of 99 sacrificial animals in Lejre, and some assume that this information is probably wrong for the following reasons.

The special meaning of the number “nine” in the nine-year cycle (and also with the number of sacrificial animals) cannot be reconciled with the lunar cycle, according to which the Disting was also determined. After several unconvincing attempts at harmonization, Otto Sigfrid Reuter developed an explanation that has become generally accepted today. According to him, it is actually an eight-year cycle. He found that there were two ways of dealing with ordinal numbers . Today, the expression “every ninth year” is based on the exclusive approach: 1–9, 10–19, 20–29, etc. For that time, however, the inclusive approach is also proven: 1–9, 9–18, 18–27 etc. This inclusive treatment still lives on today when the expression “in eight days” means the end of the seven-day week, and in the church calendar at the octave that ends after seven days. The festival cycle in Uppsala would have been the ancient eight-year cycle, and Thietmar could have been misled by the number “nine”. On the other hand, the eight-year cycle consists of 99 lunar months, so Thietmar's statement is not completely implausible. Adam von Bremen describes in a subsequent Scholion (No. 141) to his representation of the festival of sacrifice in Uppsala that they celebrated nine days and sacrificed one person and one of the other animals each day, so that in the end 72 living beings were sacrificed . In view of the cultic meaning of the “nine”, which is well documented, only eight living beings were sacrificed daily and thus the number 72 came about, is considered very unlikely. Rather, preference is given to the thesis that the flowing designation of the periods of time - sometimes inclusive, sometimes exclusive - justifies the fact that the celebration lasted only eight days, which would fit the time cycles, and nine living beings were sacrificed every day. Nordberg points out that at that time the day was counted from evening to the next evening and says that it is about the eight evenings / nights that are enclosed by nine days. The waiting time of eight days or nights plays a large role in initiations , sacrifices and rites before the wedding, before the event takes place on the ninth day.

The Yule Festival

Prokop writes about the island of Thule that the sun does not shine there for 40 days and that the residents celebrate a big festival when the sun comes back and this time comes to an end. In the 17th century people thought it was the Yule Festival. The description can at most refer to an area far north of the Arctic Circle. It is also not certain whether it is news from residents of Germanic descent or from Sami that reached Procopius, so that great care must be taken to connect this description with the Yule Festival.

Snorri reports on Yule:

"Hann setti þat í lögum at hefja jólahald þann tíma sem kristnir menn, ok skyldi þá hverr maðr eiga mælis oil, en gjalda fé ella, en halda heilagt meðan jólin ynnist. En áðr var jólahald hafit Hökunótt, þat var miðsvetrar nótt, ok haldin þriggja nátta jól. "

“He ( Håkon the Good ) gave a law that from now on the Yule Festival should be held at the same time as the Christian Christmas festival. Everyone should brew a certain amount of beer or pay a fine in some other way, and he should keep the time sacred while the beer lasted. Before that, the Yule Festival had started on midwinter, and then Jul was celebrated for three days. "

- Saga Hákonar góða chap. 15. Translation by Felix Nieder. With him chap. 13.

The midwinter nights were four weeks after the winter solstice, during Snorri's lifetime around January 13th July . On the other hand, the beginning of the July month before the winter solstice is attested in the calendar, and Bede also places the “night of the mothers” (modranect) in this time. But in the Anglo-Saxon area of ​​that time, calculations were based on the lunar months, and there were two months called "Giuli" and in the Scandinavian area the two months Ýlir – Jólmánuðr. The winter solstice was in the middle of this period. However, since the months in a lunar year shift compared to the solar year, the winter solstice cannot always have been exactly between the two months, but only after an eight-year cycle. The winter solstice was an astronomical fixed point in relation to the moving July months of the lunar calendar. The other fixed point were the midwinter nights, which were linked to the solar year-bound weekly calculation and lay four weeks after the winter solstice. In this way, the midwinter nights always came to be in the second month of July, and with it the Yule Festival. However, it is not clear from the sources whether the festival was celebrated on the new moon or on the full moon.

According to these specifications, one can roughly determine the time of the Yule festival. The remaining error rate has the following causes: 1. The winter solstice in the Gregorian calendar is sometimes on December 21st, sometimes on December 22nd. But for the bill you have to choose a date. 2. The astronomical lunar month lasts 29.59 days. You have to take 29 or 30 days for the bill. 3. To simplify matters, take 15 days for a half-month. 4. In the pre-ecclesiastical era, the day was calculated from evening to the evening of the following day; in Gregorian calculations, the day counts from midnight to midnight. The error range that results from this is at most a few days.

