Sigrblót in Modern and Traditional Heathenry

You may have read my last post on Sigrblót and Lunisolar Reckoning, if not you can find it [here]. It is not vital to understanding the following post, but if you are interested in the topic of Sigrblót already it might be of interest to you.

Sigrblót has not really taken off as a Holy Day in modern Heathenry, oftentimes assuming that it is about Victory in raids and battles, but also most modern Heathens who do celebrate it tend to celebrate it as Victory over Winter. Both of these takes on the celebration probably historically had some truth, and I would add that we can perhaps learn even more about it by understanding the Lunisolar calendar in juxtaposition with the Gregorian Calendar and by examining modern folk traditions in Scandinavia.

In modern Scandinavia the word “Sigrblót” is not one used for any Spring festivals. (I am using Spring here in the scientific sense of any dates between the Vernal Equinox and the Summer Solstice.) The closest link we have to Sigrblót in modern times is Sumarsdag. When we understand that elder Heathens saw Sigrblót as the beginning of their Summer season this makes total sense. Now the modern festival of Sumarsdag is placed squarely on April 20th on the Gregorian calendar. This is exactly the problem that the combination of the introduction of Christianity to Scandinavia and the introduction of a solar calendar caused. There is this need to place Holy Days on set dates. This would not have been the case in the Lunisolar calendar, where Sigrblót or Sumarsdag would have occurred on the full moon after the new moon after the Vernal Equinox. This is usually in April but could occur in late March or early May as well. 

It also is very much an inspiration for Easter, in that the church placed one of their Holy Dates in the same season roughly in order to try to convert the elder Heathens to Christianity. Many of you may be familiar with the widely circulated memes about Easter being named after Eostre, the goddess of Spring. This comes directly from Bede. He was talking about a pagan festival that coincided with Passover, now commonly called Easter, in which this goddess of Spring was worshipped. In content, I think he was not far off from the truth, but I suspect it was more of a case of a poorly recorded name. I think it is more like that the pagans were worshipping Eorde, which is the Old English version of the name Jorð. It was planting season, and the pagans were in fact, worshipping the Earth. So if Sigrblót honoured Eorde, that Bede recorded as Eostre, and later caused the Passover festival to be known as Easter that makes a lot of sense. Going one step further, in the revival of paganism, the Vernal Equinox became known as Ostara. It was in this way that elder Heathens celebrated the lunisolar Holy Day of Sigrblót, and many modern Heathens instead celebrate the solar holiday of Ostara, which are both fertility festivals. 

Interestingly, although Easter is somewhat based on the Jewish lunisolar calendar as passover originally was, it will never align exactly with the date of Sigrblót. Easter Sunday is always the Sunday after the full moon after the Vernal Equinox. However, it doesn’t have to be the full moon after the new moon after the Equinox. In addition, Easter Sunday will never fall on the full moon. If the full moon is on a Sunday, then Easter will be the following Sunday.

I don’t think we are going far enough only looking at Sigrblót in relation to Easter and Sumarsdag, however. As a lunisolar holiday, I think it is important to look at the folk traditions for modern day festivals in Scandinavia on fixed dates between Varfruensdag (March 25th) and May Day (May 1st), as they may be localized iterations of Sigrblót festivities that survived the conversion.

Varfruensdag/Vaffeldagan (March 23rd) 

This is the festival of the Spring Lady. Christianity has tried to equate this with the conception date of Mary, but it is clearly celebrating a goddess of “Spring.” (Click [here] to see my post on Var.) To me, I think of Iðunn mostly at this time of year, but more likely the elder Heathens were thinking of Nerthus/Jorð as the etymology of the word Var has to do with covering something with soil. This suggests an Earth goddess worshipped during the planting season. To give credence to this claim there is an Old English prayer associated with this time of year that starts off as follows:

Erce, Erce, Erce, earth’s mother

Give us all-weilder ever-ruler

Acres, fruitful and flourishing

Fertile and strong high shafts bright abundance.

It is part of a charming of the plough type ritual where the plough is blessed and then it digs a furrow and a loaf of bread is placed in the furrow. 

Like the story of conception of Mary, the ritual is symbolically a union between Sky god and Earth goddess, culminating in the fertility of the land and the production of summer crops. (It doesn’t take much to impose the story of Odin and Jorð on this union.)

In modern times, Varfruensdag is known as Vaffeldag in Sweden after a misunderstanding of the former word, which sounds similar to the latter. So now Sweden celebrates Waffle Day. And I am sure most modern Heathens wouldn’t mind that modern take very much. 

