The Juleblót and old Rituals in Nordic Religion

The sun 10th December 2011

December month is a very busy month. We are preparing for Christmas, we have candlelight and decorations in each room of the house, we gather family and friends for good food and drink. This is the greatest common celebration of the year. Next week is solstice and the return of the light - we are happy with the coming of the light, we are moving forward to spring and summer, but to the ancient ones this time of the year was crucial. The Nordic people celebrated juleblót and sacrificed to the gods to secure peace and fertility.

sacrifice from the Illerup findings, Moesgård Museum.

Corn shouts

The Nordic people celebrated feasts like the juleblót. The blót in itself was a very important type of ritual, both in the public and the private cult. The basic meaning of the word blót is to strengthen. In the Viking period the main meaning of the word was to sacrifice - the gods were given strength via the sacrifices. Many place names and archaeological findings can be interpreted as rests from sacrifices.The slaughter sacrifice is most commonly known in the Sagas, but corn must also have been a common sacrifice.  Also valuables of gold and silver were sacrificed. In times of crisis like war, epidemics and famine, were weapons and other valuable objects  sacrificed - and archaeological findings prove that human sacrifice was performed in times of crisis.  The rituals in the feasts of the private cult were mainly parallel to the rituals in the public cult. But it is difficult to decide what is private and public cult in the yearly blót feasts and in the rituals of crisis.

The Sun Horse, Mindeparken

The Nordic religion was a religion of the people, which main function was to secure the survival and regeneration of society. The cult was primarily connected to the local society and the family, although there is witness about great national religious feasts. The chiefs took care of the cult in the local area. In each farm it was the father of the family who was the leader of the celebrations - and in the whole country it was the king.
In pre-christian time there was no term like the religious term of today. What came closest was the term sidr, which means customary or custom. The change of religion at the arrival of Christianity was called nýr sidr (= new custom), and the traditional religion was called forn sidr (= the custom of the forefathers). The gravity in the pre-christian religion was the religious praxis, the sacred actions, the rituals and the worship of the gods.

Amulet with Thor's Hammer

Some Saga stories have remnants of pre-christian rituals.  Snorre Sturlasson tells about the Christian Norwegian king Hakon the Good, who was one of the first Christians in Norway. He tried to avoid taking part in the heathen feasts. According to tradition it was the king's job to lead a special blót in the autumn. Horse meat was served at this feast, and Hakon could not take part, for it was not allowed Christians to eat horse meat. The king tried to get away from the feast together with his Christian friends, but was forced to go back into the hall, where he was placed in the seat of honour. When the beer was served an uproar was in the making, since the king, instead of invoking Thor, made the sign of the cross over the beer. The uproar was prevented, when one of the king's followers said that the king had signed the beer to Thor by making a sign of the hammer. After this happening the king lost many supporters. The following year the king was forced to take part in a heathen feast in Trøndelag, where he had to eat the sacrifical meat, and where he must not sign the beer with the cross. This story was often used as a remnant from the role of the ruler as the leader of the cult.

country road 10th December 2011

cult house, Tulstrup

Although the sources are not unambigious there were probably three yearly calendar feasts with a blót. These feasts were celebrated in special seasons. The first was called at sumri (towards summer) and was consegrated to Odin, this was a sacrifice for good wind of the ships and their expeditions, for victory or for the luck of the king, since the summer was a season of trade journeys and expeditions. The second yearly blót was the harvest feast, a fertility feast, consegrated to Frej, while the third was the midwinter feast jul in the month ylir, which was between winter solstice and the middle of January. The purpose of the midwinter feast was to overcome the cold and darkness, and the important feature was the common meal, where especially the pig was the center. The name of this feast has survived to our days as jul together with a few of the rituals. The ceremonial common meals in connection to the blót feasts are mentioned in several sources , they are some of the best described ritual forms. Aside meals with food and drink there were scenes with masked dancers, playing instruments while singing and dancing.

