Thorablot- A Midwinter Celebration
Its historical roots seem to have originated from the Orkneyinga saga. (1192-1206) This Saga of the Orkneys is said to be written down with a mixture of historical fact, Oral traditions, and perhaps some artistic license. There in, it is said the Kvens gave a mid winter sacrifice(Blot) to Thorri every year.
The more modern day celebration came about in the late 1900's Iceland. During a time when they were reconnecting to their folk, the root of who they are.
Mid-Winter is a great time to give thanks to the slayer of giants! The protector of man! The protector of Asguard!
Þorrablót activeties include sacrificial feast (blot) where the attendees recite poems, and speeches to honor Thor.
Now the traditional fair does deserve mention. While it is not something our american pallets would be familiar with, this traditional fare in the feast of Thor would make sense due to the festivals time of year.
By Mid-Winter the food stores wld be getting lower. They would use a fermented whey, mysa, to soak things like sheep heads and shark and rams testicles. This wld preserve them and soften up the tougher meat.
Some traditional fare if you are adventurous:
hákarl (fermented Greenland shark)
hrútspungar (rams’ testicles)
svið (singed sheep’s head: pictured below with traditional accompaniments of mashed potato and mashed beets)
sviðasulta (pieces of svið pressed into a gelatinous loaf)
hvalsrengi (whale blubber)
blóðmör (blood pudding)
lifrarpylsa (liver-suet sausage)
Or you can do as we will at my home and chose one of the OTHER traditional foods!
Like:
Smoked Lamb
Dried Fish
Or Dark sweet Rye Bread!
And a popular drink to wash it all down with?
That would be Brennivín!
An Icelandic Schnapps made of potato mash and flavored with caraway.
For our celebration in my home, we will be having Lamb stew, and sweet dark rye bread. We will give Blot to Thor. And make a place for him at our feast table. And we will read from the Eddas on some of Thors great adventures! We may even read a scripted story. And pass on our tales of the red bearded Jotun slayer in the oral tradition of our ancestors, story telling around the table over mead, (or around a fire weather permitting!) And physical games if the weather permits as well.
I hope you bring this Mid-Winter celebration into your home and community this year! It is good that we should honor Thor and give him this day of feasting and honoring!
I will publish a Blot to Thor in the blog section of Ravenfolk United as well. Feel free to use it as written or to modify it for you and your family, community.
Hail Thor!
