Towards the end of the Gísla saga Súrssonar, shortly before Gísli dies fighting his pursuers, he dreams of fighting a wolf-headed man. Considering the associations of wolves with psychopomps…a sign from Odin? These wolf warrior motifs often appear alongside images of Odin, and were often placed in burials.
“‘I dreamed,’ said Gísli, ‘that some men came upon us. Eyjolf was among them and many others. We confronted each other, and I know there was an exchange of blows between us. One of them came first, really howling, and I think I must have cut him in two at the waist. I thought he had the head of a wolf. Then many others attacked me. I felt I had my shield in my hand and that I fought them off for a long while.’”
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“‘I dreamed,’ said Gísli, ‘that some men came upon us. Eyjolf was among them and many others. We confronted each other, and I know there was an exchange of blows between us. One of them came first, really howling, and I think I must have cut him in two at the waist. I thought he had the head of a wolf. Then many others attacked me. I felt I had my shield in my hand and that I fought them off for a long while.’”
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The tiller from the Gokstad Ship, with some yellow paint still visible.
Winterfylleth was the Old English name for the winter equinox. According to Bede, the Anglo Saxons called the beginning of winter Ƿinterfylleþ, a term comprised of winter and full moon. The Germanic peoples only recognized summer (ON: Sumar) and winter (ON: Vetr), and the full moon of what would now be October marked the beginning of winter; the six months where the days were longer than the nights were counted as summer, and the other six as winter.
From the Sagas, Haustblót was observed at this time. In the Gísla saga Súrssonar, a feast and a sacrifice to Freyr on the Winter-Nights (Vetrnætr) is mentioned twice.
“Summer drew to a close and the Winter Nights began. In those days it was the custom to celebrate the coming of winter by holding feasts and a Winter Nights’ sacrifice. Gisli no longer sacrificed after he left Viborg, but he still held feasts and showed the same magnanimity as before.”
“Thorgrim decided to hold a feast at the end of autumn to celebrate the coming of the Winter Nights. There was to be a sacrifice to Frey, and he invited his brother, Bork, Eyjolf Thordarson and many other men of distinction.”
The Saga of Saint Olaf attested this practice enduring in Norway,
“As long as heathenism prevailed, Sigurd usually had three sacrifices every year: one on winter-night's eve, one on mid-winter's eve, and the third in summer.”
In the Ynglingasaga, Odin prescribed a sacrifice at the beginning of winter for a good year.
“On winter day there should be blood-sacrifice for a good year, and in the middle of winter for a good crop; and the third sacrifice should be on summer day, for victory in battle.”
Álfablót followed, being held at home with one’s family. The full moon is coming up this year on October 17th. Bledsian Ƿinterfylleþ!
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From the Sagas, Haustblót was observed at this time. In the Gísla saga Súrssonar, a feast and a sacrifice to Freyr on the Winter-Nights (Vetrnætr) is mentioned twice.
“Summer drew to a close and the Winter Nights began. In those days it was the custom to celebrate the coming of winter by holding feasts and a Winter Nights’ sacrifice. Gisli no longer sacrificed after he left Viborg, but he still held feasts and showed the same magnanimity as before.”
“Thorgrim decided to hold a feast at the end of autumn to celebrate the coming of the Winter Nights. There was to be a sacrifice to Frey, and he invited his brother, Bork, Eyjolf Thordarson and many other men of distinction.”
The Saga of Saint Olaf attested this practice enduring in Norway,
“As long as heathenism prevailed, Sigurd usually had three sacrifices every year: one on winter-night's eve, one on mid-winter's eve, and the third in summer.”
In the Ynglingasaga, Odin prescribed a sacrifice at the beginning of winter for a good year.
“On winter day there should be blood-sacrifice for a good year, and in the middle of winter for a good crop; and the third sacrifice should be on summer day, for victory in battle.”
Álfablót followed, being held at home with one’s family. The full moon is coming up this year on October 17th. Bledsian Ƿinterfylleþ!
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Another reference to Odin in the Gísla saga Súrssonar is that Gísli dreams of Vestein being attacked by a snake and then a wolf shortly before his death; two animals closely associated with Odin, as he takes the form of a serpent in the Skáldskaparmál.
“I dreamed the first night that a viper wriggled out from a certain farm and stung Vestein to death, and, on the second night, I dreamed that a wolf ran out from the same farm and bit Vestein to death. I have not told either dream until now because I did not want them to come true.”
Painting by Johannes Gehrts, 1885.
“I dreamed the first night that a viper wriggled out from a certain farm and stung Vestein to death, and, on the second night, I dreamed that a wolf ran out from the same farm and bit Vestein to death. I have not told either dream until now because I did not want them to come true.”
Painting by Johannes Gehrts, 1885.