Stone for animal sacrifice?

cult house, Moesgård

In the big yearly feasts it was obviously obligatory for each inhabitant to take part. Food and drink had an important place in the rituals, and the feast was considered a means to maintain the harmony between gods and humans, so the gods continually could sure the fertility of  humans. The sacrifice of animals was the central element and the consumption of the meat in a common meal was the central element in the blót feast. The gods were given lard and blood and the humans got the meat. To rjóda = to dye red is seen in many sources. This was a  sprinkling of objects and people with the blood using special twigs. A blótfeast was like a communion sacrifice (advent), since the gods as a symbol took part in the common meal and was given a part of the same sacrificed animals as the humans. The feast was usually arranged as a "bottle party",where each participant was obliged to bring the necessary food and drink. Chiefs and princes could instead use generosity and hospitality in connection to the blót as a means to increase their prestige and influence.

figure in Gravlev

Several written sources recounts about statues depicting gods. Usually they are described as humanlike, or sometimes more like wooden sticks with  a face carved in the top. After the change of religion the possession of such statues was forbidden and severely punished. Although the detailled rituals are not fully known, it is possible to form a picture of some rituals and religious actions via an interpretation of surviving relics. The combination of common solemn feasts and markets was widely spread in many cultures all through history. In a society with difficult communication they used the possibility of doing several things at the same time - there was often both the judicial Thing, a market, a court and large cult feasts at the same place and at the same time. Adam of Bremen describes the blót feast and the sacred place in Uppsala from the 11th century, and this is the most wellknown source of pre-christian religion rituals in Sweden.

Midvinterblót, Gamla Uppsala, painting by Carl Larsson, Sweden

Gamla Upsala was one of the last bastions of the old religion in Middle Sweden, and it was still of great importance when Adam wrote his report. He describes a magnificent temple, golden all over, with depictions of the three most important gods. The most prominent was Thor in the middle, on one side he had Odin and on the other Frej, Adam tells that Thor reigned the sky, where he ruled over the rain, the wind and the thunder, and he secured good weather for the harvest. He had a scepter in his hand. Odin was the god of war and courage, his name meant the furious one, and he was depicted as a warrior. Frej was the god of peace and physical satisfaction, and he was depicted with a large fallos. Each god had his own priests, and people sacrificed to the god whose help they wanted right now. Thor was invoked in famine and sickness, Odin in order to gain victory and Frej for fertile marriage.

A few of the ancient rituals are similar to ours. The ancient people of the North were celebrating midwinter and solstice and the return of light with sacrifice of the animals and a common meal. We still slaughter the pig and gather family and friends for a common meal - and our sacrifice might be the presents we give on Christmas eve.

Viborg Cathedral

It's winter solstice and the coming of the light this week in the northern Hemisphere. Each day will bring a little more light, and we are looking forward to spring and summer. But first we are celebrating Christmas in every way, meeting with family and friends in a common meal. Thousands of years ago families were celebrating a similar feast. We are far away from the ancient people and yet so close.   
 





See post from December 2009 about: Winter Solstice.

 
 photos 2002-2011: grethe bachmann

Winter Solstice in the Ancient North

Latin: Solstice = Standing-still-sun.
Danish: Vintersolhverv, Solhverv from Old Norse: hverfa = vende (turn).

The winter solstice marks a crucial part of the natural cycle. In a real sense, the sun begins to renew its journey toward longer days, times of new growth and renewal of the world once again. In a spiritual sense, it is a reminder that in order for a new path to begin the old one must end and that spring will come again. No one is really sure how long ago humans recognized the winter solstice and began heralding it as a turning point - a day that marks the return of the sun. The ancient fear was that the failing light would never return unless humans intervened with celebrations.

According to ancient belief people thought that everything fastened would loosen in the moment the sun turned at winter solstice. It was strictly forbidden to do some work which required to turn round something.

Poskær Dyssen, Djursland
In old times the evening of dec. 21. was called Mother's Night and the feast Jólablot (Christmas Ceremony) began. This big blót or feast was held for several days. The number of days varies from source to source and the days have presumably adjusted to regional circumstances, since the feast lasted, until all the brewed mead had been consumed. In Olaf Haraldsson's Saga is described, how two brothers-in-law spent half Christmas in one brother's house and the other half in the other's. People went Christmas visiting like people do today (jólavist), and they had Christmas lunch (jólabod). The purpose of the days of Christmas was to celebrate a fertile and peaceful (jólafridh) year.
When king Olaf's skjald Sigvard in the beginning of the 11th century was on a travel in Norway and Värmland, he experienced that people sacrificed to the elves; they were also worshipped in connection to winter solstice, which from ancient days was a feast for the deceased. The elf cult might have been a death cult, but there are some disagreements among experts about this theory. In several sources is mentioned that the elves lived in hills, and most legends about the underground elves are connected to burial mounds or to places of executions, and maybe also where murders had been committed.

