#veturnætur

[thorraborinn]

Modern Icelandic winternights (veturnætur or vetrarnætur) begins October 26th this year. On the modern calendar, veturnætur lasts 2 days, rather than 3 as in older times, but is immediately followed by the first day of winter on Saturday, which makes three days of observance. Tradition holds that the summer half of the year ends on the 25th, but winter does not begin until the 28th, so the two days in between are a brief period that is neither summer nor winter.

This is a rímspillisár (an infrequent but regular result of date calculation) which means that dates occur on the latest possible Gregorian dates. Usually veturnætur begins on the Thursday between the 19th and the 25th.

The reason that Modern Icelandic timing is later than other calendars (e.g. primstav) is that when Europe started using the Gregorian calendar, dates on a primstav maintained their calendar date (Oct. 14 for winternights) and moved earlier relative to the position of the sun along with the rest of the calendar. The Icelandic calendar is independent of civil calendars, so it made no adjustment.

Veturnætur isn't really a holiday so much as a time of year, a natural consequence of a particular calendar and its division into two halves of a year. In pre-Christian times, and then starting again recently, blót were held during veturnætur, but it isn't actually clear that its timing was calculated the same way. Veturnætur continued to be observed continuously from the middle ages, just without the blót (but it continued to be a common time for marriages). The first day of winter was actually celebrated as a Christian holiday in the Hólar diocese until it was made illegal in 1744.

My source for all of this is Árni Björnsson. 2007. Saga Daganna. Reykjavík: Mál og Menning. For an independent witness that this is a rímspillisár see https://www.visindavefur.is/svar.php?id=83139

[fjorn-wanders]

By my reckoning (based on the Old Icelandic calendar), Winter Nights is between October 18th and 19th this year. I know some people celebrate on the 14th, 15th, or even the 31st, though, and that’s cool too.

Based on the Icelandic sagas, people (probably) used to hold Álfablót and Dísablót around this time, as well as give offerings to Freyr. I tend to associate all of those entities with fertility in some way, both of the land and of people—but I put more emphasis on the land, personally.

I was planning to make pumpkin soup this year, but things are a bit chaotic at the moment, so I may just make that for Samhain instead. Even so, I’m planning to have a few special teas (The Elf Brew and Freyr’s Harvest) at least. Perhaps I’ll compose some poetry, as well.

Regardless, I hope everyone enjoys the fleeting days of summer (or autumn) as winter begins to knock upon the northern hemisphere’s door. May your feasts be plentiful, your fires warm, and your friends cheerful.

[lukabasyrovart-blog]

The Big Winter Nights Celebration: a Closing ceremony Stóru Vetur Nætur Hátíð: Lokun athöfn Большой Ветрнэтр: церемония Закрытия #Veturnætur #Asatru #Thursatru #Troth #BigSamhain #ЗимниеНочи #Halloween #ScandinavianPaganism #Paganism #PaganCelebrations #Runes #Трот #Асатру #Турсатру #СкандинавскоеЯзычество #Ветрнэтр #Oðinn #Loki #Hel #Skadi #язычество #языческиепраздники #религия #духовность (at Vartemyagi, Leningradskaya Oblast', Russia) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bpum6UiFrDT/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=155pc9s2ll06p

[nemo-of-house-hamartia]

Beneath the Northern Lights

"Þar sem norðurljósin skína á himni

og töfrandi veturnætur endar aldrei,

þar fæddist ást okkar."

Placid night, it was.

Serene.

Quiet.

Only the soft sound of waves lapping against a solid body could be heard, as the sea itself seemed to be peacefully asleep that night.

Aura was laying on her back, hovering above the dark surface of the sea as she gazed deep into the night sky, staring so intently she thought that, with a small movement, she could fall from the cold waters and fly down into the endless abyss.

Her eyes were trained toward the figures the stars painted against the wide blue yonder.

She could see the Archer and the Snake, the Bear and the Wolf… and focusing even deeper, she saw the little Selkie, playing with her celestial pod.

The sweetest smile spread on her face when the dancing colours of the Northern Lights set the whole sky ablaze, a kaleidoscope of green and red and pink flaring up in a dance as old as time itself.

She could hear them sing, too, the sweet lullaby of her childhood.

“Aurora Borealis,” she remembered Shay saying their name was.

She scrounged her nose, trying to shape her lips the same way she had seen Shay doing, forcing the sound out of her throat, but all she managed to produce was a low chirp.

She giggled.

