Midwinter is the middle of the winter. The term is attested in the
early Germanic calendars.
Attestations
Midwinter is attested in the
early Germanic calendars, where it appears to have been a specific day or a number of days during the winter half of the year. Before the adoption of the church calendar, the date of midwinter may have varied due to the use of a
lunisolar calendar
A lunisolar calendar is a calendar in many cultures, combining lunar calendars and solar calendars. The date of Lunisolar calendars therefore indicates both the Moon phase and the time of the solar year, that is the position of the Sun in the Ea ...
, or it may have been based on a week system tied to the astronomical
winter solstice. In the medieval
Icelandic calendar
The early Germanic calendars were the regional calendars used among the early Germanic peoples before they adopted the Julian calendar in the Early Middle Ages. The calendars were an element of early Germanic culture.
The Germanic peoples had nam ...
it was the first day of
Þorri Þorri () is the Icelandic name of the personification of frost or winter in Norse mythology, and also the name of the fourth winter month (mid January to mid February) in the Icelandic calendar.
In the '' Orkneyinga saga'' (written in the 13th ce ...
, the fourth winter month, which corresponds to the middle of January in the
Gregorian calendar. According to
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 ...
's ''
Heimskringla'' ( 1230), the pre-Christian holiday
Yule was originally celebrated at midwinter, but in the 10th century, the king
Haakon the Good moved it to the same day as
Christmas, about three weeks earlier.
Beginning in the 18th century, the term midwinter has sometimes been misunderstood as synonymous with the winter solstice.
See also
*
First day of summer (Iceland)
The first day of summer ( ) is an annual public holiday in Iceland that is celebrated on the first Thursday after 18 April (some time between 19-25 April).
It is a celebration of the start of the first summer month () of the old Icelandic calen ...
*
Midsummer
*
Midwinter Day
Midwinter Day, or Midwinter, is an annual celebration held across Antarctica on the day of the southern winter solstice (June 20 or 21). It is the continent's primary cultural holiday and, along with Antarctica Day, is one of two principal Anta ...
References
Citations
Sources
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Further reading
* {{cite book , last=Bø , first=Olav , author-link=Olav Bø , chapter=Midvinter , title=Kulturhistoriskt lexikon för nordisk medeltid , language=Swedish , volume=11
Winter
January observances
Early Germanic calendar