About
Þorri is a midwinter month in the old Icelandic calendar, personified in folklore as a figure of frost and hard weather. A medieval sacrifice called Þorrablót is mentioned in a few late sources, but the feast as it is known today was revived in the nineteenth century and became a popular Icelandic mid-winter celebration from the mid twentieth century. Some link the name to Thor, though this is uncertain.
Customs
- Gathering for a communal midwinter feast with family, friends or neighbours
- Serving traditional preserved Icelandic foods, the kind once needed to survive the winter
- Singing, speeches, poems and good-humoured toasts
- Welcoming Þorri as a guest, as described in later folk accounts
- For modern heathens, raising a horn to Thor and to the endurance of winter
Food
- Hangikjöt (smoked lamb)
- Rye bread (rúgbrauð)
- Dried fish with butter
- Hákarl (fermented shark) for the brave
- Skyr
A simple ritual
- Set the table with a winter meal, even a simple one of bread, butter and smoked fish or meat.
- Light a candle in a safe holder at the centre of the table.
- Raise a cup of something you enjoy and welcome Þorri and the rest of the winter.
- Thank Thor, if you honour him, for strength through the dark months.
- Share a story, song or poem with those at the table.
- Pour a little of your drink outside for the land, then put out the candle.
Never leave candles or fires unattended, and keep them away from pets and children.
Who is honoured
- Thor The Thunderer, protector of gods and people