Apparently, the language of the human was bound to remain a mystery for her.

“Aura,” she heard a deep sweet voice calling her name.

She turned her head, and the smile she had on her face widened even more, her cheeks growing warm from the joy she felt.

Standing tall and strong, his dark eyes gleaming in the night, was Shay, slowly walking toward her, the small waves crashing against his thighs.

Shay.

Her human.

Her love, she thought, her heart going pitter-patter when he saw him smiling at her.

She tilted her face when she noticed that he wasn’t wearing anything, not even his breeches, and chirping, she disappeared under the surface, gliding effortlessly to close the distance between the two of them.

She poked the surface with her head and smiled at him when he disappeared underwater, only to resurface beside her, his own face a breath away from her.

Her eyes fell on the small talisman around his neck, the only protection he had against the chilly waters of the North Atlantic...the only way for them to be together in the ocean.

“Where’s your sealskin,lass?” he whispered, giving her a small peck on her rosebud lips. She chirped and pointed toward the beach.

“Is it hidden away? Did you make sure to find a suitable place?” he asked, starting to pepper her sweet round face with kisses,  one of his rough hands cradling the back of her head.

Frowning her brows, she pouted, offended.

“Oh, come on, lassie, don’t give me those pouty lips,” he chuckled, kissing her frown away. “I know you're always careful with it…but we can never be too careful, now, can't we?”

She raised her eyes to the sky, snorting, and Shay couldn’t help the laugh that was born from his chest.

He kissed her once more.

His strong arms found their way around her waist, pulling her against him, skin against skin: a wide joyous smile spread on his lips when he felt the warm softness of her womb pressing against his own stomach.

His children were growing there, protected by their mother that already loved them more than life itself.

"What do you think the babes are doin', lass?"

The selkie pointed at Shay, and closed her eyes, letting out a loud snore.

"Ah-ah, Aura. Very funny." He said, pretending to be annoyed. "I don't snor-".

But the pointed expression on the selkie's face stopped him in his tracks.

He couldn’t lie to her.

He did snore.  

“Fine. I snore like a bear,” he chuckled, brushing his thumb on her cheek. "But you're not without fault yourself, las-"

He paused.

He felt a small nudging against the hand resting on her womb, and his heart skipped a beat.

"It's them?" He asked, his eyes wide with surprise, an elated light dancing in them.

Aura nodded with a giggle. Their little ones knew their papa was there.

Shay rested his hand for a moment longer, and once again he felt another nudge, stronger this time.

A soft light filled his eyes, as a smile stretched on his lips.

His mind flew ahead, as his thoughts began to wonder about the little ones that the love he had for Aura had helped to bring into this world.

He could see them so clearly in his mind, sons and daughters alike, their features a perfect blending of their mother and father.

Suddenly, the smile on his face died when a question popped in his mind, the one question he had tried to ignore as much as he could ever since he had discovered Aura was with child.

“Aura...what will our children be? Will they be human?” his heart trembled in his chest for a moment, courage evading him. “...or will they belong to the ocean, just like you?”

The young woman looked into his eyes for a moment, her own stare as ageless as the sea itself and just as inscrutable.

After what seemed an eternity, Aura shook her head.

Much like him, she didn’t know what the future held for their children.

Chirping with a sweet tune, she took his hand again and brought it to her chest. She did the same with her own smaller one, her finger dancing over his strong heart.

He knew what she meant.

Selkie or human, their hearts beat the same melody, the same rhythm, the same song.

Their children would be no different.

They would be the sons and daughters of Land and Sea.

And so long they were cherished by both of them, that was all that truly mattered.

Shay smiled, as he pulled her close to his chest once again, floating together in the shallow waters.

“You know that I love you, Aura?” he murmured against her lips. “Always had. And always will.”

She smiled, her heart leaping in her chest.

"ég elska þig" she murmured back, wanting nothing more than to melt in his kiss.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi there everyone! Not dead, just have been busy working and writing the Syndicate story.

BUT.

Due to spring being here (and the seasonal depression it brings with it) I found myself in dire need of a healthy HUMONGOUS dose of pure fluff.

So, I went my sweet Aura the Selkie, the oc I created almost a year ago to be Shay’s partner in crime life, and wrote a small ficlet and a moodboard to go with it.

Much like with my Federico and Lucia’s ficlet, this one as well is a one-shot, because I don’t truly have a plot for them, just lots and lots of willingness to write a crapton of fluff because my heart needs it like it needs air.

Well, I hope you will like it!

