Winter solstice!

We call it "vintersolverv" or "solsnu" in Norwegian; the longest night & the shortest day of the year. The beginning of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, and the beginning of summer in the Eastern Hemisphere. I guess we can call it all Yule, as mentioned in my last post, considering the length and meaning of it all. The date of this day varies from the 21st to the 23rd, according to Wikipedia. Winter solstice has been celebrated differently in many cultures since the ancient times, and the old yule-tide is probably one of them. Animals were slaughtered so that they wouldn't need to be fed during the winter, and people had enough meat, mead and wine to celebrate the coming year and pray to the Mother for good crops, the sun and life.

Wardruna - Jara

Soli har venda,
i haustinga ligg håpet.
Solrik sumar
og allgroande åkre.

Til norne tri,
vi ber dei spinna liv
i åker og i eng,
i barm og i bringa.

Er ár og friðar,
når kornet stig or jordi.
Om vordane lokka sin lokkesong.

På tidleg sådd åker
kan ikkje nokon lite.
For mangt veit eg om vålyndt vêr.

Gro gro, lisle spire,
dager gryr og mørket svinner.
Sól har snudd
og hjulet det har venda.

Sola vendar hausten sendar
graset gulnar, blada fell
lyse dagar er på hell.

Til vordar og vettar,
vi takk gjev med vår song
for ár og friðar.

Ár og friðar.

The Swamp Thing by Michael Zulli

Artist's name's coming right up!

Anyway, almost done stressing with presents and stuff now ^^ We'll be taking a bus to go to Stavanger tomorrow, where Rein will pick us up. Looking forward to seeing them. We'll be drinking lots of ale and eat lots of good food, yey!

God Jul!