Travel during vetrnáttaskeið

OLD NORSE

Þeir Óspakr fóru af Ströndum um vetrnáttaskeið ok höfðu tvau skip mikil. Fóru þeir inn fyrir Strandir ok síðan norðr yfir Flóa til Vatnsness.

TRANSLATION

Óspakr and his men left Strandir during/about the Vetrnætr period and had two large ships. They travelled inward along Strandir and then north across the bay to Vatnsnes.

DIRECTLY ATTESTED:

vetrnáttaskeið is used simply to date travel.

CONTEXTUAL:

No feast, sacrifice, or ritual is attached to the expression in this passage.

MY INTERPRETATION:

This is clean secular chronological evidence that the compound could function as an ordinary seasonal locator.

NOT ESTABLISHED:

Any religious meaning for vetrnáttaskeið in this passage; an exact duration.

QUOTED FROM:

Eyrbyggja saga, ch. 60; searchable normalized text on Heimskringla.no.

FIND IT YOURSELF:

Search: fóru af Ströndum um vetrnáttaskeið

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