The festivities of the Vikinga era
Introduction
The ancient Vikings had what is commonly known as a pagan religion. This means that they had a religion that was not one of the primary religions such as Christianity, and did not recognize those religions or their belief systems. It was common for pagan religions to believe in many gods instead of one. The Vikings had their own form of religion as such, that he adjusted to this idea and, as such, was based on their various gods, goddesses, giants and mythical beliefs. What is important to know before continuing is how little we really know about viking beliefs, rituals and other activities related to their gods.
Developing
The greatest form of information we have about the Vikings comes from Codex Regius, which translated means ‘book of kings’ and other documentation that was not written until the Vikings and Scandinavians became Christianity about two centuries later. The additional information also comes from the poetic age contained in the Codex Regius, which is a collection of poems and ancient Nordic stories that cover many Nordic mythological stories and practices. Of these ancient documents we have links and references to the ancient Nordic beliefs and their pagan acts.
Below I show you the most famous Viking festivities among the many they had. It is impossible to put them all, since every god and goddess had their ritual to which every Vikingo who will need the help of that specific god to need. The Freyfest and Lammas Festival, the name Lammas comes from an Anglo -Saxon pagan festival that was Christianized by force. The name (from Hlaf-Mass, ‘Loaves Festival’) implies that it is a Thanksgiving party for bread, which symbolizes the first fruits of the harvest. The pagans mark the party baking a figure of the God Freyr in bread, and then symbolically sacrificing and eating it.
Once again, no purely pagan name has survived for this festival, which takes place in early August, since this was the time when the first fruits of the harvest were brought to the church as gifts;since this was taken from pagan custom. In the English and German tradition, the first sheave was often tied and blessed as an offering to pagan deities or the spirits of the field at the beginning of the harvest, just like the last sheave was in the end. The English popular custom also includes the decoration of wells and springs at this time.
conclusion
In today’s paganism, the party is considered especially sacred for Freyr as a god of fertility. Thor as a god of harvest and his wife Sif, whose long golden hair can be seen in the wavy mature grain fields. The warriors who had gone to fight at the end of the planting season returned at this time, loaded with the spoils of a summer and ready to harvest the crops that had matured while they were out. Loaf-Feast is the end of summer holidays, the beginning of an era of hard work that lasts the next two or three months, while we prepare for winter.
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