Winter Nights or Old Norse ''vetrnætr'' was a specific time of year in medieval Scandinavia. According to Zoega's ''Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic'', ''vetr-nætr'' referred to "the three days which begin the winter season". The term is attested in the narrative of some of the '' Fornaldarsögur'', mostly to express passage of time ("as autumn turned into winter"). ---- The exact term "winter nights" is not mentioned in the Ynglinga saga by

Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of the ...

where (in chapter 8) the three great sacrifices of the year are prescribed: Specific sacrifices held at the beginning of winter during the Old Norse period were

álfablót The Álfablót or the Elven sacrifice is a pagan Scandinavian sacrifice to the elves towards the end of autumn, when the crops had been harvested and the animals were most fat. Unlike the great blóts at Uppsala and Mære, the álfablót was a ...

and

dísablót The ''Dísablót'' was the ''blót'' (sacrificial holiday) which was held in honour of the female spirits or deities called '' dísir'' (and the ValkyriesThe article ''Diser'' in ''Nationalencyklopedin'' (1991).), from pre-historic times until ...

. Of these, dísablót came to be a public sacrifice, according to the Ynglinga saga performed by the king of Sweden. By contrast,

was a sacrifice held at each homestead separately for the local spirits, under the explicit exclusion of any strangers.

References

{{Reflist

Links

Early Germanic calendar Early Germanic festivals Germanic paganism Observances