The winter solstice is assumed to be December 21 for the following calculation. The 2nd July moon begins with the appearance of the first crescent moon afterwards, i.e. no earlier than December 22nd and no later than January 19th. If the Yule Festival was a multi-day festival that reached its climax with a full moon, it was between January 5th and February 2nd. The midwinter nights that Snorri assumes were around January 13th during his lifetime . = January 20th Greg. and thus in the middle of the period of the full moon in the second month of July.

The Disting

The Disting was a spring assembly in Uppsala. Disting was followed by disablot. The disablót was held throughout Scandinavia, usually as a private celebration without a previous meeting. It didn't always take place in spring either. From chap. 44 of the Egils saga shows that the Disablót in Atløyna was celebrated in autumn at the time of the new moon; for he accompanies Ölvir to collect basic taxes that had not been paid in the spring. When Egill leaves the festival hall, it says: "Þá var niðamyrkr úti." (There was new moon darkness outside.)

The Disen had a pronounced fertility aspect and assisted with childbirth. Thus it says in verse 9 of the Sigrdrífumál:

Biargrúnar skaltu kunna,
ef þú niarga vilt
ok leysa child frá komom;
á lóf <a> ær shall rista
ok of liðo spenna
ok biðia þá dísir duga.

You should be able to rescue runes
if you want to rescue
and remove the womb of women;
they should be scratched on the <palm>
and tightened around the joints
and then asked to help.

These were supernatural female beings that cannot be identified, perhaps Norns or even Freya himself, at least women who are closely linked to fertility. Since Adam von Bremen mentions lewd songs at the festivities in Uppsala and the large popular assembly was called “Disting” there, it is assumed that the Blót in Uppsala was dedicated to Freyr as well as the Disen.

Snorri provides different times for the Disting in Uppsala. In the Ynglinga saga he writes in chapter 38 of a Swedish whole thing in Uppsala in "midwinter" ("var þat at miðjum vetri"). In the saga Ólafs hins helga he writes:

"Í Sv´þjóðu var það forn landsiður meðan heiðni var þar að Höfuðblót skyldi vera að Uppsölum að gói."

"In Sweden it was an old custom, as long as the country was pagan, that the main blood sacrifice should take place in the month of Gói in Uppsala."

- chap. 77. Translation by Felix Niedner.

The month “Gói” followed the month “Torre” and this followed the month of July. This time seems to be the more credible one. It was evidently a matter of the Disting, of which Adam von Bremen also writes in his Scholion 141: "Hoc sacrificium fit circa aequinoctium vernale." (This sacrifice takes place around the spring equinox). He also writes in Chap. 21 that the public assembly among the Swedes is called "warh, warph, warc, warch" or "true" depending on the copyist of his text. This is the Swedish word "vår" = spring. The month of Gói, which Snorri calls, extended in Snorri's time according to the Julian calendar used in Iceland from mid-February to mid-March. The spring equinox was at the time of Adam of Bremen on March 15th July . If the disting took place on the full moon, the following calculation results in relation to the Gregorian calendar:
The first month of July was the month in which the moon shone over the winter solstice. It was followed by the second month of July, followed by “Torre” and then “Gói”. If the winter solstice fell on December 21st, the second month of July could begin on December 22nd at the earliest and Gói on February 19th at the earliest and March 20th at the latest. The corresponding full moon had to shine between March 5th and April 3rd. The spring equinox cited by Adam von Bremen is on the 21st / 22nd. March Greg. , so exactly at the full moon in the middle of the month "Gói".

Snorri now writes in Chap. 77 further that the solid after the introduction of Christianity on Candlemas had been transferred. That is certainly incorrect. Because in his time the Disting was determined according to the full moon in the lunar calendar. The determination of the light mass of Mary as a fixed date of the Gregorian calendar did not take place until 1801. But Snorri came to Västergötland in 1219 when the relevant full moon was shining on February 1st. That could have led Snorri to make the wrong statement. In addition, in the early Middle Ages, attempts were made to rename the Distingsmonat and the Distingsmarkt as Lichtmessmonat and Lichtmessmarkt, but this did not succeed. Another explanation could be that the disting rule according to Olaus Magnus was that the disting should begin on the first full moon after the first appearance of the crescent moon after Epiphany, which is the case between January 21 and February 19. February 2nd is exactly in the middle.

Baptismal font of Bårse Church with the mention of the golden number in the runic text on the bottom line.