Varfruensdag is also associated with the returning of the cranes to Sweden, symbolizing the Spring.

Sumarsdag (April 20th)

In Norwegian tradition this festival is also associated with a rite in which something is buried in the Earth for prosperity of the field. In this case grain, juniper, and honey are planted in a hole. This rite is followed by feasting and toasting with beer.

The Swedish take on the same tradition is banned in modern times as it involved ritual sex and the semen from this intercourse being mixed with the grain to be planted. 

St. George’s Day (April 23rd)

This was the day when people would ritually let their dogs outside to symbolize the end of the Winter. It was believed the Wild Hunt no longer would roam the woods so humans were free to hunt there safely.

Walpurga’s Night

This night is associated in modern times with bonfires, making loud noises to scare off evil spirits, and burning effigies of witches, although it historically had more to do with bonfires, dancing, drinking, and fertility rites. Sexual unions were a large component in these rites. It is my speculation that it became a bonfire as a warning to witches later on in an attempt to stop the pagans from engaging in these fertility rites by vilifying them as witches. 

The name of the day itself has to do with the moon name and is associated with the budding of leaves. Valborg is also a character in Scandinavian ballads. Her story has to do with a sexual union. In addition, Valborg is the name for Freyja in another ballad that retells the story of Thor cross-dressing to retrieve his hammer from the Jotunn. It seems from this that the same has to do with passion and female power, another reason why the modern rendition might try to vilify this celebration which would undermine the church and the patriarchy. Interestingly in Sweden witches are also associated with the Thursday before Easter which is called Maundy Thursday. Children dressed as witches knock on doors requesting treats, very similarly to Halloween in North America. 

However, there is also a new shift in these celebrations in modern times to celebrate them as the beginning of Spring again. In Sweden Walpurga’s night is celebrated by students as a graduation celebration with drinking and bonfires as well as the end of Swedish Winter. In Finland it is also a celebration of Spring and graduation marked with confetti and the consumption of doughnuts. In Germany it is still very much a bonfire to scare away witches and evil spirits.

May Day

May Day is a celebration welcoming Spring. You are probably familiar with the image of dancing the Maypole. Interestingly this particular tradition may have actually had more association with Midsummer among the elder Heathens. However, traditions of bringing branches into town to decorate, as well as rites involving planting, liquor (both as an offering and for toasting), and eggs. Oh and sexual unions as fertility rites again… The modern iteration of which is the crowning of the May Queen and her procession through town. Wreaths of flowers are used in rites as well as for adorning people and as decorations. In modern Sweden and Finland May Day is their Labour Day. 

Primarily we can determine that Sigrblót was a festival of fertility for the agricultural season. Bonfires and toasting were definitely components, as were circles in various forms as a representation of the sun. The festival had to do with sexual unions and planting rituals.…

Going forward, looking at Sigrblót from a Canadian perspective, we have to adapt it to fit with our environment and climate. Our seasons don't necessarily line up perfectly with Scandinavia. We always have rain and cold and mud, at least in this region. We need rain for fertility though. We might be having weather more like the previous month in the lunisolar reckoning from Scandinavia. This may be Thor’s month according to The Runic Animist Calendar, or Goa month if you are looking at Jósúa Rood’s reckoning. That said, each Scandinavian country is regionally diverse with the modern concept of Spring (and historical concept of Summer) arriving at a slightly different point. I think it is fair for us to welcome the Summer without planting the first seed at Sigrblót, or even to move Sigrblót one moon later to fit more with the seasons in your region. Or, just adapt and make it your own in the modern context. Perhaps you are starting your plants indoors at this time. If this Holy Day has food, toasting, fire, and a ritual for the coming summer you are probably doing it right. That is just my take, though.

Further Reading

The Lunisolar Calendar of the Germanic Peoples: Reconstruction of a bound moon calendar from the ancient, medieval and early modern sources by Andreas E. Zautner

The Nordic Animist Year by Rune Hjarnø Rasmussen 

“Scandinavian traditions and celebrations you don’t want to miss” https://medicarrera.com/blog/scandinavian-traditions-and-celebrations-you-dont-want-to-miss/

“Spring Traditions in the Nordics” 

https://www.scandichotels.com/hotels/spring-traditions

Additional Sources

Disthing Seminar by Jósúa Hróðgeir Rood

Image Source

“A Valborg bonfire in Uppsala, Sweden” by Brian Silvi