Welcoming winter and sacrifice to Freyr

OLD NORSE

Þorgrímr ætlaði at hafa haustboð at vetrnóttum ok fagna vetri ok blóta Frey … Drykkja skyldi vera at hvárratveggja…

TRANSLATION

Þorgrímr intended to hold an autumn feast at Vetrnætr, to welcome winter and sacrifice to Freyr … Drinking was to take place at both gatherings.

DIRECTLY ATTESTED:

An autumn feast; Vetrnætr; fagna vetri (“welcome winter”); sacrifice to Freyr; substantial gatherings; drinking.

CONTEXTUAL:

Ritual activity occurs within a larger social gathering involving hospitality and invited guests.

MY INTERPRETATION:

This is strong evidence that Freyr could be sacrificed to at Vetrnætr and that welcoming winter was explicitly associated with the occasion in this textual tradition.

NOT ESTABLISHED:

That every Vetrnætr observance involved Freyr, sacrifice, or an identical form of celebration.

QUOTED FROM:

Gísla saga Súrssonar, ch. 15; Björn K. Þórólfsson and Guðni Jónsson, eds., Vestfirðinga sǫgur, Íslenzk fornrit VI (Reykjavík, 1943), pp. 50–51

FIND IT YOURSELF:

Search: fagna vetri ok blóta Frey; alternatively haustboð at vetrnóttum.

TEXTUAL NOTE:

Another version of the saga gives substantially different wording at the corresponding point. It is treated separately as VET-002.

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