Snorri's statement “after the introduction of Christianity” refers to a process that is estimated to be several hundred years old today. This time can be understood to mean that the shifting of the distinction to the time of Candlemas, when the sacrifice celebrations in Uppsala ceased and Uppsala lost its importance as a pagan place of worship. The post quem terminus for the postponement must be seen as the 1070s, as Adam von Bremen was still describing the pagan cult for Uppsala at this time. In the middle of the 12th century the first stone church was built in Old Uppsala and documents from 1141/1142 name Bishop Sigwardus as the first bishop of Uppsala. In this interim period, the king moved his residence from Old Uppsala to Aros, today's Uppsala. At this time, the Julian calendar was introduced, which is the prerequisite for the Disting to be linked to the Epiphany. In ecclesiastical computistics , Epiphany is the starting point for establishing Easter, Lent, Pentecost and other festivals. The Easter date shifts according to the golden number of the lunar calendar within an interval of 19 years. The oldest evidence of the use of the golden number in Scandinavia is in runic writing on a baptismal font in Bårse Church in Zealand from the 13th century, a calendar stick from Nyköping from the same period and an Old Gutnian calendar from 1328.

Due to the fact that in the Middle Ages the markets and ting times were linked to the church festivals, which in turn are based on the cycle of the golden number, this 19-year cycle was indirectly relevant for these events. While the other ting and market times in the country gradually took place on a specific date in the calendar of the church year, in Uppsala the termination of general disting, which was linked to the full moon of the lunar calendar, survived. But the calculation of the dates according to the golden number showed a gradually increasing error compared to the astronomical full moon times. In the 13th century, the astronomical date for the full moon was three days before the date calculated using the golden number. As in the pre-ecclesiastical period, the date of the Disting in Uppsala was determined after the astronomical full moon. Since the determination of the time for the disting was tied to the Epiphany of the Julian calendar, the rule of Olaus Magnus could not have been formed before the middle of the 12th century, as the Julian calendar was only introduced at this time.

This change in the date setting from originally the month of Gói three months after the winter solstice on Epiphany also led to the shifting of the beginning of the month Torre, the second month after the winter solstice, to the first new moon after Epiphany. This means that the Distingsmarkt, which was held in the pre-ecclesiastical time on the full moon in the month of Gói, was stipulated in the early Middle Ages that it took place at the time of the full moon in the lunar month of Torre. In the 19th century, in some areas of central Sweden, the name Torre fell out of use in favor of other common names such as Disa, Dis -month and Distingsmonat.

Midsummer bloom

The news about a midsummer bloom is very sparse and questionable. It was celebrated between the end of spring labor and the hay harvest. Processions with green branches and sacrifices at the springs for a good summer are said to have been common. Midsummer fires may also have occurred. But there is no source of evidence of an official midsummer festival. From the Frostathingslov it emerges that a private feast was customary on St. John's Day. But neither a maypole nor a midsummer pole is mentioned in the Viking Age sources. They seem to have been taken over from Germany late. Snorri writes in Chap. 67 of his Óláfs ​​saga Tryggvasonar that human sacrifices used to occur at larger festivals.

Autumn leaves

In Chaps 10 and 15 of the Gísla saga Súrssonar , the autumn leaf at the time of winter nights is mentioned, which was dedicated to Freyr. The aforementioned disablót in the Egils saga was also an autumn bloom . However, no further details have been handed down.

In chapter 44 of the Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar , an autumn blót is described in the royal court on the island of Atley (today Atløyna before the mouth of the Dalsfjord). On the evening of the disablot, Egill comes to the large farmer Barð. He apologizes for not having any beer in the house. Later in the evening the king arrives, there is a party in the hall, and the beer flows freely.

Private parties

In addition, there were many local saints on whose feast day festivals were celebrated.

Álfablót

As a private festival of sacrifice, the Álfablót (Elfenblót) is mentioned in one place for Värmland . We know next to nothing about him. It was local and run by women, and strangers were not allowed in. Since it was dedicated to the elves as omnipresent powers and it was run by women, it is believed that it was about ancestors and fertility. The only news of the festival is from Sigvat , the skald of Olaf the Holy . The skald makes a trip east early in winter, and then the following happens to him:

"Þá kom hann að öðrum garði. Stóð þar húsfreyja í durum, það hann ekki ðar inn koma, segir að þau sættu álfablót. "

“Then he came to another farm. If the housewife stood in the door saying he wasn't allowed to come in, she said the elf sacrifice was being held. "

- Heimskringla. Saga Ólafs hins helga chap. 91.

