šš„Nordic Holidaysš„š
Let me start off by clarifying that these are the Norse holidays I personally celebrate. I have it split up into major holidays(holidays I try not to miss aka major holidays) and minor holidays(Smaller celebrations, I might not even celebrate these, etc.). This information will vary from person to person, you can celebrate whichever holidays however you want! Enjoy ~Ā
JĆ³l otherwise known as Yule/Yuletide is a Nordic holiday celebrated between sundown on the Winterās Solstice for a following twelve days(now you know where the Christians got it). It is also duringĀ JĆ³l that the Wild Hunt takes place, ĆĆ°inn rides out with his dead, elves, or the dwarves may ride out across Midgard. Seeing the Hunt was thought to bring famine, plagues, and war but offerings of food and gifts could be left out for blessings and prosperity.Ā JĆ³l was said to mark the return of Baldr from Helheim and the loosening of grip of winter of the Earth.
There numerous references to JĆ³l in the sagas including SkĆ”ldskaparmĆ”l, Heimskringla, and poetry written by the skald Eyvindr SkĆ”ldaspilli which when translated reads:
āagain we have produced Yule-beingās feast [mead of poetry], our rulersā eulogy, like a bridge of masonryā. Most of these references testify to JĆ³l being celebrated with blĆ³ts, feasting with family, drinking, gift giving, and dancing.
To be more specific, you can celebrate the twelve days of JĆ³l by being hands on in your devotion! This was traditionally a time of year that was largely devoted to baking, finishing the mead making process, and hand making decorations and offerings to the heathen home and gods!! There was typically at least one julbord(feast) and an animal sacrafice.Ā
For example, straw animals in the shape of goats(ĆĆ³rr), stars, boars(Freyr), horses, and ravens(ĆĆ°inn) were made and hung up around the house or a JĆ³l tree! Yessss, that was something that German immigrants brought over to the U.S. The JĆ³l tree was traditionally a tree outside that was decorated and offerings were left at in honor of Yggdrasil! You can also make wreaths, garlands, and woven rugs or wall hangings!Ā
The first night of JĆ³l is typically called the Mothernight, this was in honor of the All Mother Frigg and the Disir. The first night(the longest night) is supposed to be symbolic to the rebirth of the world from winter. This is the perfect night to start on some weaving or crafts! Frigg is known for her weaving.
DisablĆ³t was a sacrificial holiday(blĆ³t) in honor of the female deities, women, disir and valkyries. Itās purpose was to enhance the upcoming harvest and prepare the grounds for sowing.Ā
Ā It is mentioned in Hervarar saga, VĆga-GlĆŗms saga, Egils saga and the Heimskringla. ThisĀ celebration still lives on in the form of an annual fair called the Disting in Uppsala, Sweden(I really want to go to this). Thereās a lot of debate to when the holiday was originally celebrated because the sagas all are slightly different. However, it is currently celebrated at the end of February by Sweden!
It was around this holiday that the first furrows were plowed in the fields and that there was a feast of new beginnings.
Nordic folk customs would include getting ready for the gardening season, preparing for the gardening/farming season ahead, and making a feast for your loved ones and female deities you work with.
SigrblĆ³t also known as Ostara is the celebration of the spring equinox and welcoming good weather. It is a celebration of the rejuvenation of the earth, fertility, and growth.
This is a holiday often used to celebrate the Germanic god Äostre, the embodiment of springtime and life, IĆ°unn, god of youth and renewal, and Frigg/Freyja, for their key elements in fertility magic. Is more commonly seen in modern days as a celebration of theĀ renewal/awakening of the Earth(JƶrĆ°), the deities, and life. It is also a celebration to welcome joy and light into oneās life.
Nordic folk custom would include a large bonfire, smorgasbord(as always), baking sweets, and honoring the gods mentioned above or ones important to you this holiday.
Midsummer is probably the second biggest celebration next to JĆ³l. It is pretty much just the celebration of the summer solstice and can also be celebrated in hopes of a good harvest at the end of fall.Ā
This holiday is attested to in the Ynglinga sagas and has long been a passed down celebration. Folk custom for celebrating would be large bonfires, speeches, smorgasbord, dancing around aĀ majstĆ„ng(traditionally for fertility), lots of drinking, and galdr. This is another holiday with a lot of hands on folk tradition; wreath making, kindling fires, making toy viking ships of wood and filling them with offerings to be burned, burning corn figures, adorning homes, halls, and the fields with fresh flowers and greenery.
A lot of of historians believe this is a particularly good time of year to make blessings to Baldr. This was also the time of year for sailing and war. With crops planted at home, vikings would set off to go to other lands.Ā
My favorite holiday!! There is no actual surviving name for this beast but itās believed to be held around the star of August and most modern Norse pagans celebrate it on August 1st. TheĀ ĆlĆ”fs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta has an account of a priestess of Freyr traveling across Sweden at the start of winter with a picture of his god as a sacrifice for fertility and to honor him. Traditionally itās a celebration of the first harvest where the primary god honored is Freyr with Sif and ĆĆ³rr also celebrated as gods of harvest.