Yggdrasil (Old Norse) The World's Tree, Yggdrasil ("Odin's Support") was the link between the humans upon Mother Earth and the ancestors/the gods in Heaven. It is the ash tree - because of the production of "honey dew" for mead - which is considered to be the World's Tree. During the celebration of winter solstice (jólahald) , a pine was until 1810 used as an outdoor Christmas tree/ World's Tree.



The winter solstice, also known as Midwinter, occurs around December 21 or 22 each year in the Northern hemisphere, and June 20 or 21 in the Southern Hemisphere. It occurs on the shortest day or longest night of the year, sometimes said to astronomically mark the beginning or middle of a hemisphere's winter. The word solstice derives from Latin, Winter Solstice meaning Sun set still in winter. Worldwide, interpretation of the event varies from culture to culture, but most hold a recognition of rebirth, involving festivals, gatherings, rituals or other celebrations. Many cultures celebrate or celebrated a holiday near the winter solstice; examples of these include Christmas, Hanukkah,Kwanzaa, New Years, Pongal, Yalda and many other festivals of light.

The solstice itself may have remained a special moment of the annual cycle of the year since neolithic times. This is attested by physical remains in the layouts of late Neolithic and Bronze Age archeological sites like Stonehenge and New Grange in the British Isles. The primary axes of both of these monuments seem to have been carefully aligned on a sight-line framing the winter solstice sunrise (New Grange) and the winter solstice sunset (Stonehenge). The winter solstice may have been immensely important because communities were not assured to live through the winter, and had to be prepared during the previous nine months. Starvation was common in winter between January to April, also known as the famine months.

In temperate climates, the midwinter festival was the last feast celebration, before deep winter began. Most cattle were slaughtered so they would not have to be fed during the winter - it was nearly the only time of year when a supply of fresh meat was available. The majority of wine and beer made during the year was finally fermented and ready for drinking at this time. The concentration of the observances were not always on the day commencing at midnight or at dawn, but the beginning of the pre-Romanized day, which falls on the previous eve.



photo Mindeparken/Poskær stenhus: grethe bachmann

Poskær Stenhus, Mols, East Jutland

Stone Age

Poskær Stenhus

In the hilly landscape at Mols in East Jutland lies the dolmen 'Poskær Stenhus', one of the prettiest and most wellknown dolmens in Denmark. It was built in Stone Age about 3.300 years ago and was probably a common burial and cult place for the settlements of the area.

'Poskær Stenhus' is Denmark's largest circular dolmen. The hexagon burial chamber consists of five big supporting stones. The entrance points to the East and the burial chamber is surrounded by 23 (once 24) big granite boulders in a circle.

Investigations showed that the cover stone is a socalled 'twin stone', the half part of a huge enormous granite boulder, brought to Denmark by the ice during the last Ice Age about 15.000 years ago. The other half is placed in the dolmen 'Grovlegaardsdyssen' about 2 km north east of Poskær Stenhus.

A legend says that once a troll family lived in the dolmen. The troll's wife offered for free to spin yarn for the wife in the nearby farm if she could guess her name. One evening the farmer's wife heard the troll's wife sing to her child, using the name 'Hottetejlil', but when she the next day called the troll's wife by her name the co work stopped.

A typical reflection on such big stone plans is that they were established in poportion to the stars and their movements. In similar plans in England , Scotland and Ireland the sun shines by winter solstice directly into the burial chamber by sunrise.

Winter SolsticeWinter Solstice has been celebrated in cultures the world over for thousands of years. This start of the solar year is a celebration of Light and the rebirth of the Sun. In old Europe, it was known as Yule, from the Norse, Jul, meaning wheel.Today, many people in Western-based cultures refer to this holiday as "Christmas." Yet a look into its origins of Christmas reveals its Pagan roots.

Emperor Aurelian established December 25 as the birthday of the "Invincible Sun" in the third century as part of the Roman Winter Solstice celebrations. Shortly thereafter, in 273, the Christian church selected this day to represent the birthday of Jesus, and by 336, this Roman solar feast day was Christianized. January 6, celebrated as Epiphany in Christendom and linked with the visit of the Magi, was originally an Egyptian date for the Winter Solstice.

Most of the customs, lore, symbols, and rituals associated with "Christmas" actually are linked to Winter Solstice celebrations of ancient Pagan cultures. While Christian mythology is interwoven with contemporary observances of this holiday time, its Pagan nature is still strong and apparent. Pagans today can readily re-Paganize Christmastime and the secular New Year by giving a Pagan spiritual focus to existing holiday customs and by creating new traditions that draw on ancient ways.

Poskær Stenhus

photo december 2007: grethe bachmann