Happy Thorrablót!

So, tonight I'm going to celebrate Thorrablót by honoring the god Thor and consuming what remains of the Yuletide eats and drinks.

The Þorrablót is actually a modern festival that started out in the mid-1800s when a group of Icelandic students in Copenhagen got all excited about Icelandic nationalism and held a dinner party honoring their country's traditional foods and customs. They also honored Thor, probably because his name sounded kind of like Thorrablót.  The festival later became popular throughout all Iceland by the mid-twentieth century and is still celebrated today. Some modern followers of Asatru also celebrate the holiday in honor of Thor.

It got its name from the historical Icelandic calendar name for the month of Þorri, which covered the period from mid-January to mid-February.  The Orkneyinga saga mentions a legendary Norwegian king named Þorri ("frost"), the son of Snær ("snow"). Other sources claim that the Kvens (a Finnish population in northern Norway) celebrated a yearly sacrifice at mid-winter.

However, sadly, etymologically the name Þorrablót has nothing to do with the Norse god Þórr, despite the similarity in their names. And it was never a truly ancient, traditional Heathen festival. So all the modern celebrations are non-traditional.

 If you really want to celebrate in the traditional Icelandic manner, folklore has it that on the first morning of the month of Þorri, the head of the house would go outside in the cold only partially dressed: barefoot, dressed in only his shirt, and partly barelegged (one trouser-leg went on his leg, while the other trouser-leg dragged on the ground). He then proceeded to hop on one leg all around his house and bid Þorri welcome to his home.  (Then his wife treated him specially nice the rest of the day, which is also known as Bóndadagur, or "Husband's Day").

Then you can feast on such traditional Icelandic treats as hákarl (rotten shark's meat), svið (boiled sheeps head), blóðmör (congealed sheep's blood wrapped in a ram's stomach), or súrsaðir hrútspungar (the testicles of rams pressed in blocks, boiled and cured in lactic acid), along with a healthy draught of Brennivin (a type of Icelandic aquavit also known as Black Death--you'll need it to wash down all that food).

But it's winter, and it's cold and wet, and all the fun of Yule and my birthday are over, and I really have to get seriously back to work now, and hey, I need a festival. And Thor is just fun, you know? So, here's to pork and beer, here's to Thor, and a big Texas welcome to Þorri!!

Thorrablot

Þorri is one of the old Icelandic months, which always begins on a Friday, between the 19th and the 25th of January, and ends on a Saturday between the 18th and 24th of February. The first day of Þorri is called Bóndadagur ("Husband's Day/Farmer's Day"), and is dedicated to men (formerly only farmers). On that day, the women bring the men breakfast in bed on this day, and sometimes give their husbands flowers as well.

The tradition of a feast during Þorri has its roots the old midwinter feast, Þorrablót. This month falls during the coldest part of winter, and thus Þorri is seen as an tall old man, the personification of Winter. It has also been suggested that this month is named after a legendary Norwegian king; the name is also sometimes (incorrectly) said to be derived from the name of the Norse god Thor. The feast today has become a traditional part of the Icelandic calendar, a time when Icelanders celebrate their national heritage and eat traditional foods. Since the feast takes place in winter, most of those foods are preserved by pickling, salting, smoking, drying, or putrefying (yes, that's right, rotting!)

The Þorrablót can take place at any time during Þorri, preferably on a weekend to allow for sufficient feasting and carousing. The chief elements are lots of food and fun, and sometimes entertainment, dancing, and lots of booze. Typical foods for a Þorri feast begins with traditional appetizers of shark meat which has been prepared by being buried for several weeks or dried fish which has been beaten to soften it (yum!), both of which are best washed down by a shot of cold Brennivín (caraway schnapps), locally known as Svartidauði ("Black Death"). It has been said that a shot or two of this liquor will make anything taste okay. For those modern folk too weak for tradition, there might also be pickled herring or smoked salmon. The main courses are usually made from lamb or mutton and are divided into two main categories: sour (i.e., pickled in whey) and not-sour.

I've heard there is a group called the League Against Spoiled Food, which works to end the eating of whey-pickled food. They're lucky they weren't born in Iceland a few centuries ago, when that sort of thing would have been all they would have had to eat in winter-time.

As for me, a shot of aquavit and some pickled herring seems a good way to celebrate the start of Þorri (though down here in Texas, the winter is the good weather).