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Winter Nights (Old Norse: vetrnætr) was a specific time of year in medieval Scandinavia, held 28 days after the autumn equinox. 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 first day of weather was believed to set the course for the rest of the winter, for example snow during the event would mean a snowy winter. It would usually be marked with a leaf-less (defoliated) tree.[1]
The exact term "winter nights" is not mentioned in the Ynglinga sagabySnorri Sturluson where (in chapter 8) the three great sacrifices of the year are prescribed:[2]
Þá skyldi blóta í móti vetri til árs, en at miðjum vetri blóta til gróðrar, hit þriðja at sumri, þat var sigrblót. |
There should be a sacrifice at the beginning of winter for a good year, and in the middle of winter for a good crop, the third in summer day, that was the sacrifice for victory. |
Specific sacrifices held at the beginning of winter during the Old Norse period were álfablót and dísablót. Of these, dísablót came to be a public sacrifice, according to the Ynglinga saga performed by the king of Sweden. By contrast, álfablót was a sacrifice held at each homestead separately for the local spirits, under the explicit exclusion of any strangers. [3]
