However, the Old Saxon equivalent of the Norse word "Disir" is "Idis." It was said that new calves born during Disting … Yule: a 12-night festival in December, when the god Ingri Freyr rides a shiny wild boar. Are you confused yet? Harpa (mid April – mid May) Learn about topics such as How to Celebrate Your Parents' Anniversary at Home, How to Decorate a Car for a Parade, How to Celebrate Groundhog Day, and more with our helpful step-by-step instructions with photos and videos. Þorri (mid January – mid February) ". Get the family together and stage a graduation right at home. For a Disting you might honor Forseti, Tyr, Ullr, Syn, or Var, all associated with oaths and lawgiving. With all this in mind, look at the historical passages I quote below about the Saxons having a major Thing once a year. Here is the passage Wikipedia fucks up on, and many other websites: The Icelandic Althing decided they would have twelve different thirty day moons that no longer tied to the moons themselves, which is odd. On this day, in Asatru many heathens will honor the beings of fertility and spring, such as Frey, Nerthus, Jord, the Goddess Ostara, the Ancestors and vaettir of the land, the wights. The harshness of Winter is starting to come to an end for our ancestors, although food is scarce, and life is difficult at this time, it is always important to be looking ahead, and making it through to the more fertile times of Spring. Folk traditions in some areas of Russia (where the Vikings settled as Rus) call for women to plough the borders of a community to ward off sickness or calamity. Why then use the word "month" meaning "cycle of the moon" for a fixed day period that ignores the moon? , and to sacrifice to Frey. The Icelandic Althing eliminated this moon totally from the calendar. The blot was offered for peace, and victory to the king; and to there people came from all parts of Sweden. Did the Heathen Saxons do Disting? Second, they forget that the Iceland Althing moved many of the months around. If you love your birthday, though, you deserve to celebrate it. (The entire world does this today though). Gustav Adolfs Akademien för svensk folkkultur: Uppsal It was said that new calves born during Disting were a sign of great prosperity for the coming year. Brigid Spring at Circle SanctuaryCelebrating the Seasons by Selena Fox Imbolc, also known as Candlemas and Groundhog's Day, occurs at the beginning of February. Mörsugur (mid December – mid January, "fat sucking ") (Please note, Disting is a different word than Disablot!) A link to his (free) book which Dr. Nordberg himself put up on Academia.edu can be found here: Long-time couples often find great romance in renewing their wedding vows. I think it is quite obvious Snorri in Heimskringla is discussing Sigrblot, not Disting, as he mentions a blot for Victory to the king. But the question is, which one, the Heathen pre-christian calendar, or the Christianized calendar of his time, i.e. The word "Idis" in Old Saxon just doesn't have the same "female Ancestral-spirit" connotation as it does in the Scandinavian languages. Invite friends and family to help you celebrate your marriage all over again. An important date in the old Runic calendar, Disting is the feast of Disir, the old Norse guardian goddess, as well as a day of sacrifice to the elves and nature spirits. There was to be a drinking-bout Sumble at each house, and the floor at Sæbol was covered with sedge won from Sedgetarn. Spend the day together. Why February you ask? Despite the names, they all celebrate one thing – the coming of spring! Disting: the first new moon in February and the feast of new beginnings and counting up wealth. Gustav Adolfs Akademien för svensk folkkultur: Uppsal It appears to me, in Norway, the first night of Winter Nights, a harvest blot was made, as "haustblot" means "harvest blot." that his farm be fortified against all fiends, each one. Anniversaries come and go so quickly that sometimes it's hard to make your current anniversary more meaningful than the last. This is the word that the Saxons used in their poetry to describe their faith. This is a guess. For the days leading up to Easter, participating neighbors print out a picture (or 2) of an Easter egg (get your free printable below). However, in fairness, any Saxon Heathen can make a counter argument that the Lebuini Antiqua claims "in the coming year", and since the new year began with Disablot *(not Disting) with the onset of Winter, one could argue that the Saxon Althing at Marklo was at the end of summer, just before the "coming year." Tvímánuður (mid August – mid September, "two" or "second moon") For those of ... Charming of the Plough or Disting. “Odin established the same law in his land that had been in force in Asaland… On winter day (first day of winter) there should be blot for a good year, and in the middle of winter for a good crop; and the third blot should be on summer day (the first day of summer), a, "In Sweden it was the old custom, as long as heathenism prevailed, that the chief blot took place in Goa moon at Upsala. While I just stated Wikipedia is a poor source, it is not always wrong. He bids to it his brother Bork, and Eyjolf the son of Thord, and many other great men. 2006. 37. That there be no such cunning woman; no such crafty man. The moment has come, and this year’s commencement might be held in your own living room or yard. When Snorri wrote his Prose Edda and many Sagas, he used the dates on the Icelandic Calendar. The Goddess manifests as the Maiden and Brigid. At Seven Trees Farm, we add to the health of our land by adding back manure, lime, composted livestock bedding, etc. A Viking feast depended on the wealth of the host, but all Vikings ate well at feast time. Please notice in the above calendar, the Iceland Christian Althing eliminated one of the two Yule Moons. Disablot means "blot to the Disir" and "Dis-Thing" means "Disir Thing." Let's take a look at two of his passages and see what we can determine: Heyannir (mid July – mid August, "hay-time") Have afternoon tea “alfresco”. The wild birds also appreciate the thickets and brambles, as do the myriad frogs which will start their spring peeping soon.”- https://seventreesfarm.wordpress.com/2013/02/03/charming-of-the-plow/. The Danes were even allies to the Saxons in the Saxon Wars against the Franks. A Thing and a Blot are two different things. How is it so many websites get it wrong thinking Disting was in February? They also moved the first moon of the year (called Einmánuður , meaning "one/first moon") to be the sixth moon of the year, and they moved Tvímánuður (meaning "Second Moon") from being the second moon of the year to being the eleventh moon of the year. The Norse word "veturnóttum" (meaning "Winter Nights") is used in this passage, and also the word "haustblot." Disablot means "blot to the Disir" and "Dis-Thing" means "Disir Thing." Disting. Arrange your schedule so you both are not working that day. Did the Saxons call it "Disting"? Feb 2nd is the time many do "Disting" as it is half way between the solstice and the equinox. The answer is that they did not do their homework on the Icelandic Calendar. That with a word of power changes what is said. They then had a "week" of four days inserted in summer. I do not mean to dismiss Snorri, but Snorri, writing around 1220 in a Christian Iceland that had been Christian for 250 years, is a very late source. There all the leaders used to gather together, and they were joined by twelve noblemen from each village with as many freedmen and serfs. Notice that the Icelandic calendar above that there is no moon called "Distings-tungel" or "Distingsmanuthr." This is pretty obvious. It appears to me, that those in Norway and Iceland, are very similar. While I just stated Wikipedia is a poor source, it is not always wrong. For one example, the nine-year sacrifice is attested in two places, Sweden and Denmark (Uppsala and Lejre.) To Frigg and Freya, many of the divine are honored at this time, for there is much to give thanks for, and be mindful of. Sólmánuður (mid June – mid July, "sun moon") So what do I think Disting was about? "The Ancient Angle (English) peoples, for it does not seem proper to me to explain the yearly practice of other nations, and to keep quiet concerning my own, reckoned their months by the moon, just as they were named from the moon in Hebrew and Greek.