--NemoTurunen

(I also have posted it on my AO3 account:  https://archiveofourown.org/users/NemoTurunen )

[mudpuddling-moved]

beautiful icelandic words

afdrif, the fate of somebody

afturganga, a ghost, “one who walks again”

álfadans, dance of the elves

átt, the direction of the wind

augabragð, the twinkling of an eye

álfatrú, belief in fairies

bíldóttur, having black spots around the eyes of animals

blámóða, blue mist

blika, a cover of clouds, often foreboding storm or rain

blær, soft, calm wind

draugagangur, the walking of ghosts, a haunting

draumaland, land of dreams

dúnalogn, calm as death

dýjamosi, bright green moss growing in quagmires

fenna, to fill with snow

fjallavættur, a mountain spirit

fjúka, carried away by the wind

flygja, a ghost who accompanies a certain person

föl, a thick film of snow covering the ground

galdraöld, the age of magic

grængolandi, deep and dark green

gullbúinn, adorned with gold

hlakka, the cry of a bird of prey

hrafnagervi, the outward form of ravens

huldurdalur, hidden valley

kaf, to plunge into deep water

kollgáta, the true answer to the riddle

kossleit, looking for kisses

leirskáld, a bad poet

lumma, a pancake, or, the palm of a small hand

mói, ground covered with heather

morgungyðja, the goddess of the morning

mosavaxinn, overgrown with moss

náttúrufegurð, the beauty of nature

norðankaldi, a light breeze from the north

rammgöldróttur, full of witchcraft and wizardry 

rósóttur, with a design of roses

selslíki, the shape of a seal

sjódraugur, the ghost of a drowned man

smáminnka, getting smaller and smaller

sólskin, sunshine

stirndur, set full of stars

sumarsól, the sun in the summer

sæbrattur, rising steeply out of the sea

sælurdalur, the valley of bliss

undirsæng, a soft feather mattress

veturnætur, a few days before the first day of winter

[aldairsrol]

La Iglesia en Aldair

Sede:

La sede de la Iglesia de Aldair se encuentra en Domnhall, en la capital Eldfire. Siendo una enorme edificación llena de vidrieras y de mármoles blancos en cuyo interior hay una enorme colección de los pintores de mayor renombre de todo Aldair que de algún modo han rendido culto a los dioses y las hazañas de éstos para con el reino y los hijos a los que en él dejaron.

El nombre de la sede es conocido en la lengua antigua como Stavkirke, ya que mucho tiempo antes de ciertas innovaciones en la construcción se usaba la madera para construir estas edificaciones. Aunque ahora no se usa ese nombre para referirse a ella, es común que los miembros de la iglesia o los más devotos sigan usando el término al hablar con pasión de sus creencias y del lugar al que van a manifestar su fe.

En Aldair hay otras dos edificaciones importantes relacionadas con la Stavkirke y son conocidas como Upsalas en la lengua antigua de Aldair, siendo denominadas hoy día como Templos. Los cuales le rinden pleitesía a Helge (En Ruairidh) y a Liv (en Bisset). El Templo de Liv y el Templo de Helge sufrieron una serie de ataques y renovaciones a lo largo de los años y actualmente ambos se encuentran bien erigidos sobre sus cimientos. A su vez dentro de los mismos Templos se rinden culto a las otras dos deidades, formando como la cara opuesta de lo que representan: en el Templo de Helge a Øde y en el Templo de Liv a Død,

No hay que olvidar que en Aldair el dios más venerado es Helge, por ello mismo su Templo es el más importante del reino.

Fiestas:

Hay dos fechas muy concretas que son de celebración global en toda Aldair: El Solsticio de Invierno, conocido antiguamente como Yule, término que algunas tribus salidas de Dubh tras la Absolución de Einar, el Cruel aún suelen emplear con misticismo y con la idea de realizar rituales que la Stavkirke considera paganos y que son perseguidos por la Inquisición.

La otra festividad es Høstblót, fecha en la que se rinde culto a los muertos y se reza a los cuatro dioses, aunque sobre todo a la diosa Død por sus almas inmortales y por las almas de los que aún viven, ya que aún se tiene la creencia de que en estas fechas los espíritus de la tierra y de los que se fueron rondan por Aldair desde que el sol se esconde hasta que surge de nuevo tras el horizonte.