The time indicated "early in winter" should have been midwinter nights.

Þorrablót

Almost nothing is known about the old Þorrablót, which was revived in Iceland in the 19th century and is still celebrated today. It is said to have been celebrated by the legendary king Þorri in winter, which is why the first month after the second month of July was given the name Þorri. But it is neither known when and how it was celebrated, nor whether there was any tradition for it.

Völseblót

For northern Norway, the Völseblót (phallus festival; vǫlsi = penis of the horse for slaughter) in the Flateyjarbók is handed down for the winter nights : At dinner the horse phallus is removed from a box in which it is wrapped with leeks, herbs and linen and passed around, and everyone has to recite a sexual verse or sing such a song. Between the contributions, the sacrificial formula "Þiggi mörnir / þetta blæti ..." (accept, Mörnir, accept this sacrifice ...). The ritual is led by the housewife. The age of this custom and the meaning of the word "Mörnir" are controversial. The Flateyjarbók was written at the end of the 14th century, but the text looks ancient and is therefore believed to be much older.

On the other hand, it could also be a medieval burlesque representation of a pagan custom designed to ridicule paganism.

“Mörnir” is interpreted as the Jötunnweib (giantess) to whom this Blót is consecrated. Since the horse was sacred to Freyr, the phallus could symbolize it and represent the ritual of a hieros gamos between Freyr and a giantess. Recent research has turned its attention more to the giants. They were powerful forces and represented the iron grip of winter and had to be worshiped at certain times. The penis was kept wrapped in leeks and linen. A scraper made of bones with 5th century runes was found north of Bergen; "LinalaukaR" (linen and leek). The scraper was safely used to clean the animal skin at slaughter. The leek was given preservative power and symbolized the masculine, the linen symbolized the feminine.

See also

literature

  • Grethe Authén Blom: "Marked (Norge)" in: Kulturhistorik leksikon for nordisk middelalder . Vol. 11. Copenhagen 1966. Col. 452-453.
  • John Granlund: "Disting" in: Kulturhistorik leksikon for nordisk middelalder . Vol. 3. Copenhagen 1958. Col. 115-116.
  • Sam Owen Jansson: “Rules of Distinction” in: Kulturhistorik leksikon for nordisk middelalder . Vol. 3. Copenhagen 1958. Col. 112-115.
  • Magnús Már Lárusson: "Marked (Iceland)" in: Kulturhistorik leksikon for nordisk middelalder . Vol. 11. Copenhagen 1966. Col. 453-455.
  • Sven Ljung: "Marked (Sverige)" in: Kulturhistorik leksikon for nordisk middelalder . Vol. 11. Copenhagen 1966. Col. 448-452.
  • Andreas Nordberg: Jul, disting och förkyrklig tideräkning. (PDF; 2.1 MB) Kalendrar och kalendarisk riter i det förkristna north . Uppsala 2006.
  • Britt-Mari Näsström: Fornskandinavisk religion. En Grundbok . Lund 2002, ISBN 91-44-02223-9 .
  • Great stone country: Norrøn religion. Myter, riter, samfunn. Oslo 2005, ISBN 82-530-2607-2 .
  • Orla Vestergaard: "Marked (Danmark)" in: Kulturhistorik leksikon for nordisk middelalder . Vol. 11. Copenhagen 1966. Col. 445-448.
  • Kustaa Vilkuna: "Marked (Finland)" in: Kulturhistorik leksikon for nordisk middelalder . Vol. 11. Copenhagen 1966. Col. 455-456.

