large autumn feast and drinking

OLD NORSE

Annað haust eftir að veturnóttum hafði Snorri goði haustboð mikið og bauð til vinum sínum. Þar var öldrykkja og fast drukkið.

TRANSLATION

The next autumn, at/after Vetrnætr, Snorri goði held a large autumn feast and invited his friends. There was ale-drinking, and people drank heavily.

DIRECTLY ATTESTED:

Autumn; Vetrnætr dating; a large haustboð; invited friends; ale drinking and heavy drinking.

CONTEXTUAL:

The passage describes a social feast without explicitly naming a blót.

MY INTERPRETATION:

This is useful evidence that a Vetrnætr-dated gathering need not be described by the narrator as a sacrifice.

NOT ESTABLISHED:

That no ritual occurred simply because the passage does not mention one; that all Vetrnætr gatherings were secular.

QUOTED FROM:

Eyrbyggja saga, ch. 37; searchable Icelandic saga text.

FIND IT YOURSELF:

Search: Snorri goði haustboð or Þar var öldrykkja og fast drukkið.

TEXTUAL NOTE:

The phrase eftir að veturnóttum clearly places the event in relation to Vetrnætr. English renderings vary somewhat, so the Old Norse wording is retained rather than assigning more chronological precision than the phrase itself requires.

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