Hearthside

I find it fascinating how many people are really interested in Land-taking and Hallowing rites but know nothing about them. I first read about them in The Tradition of Household Spirits by Claude Lecouteaux, but there are many books that talk about them. There are actually examples of Land-taking and Land Hallowing in the Landnámabók . The basic premise of a Land-taking is to let the landwights know that you are taking stewardship of the land. I say “stewardship” very pointedly. You aren’t just taking the land, you are agreeing to take responsibility for the land. You have to take care of the parcel of land you take. If you don’t you will see the landwights encroaching back into that space. Even so, they may try from time to time. The most common elements of a land-taking are to walk (usually sunwise) around the boundary (in a process called circumambulation) of the piece of land you wish to take stewardship of and declaring to the wights your intentions to take stewardship of the lan...