Traditionally the very first sheaf of grain harvested(I use my first bundle of lavender) is bound and blessed as an offering to the aforementioned deities and spirits of the field.
Folk customs include decorating the village well and springs, holding a grand feast of the gathered harvest, and baking a bread in honor of Freyr to give him at the end of and then plit among family. Preserving meats and vegetables was also done along this time of year and is a great time to start new batches of mead for upcomingĀ blĆ³ts.
This is the celebration of the Autumn Equinox, the second harvest of the season, and when Norse folk would start preparing for winter by bringing livestock + stored food inside. It is referenced to in the Ynglinga sagas as well as the Eddas. Itās not as celebrated in modern times but farmers and agriculturalists still celebrate it and you can too!!
It is another joyous holiday celebrated with grand bonfires, large feasts, drinking, and dancing. It is believed that villagers would cast the bones of their slaughtered cattle on the flames to help them survive the winter.
There is a belief that once the village fire and all other fires were extinguished the families would go back their homes and light their hearth from the common village flame, bonding the community! I donāt know if this true but Iāve heard the story a few times and I honestly love the idea of it.
Otherwise known as Winters Night(or Samhain). This is the celebration of the last harvest, honoring of the landvƦttir, ancestors that protected the land through harvest, the vanir, paying respects to Death, and the welcoming of winter.Ā VetrnƦtr andĀ ĆlfablĆ³t are celebrations of the same holiday but ĆlfablĆ³t is a blĆ³t thatās held privately in the home on the day of VetrnƦtr.Ā Ā
Similar to Freyrfeast, for VetrnƦtr the last sheaf of wheat/grain was bundled up and blessed and often given as an offering to ĆĆ°inn and his dead setting out for the Wild Hunt. It was believed with the start of the Wild Hunt the dead could return to the places where they had lived and a large feast, celebration, and fire were commonly used in their honor.Ā
This was also a time for serious contemplation of death. To the Norse people, death was always around the corner and was viewed as a natural part of life. Death wasnāt viewed as negatively as it is in modern times but rather the Norse lived their lives in a way to live & die with honor, so their future ancestors would have something to celebrate on this day.
ĆlfablĆ³t in particular was typically run by a woman but weāre past gender norms now so whoever is comfortable running a ritual do it. It is a sacrifice to Freyr and the elves of Alfheim, in honor of the families ancestors, the life force of the family and the hearth, and is believed to also be a ritual for fertility. It is done the night of VetrnƦtr.Ā Ā
These are not necessarily minor, they are just not holidays that I always keep up on, donāt celebrate, days of remembrance, etc. There are definitely more Scandinavian holidays Iām not including because Iām not knowledgeable on them all and theyāre not as widely celebrated(like celebrating Flag Day in America).
January 14 - ĆorrablĆ³t is an Icelandic midwinter feast in honor of Ćorr which contains song, story telling, and traditional Icelandic foods like blĆ³Ć°mƶr and Brennivin.
February 2 - Barri is the celebration of the union between Freyr and Gerd and a celebration of fertility and the earth.
February 9 - Remembrance for Eyvind Kinnrifi, he refused to convert to Christianity soĀ Olaf Tryggvason tortured him to death.
March 28 - Ragnar Lodbrok Day! Cheers to one the most legendary Vikings in history, King of Denmark and Sweden, and raider of Paris.
April 31st-May 1stĀ - Waluburgis Night, a celebration of the saint Valborg a nun who was the niece of Saint Boniface.Ā
May 9 - Remembrance for Gudrod of Gudbrandsdal, whose tongue was cut out by the Norwegian king āSt. Olafā for speaking out against the tyranny of the Christian Tryggvason, and urged others to resist him and continue worshiping the old gods.Ā
May 20 - Frigg BlĆ³t! This actually a fave but itās not really major so Iām keeping it down here. Itās a celebration of warmth and spring. Traditionally the time of year to go camping, hold a bonfire, and perform a blĆ³t for Frigg and honor her as the All Mother, pray for good blessings and health to those of your hearth.
June 8 - Lindisfarne Day: Itās believe that on this day in 793 CE three Viking ships raided the Isle of Lindisfarne which is marked as the start of the Viking age.
July 9 - From the Laxdaela Saga, it is a day of Remembrance for Unn the Deep Minded, she was well-known and respected cheiftan in Iceland.
October 8 - Day of Remembrance for Erik the Red, founder of Greenland.
October 14 - VetrablĆ³t is a celebration of the harvest and honors Freyja as the god of fertility and honors the disir as well.
November 11 - Feast of the Einherjar, a holiday where the fallen heroes of all the halls(Valhalla, Fensalir, etc.) are remembered.
November 27 - Feast of the winter and hunt godsĀ Ullr and Skadi, also a day to celebrate Weyland one of the greatest Germanic craftsmen.
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