Explanations and individual evidence

  1. ↑ Steinsland p. 270.
  2. ^ Vestergaard Sp. 445.
  3. ↑ a b c Steinsland p. 269.
  4. ↑ Ljung Sp. 449.
  5. ↑ Vestergaard Sp. 446.
  6. ↑ So z. B. Charlotte Fabech: “Society and landscape. From collective manifestations to ceremonies of a new ruling class. ”In: Hagen Keller et al. (Ed.) Iconologica Sacra. Myth, visual art and poetry in the religious and social history of ancient Europe. Festschrift for Karl Hauck on his 75th birthday. Berlin 1994, ISBN 3-11-013255-9 , pp. 132-143 and Ulf Näsmann: Liv og död. Sydskandinaviska grav- and offerriter from 200 till 1000 e.Kr. In: Jens Peter Schjødt et al. (Ed.): Myte og ritual i det førkristne Norden. Odense 1994. ISBN 87-7838-053-7, pp. 73-94.
  7. ↑ Ólafur Briem: Eddu kvædi Reykjavík 1968. points out to verse 137 that the entire verse is unclear, but describes a home medicine, so that it could be a cure through vomiting.
  8. ↑ Steinsland p. 277.
  9. ^ Sigrdrífumál Strofe 18. Klaus von See et al.: Commentary on the songs of the Edda . Vol. 5. Heidelberg 2006, ISBN 3-8253-5180-7 , p. 587.
  10. ↑ Steinsland p. 278.
  11. ↑ Friðar is related to "frilla" = concubine, lover.
  12. ↑ Steinsland p. 279 with reference to Walter Baetke.
  13. ↑ Anders Hultgård: Old Scandinavian sacrificial rituals and the problem of sources . In: Tore Ahlbäck (ed.) The Problem of ritual . Åbo 1993, pp. 221-259.
  14. ↑ On the Skadeberg stone (Stavanger Museum) from the Viking Age from Sola in Rogaland it says: The participants of the drinking community (Ølhúsmenn) erected this stone after Skarðe when they were drinking his arveøl.
  15. ^ Konrad Maurer: Old Norse State and Judiciary . Vol. I, Leipzig 1907, p. 105 with reference to § 61 ff. Of Gulathingslov .
  16. ↑ a b Nordberg p. 85.
  17. ↑ Nordberg p. 100.
  18. ↑ What is meant is victory over winter.
  19. ↑ Nordberg p. 77.
  20. ↑ Nordberg p. 77 f.
  21. ↑ Book 2, chapter 47 . Translated by Julius Friedrich Wurm.
  22. ↑ Nordberg p. 79.
  23. ↑ Translated by Werner Trillmich. In the Monumenta Germaniae Historica the quotation is 1. Book Ch. 9
  24. ↑ Nordberg p. 82.
  25. ↑ Nordberg p. 82 lists the authors in footnote 250.
  26. ↑ Otto Theodor Ludwig Sigfrid Reuter: Germanic sky studies. Studies on the history of the mind . Munich 1934, p. 483 f. After Uwe Puschner:  Reuter, Otto Theodor Ludwig Sigfrid. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 21, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-428-11202-4 , pp. 465-467 ( digitized version ). Reuter (1876–1945) was a “ethnic religious ideologist”. It could be thanks to this fact that his explanation of the number nine was not received until the 1990s.
  27. ↑ Nordberg p. 82 fn. 251 lists the more recent approving works.
  28. ↑ Nordberg p. 86.
  29. ^ Adam of Bremen, Episcopal History of the Hamburg Church. 4th book, Scholion to chap. 27.
  30. ↑ In the Svenska akademiens ordbok the lemma “Disting” says: “benämning på den urgamla marknad med i ä. Tid äfv. i viss mån judiciell karaktär… som årligen under åtta dagar Hölls i Uppsala i göjemånad ”(name of an ancient market with a judicial character in the past, which was held in Uppsala in the month of Göj (month after the month of July)) for eight days.
  31. ↑ Nordberg p. 90.
  32. ↑ Nordberg p. 96.
  33. ↑ a b Nordberg p. 101 does not name the exact place in Prokop.
  34. ↑ Nordberg p. 103.
  35. ↑ Nordberg p. 105.
  36. ^ Sigrdrífumál Strofe 9. Klaus von See and others: Commentary on the songs of the Edda . Vol. 5. Heidelberg 2006, ISBN 3-8253-5180-7 , p. 563.
  37. ↑ Näsström p. 223.
  38. ↑ Nordberg p. 107.
  39. ↑ Nordberg p. 108.
  40. ↑ Nordberg p. 109.
  41. ↑ a b Nordberg p. 111.
  42. ↑ Nordberg p. 112.
  43. ↑ Nordberg p. 113.
  44. ↑ a b Nordberg p. 114.
  45. ↑ Nordberg p. 116.
  46. ↑ Näsström p. 224 f.
  47. ↑ EF Halvorsen: "Þorri" in: Kulturhistorisk leksikon for nordisk middel alder . Copenhagen 1976. Sp. 396.
  48. ↑ a b Steinsland p. 351.
  49. ↑ a b Steinsland p. 352.
  50. ↑ Gro Steinsland and Kari Vogt: Aukinn ertu Uuolsi ok upp um tekinn. En religionshistorisk analyze av 'Völsaþáttr' in Flateyjarbók. Arkiv for nordisk filologi 96. 1981, pp. 87-106 even think that this phallic cult was handed down for almost 1000 years.