A wedding scheduled at Vetrnætr

OLD NORSE

Þorsteinn gekk þá til Skafta, ok keyptu þeir svá, at brúðlaup skyldi vera at vetrnáttum at Borg, ef Gunnlaugr kæmi eigi út á því sumri…

TRANSLATION

Þorsteinn then went to Skafti, and they agreed that the wedding should take place at Vetrnætr at Borg if Gunnlaugr did not return to Iceland that summer…

DIRECTLY ATTESTED:

A wedding is explicitly scheduled at Vetrnætr; Vetrnætr functions as an intelligible calendrical date.

CONTEXTUAL:

The surrounding narrative later refers back to the wedding as expected at vetrnóttum.

MY INTERPRETATION:

This is strong non-ritual evidence for Vetrnætr as a practical calendrical reference.

NOT ESTABLISHED:

Any blót or religious activity associated with the wedding merely from its date.

QUOTED FROM:

Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu, chs. 9–10; Íslenzk fornrit III, p. 82 is cited in scholarship for the agreement.

FIND IT YOURSELF:

Search: brúðlaup skyldi vera at vetrnáttum at Borg

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