Autumn ball games during vetrnáttaskeið

OLD NORSE

Þat var siðr Breiðvíkinga um haustum, at þeir höfðu knattleika um vetrnáttaskeið undir Öxlinni suðr frá Knerri … ok sóttu menn þangat um alla sveitina. Váru þar gervir leikskálar miklir. Vistuðust menn þangat ok sátu þar hálfan mánuð eða lengr.

TRANSLATION

It was the custom of the Breiðvíkingar in autumn to hold ball games during/about the Vetrnætr period below Öxl … people came there from throughout the district. Large game-halls were built there. People stayed there and remained for half a month or longer.

DIRECTLY ATTESTED:

Autumn; knattleikar during vetrnáttaskeið; district-wide attendance; purpose-built halls; participants could remain for half a month or longer.

CONTEXTUAL:

The half-month duration describes the gathering/stay, not necessarily the lexical duration of vetrnáttaskeið itself.

MY INTERPRETATION:

This is exceptionally useful evidence for vetrnáttaskeið as a broader seasonal frame within which extended activities could occur.

NOT ESTABLISHED:

That Vetrnætr itself lasted half a month; that these games were a blót.

QUOTED FROM:

Eyrbyggja saga, ch. 43; searchable normalized text on Heimskringla.no. The passage is also quoted in recent scholarship on Old Norse temporal terminology.

FIND IT YOURSELF:

Search: knattleika um vetrnáttaskeið
Alternatively: sátu þar hálfan mánuð eða lengr

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