También existe la costumbre de la entrega de las primicias tanto en cuestión de cultivo como de animales a las diferentes Upsalas a fin de rendir honra a los dioses y de este modo huir de su posible ira y ganar a cambio sus favores. Estas prácticas suelen realizarse mucho a finales de año y durante el Solsticio de Verano (Midsummarblót) trayendo consigo así mismo el nombre de esta festividad en agosto: Freyfaxi, comúnmente conocida como La Fiesta de la Cosecha.

Otra de las festividades a resaltar dentro de la cultura aldarniana es la del Veturnætur también conocida como La Nueva Sangre, ya que consiste en permanecer una semana sin comer ni beber nada desde que amanece hasta que anochece, con la idea de purificar el alma y realizar un sacrificio de espíritu a los dioses, sobre todo al dios Helge, por librar a los aldarnianos de la presencia oscura de Skoter y sus malignos espíritus, aquel que nació del lago Eilean y solo ha traído horrores a las puras almas de Aldair.

También suelen realizarse diversas romerías a lo largo y ancho de Aldair venerando a los profetas que redactaron los Sagrados Escritos de Helge.

Organización:

La organización sacerdotal dentro de los muros de la sede en Eldfire suele ir de la siguiente forma:

El cargo principal suele ir de la mano del Goðar, o Sumo Pontífice en la actualidad. El peso mayoritario de la Stavkirke cae sobre sus hombros y es el principal dirigente de la Santa Inquisición, aunque no suele tomar parte directa de la caza de brujas a menos que sea un caso de suma exigencia.

Dentro de este apartado hay una ligera controversia a cerca de las denominadas Völur o Völva en singular, ya que en algunos escritos divinos aparecen mujeres veneradas y denominadas como mágicas que era muy queridas por los dioses. Sin embargo la Stavkirke considera todo esto pagano y digno de ser erradicado. De ahí que naciera la Santa Inquisición, buscando de este modo todo signo y raíz de paganismo y con ello a las brujas que manchan el nombre de sus creencias.

Los ætt o Sacerdotes son considerados los encargados de los dos Templos y de los monasterios que hay diseminados por todo Aldair, ellos tienen la responsabilidad de recaudar las Primicias mencionadas en el apartado anterior, así como de asegurarse de predicar la palabra de Helge y también de que todas las festividades sagradas como el Høstblót o el Yule sean celebradas de forma fiel y acorde con las costumbres.

A pesar de solo existir dos templos sagrados y una sola sede en la capital del reino, Aldair no está desprovista de protección espiritual, ya que como se mencionaba antes, hay monasterios de los dioses distribuidos por todo Aldair y que son tan válidos para realizar todas las obligaciones pías con celeridad y fe.

[miniar]

Time to go add more layers to my body and then head out for veturnáttablót!

Gonna bring something for Freyja as she’s been incredible lately. 

Blót blót blót blót blót!

[conchymanson]

#FBF to last year's Halloween! Feliz Halloween! (Foto del año pasado). #Veturnætur #Halloween

[valsgarde]

Happy Veturnætur, don't forget to sacrify some stuff to your dís.

[thorraborinn]

What was the function of Winter Nights as a celebration?

Presumably it had many different overlapping functions. It's probably the best documented of the three major blóts (hǫfuðblót), but the sources are still not adequate to draw conclusive conclusions about anything.

Strictly speaking, Winternights (vetrnætr) is probably not the name of a celebration but the time of year (though vetrnáttablót 'Winternights blót' is attested in Gísla saga). It continued to be observed after conversion to Christianity and on to the present day. On the modern Icelandic calendar, it's the last two days of summer. Some early modern sources are in disagreement with each other about some details. This year it begins October 20 according to the University of Iceland's almanac (since it's two days, but three nights, I presume this to mean it starts on what we would call the evening of the 19th, and that winter actually begins on the evening of the 21st, also included in Winternights, though I'm not actually certain about that). Furthermore, since winter precedes summer, Winternights may have been considered an observation of the year ending and beginning ("heathen new year" so to speak). We have no evidence that they maintained a count of years equivalent to, like, "it's 2022 A.D.," so if this "new year" had any administrative importance, it's probably that it served as a deadline for some things that might have been ordered at the previous alþing.

In the sagas we see frequently that people chose that timing to have big parties that many people attended. Food would be abundant around then because harvests would be complete and animals recently slaughtered. Rich and powerful people sometimes took Winternights as an opportunity to made grand displays of generosity that both showed off their wealth and secured the loyalty of their followers. It was a popular time to hold weddings. Religious observations are mentioned frequently in connection to Winternights, such as blóts to Freyr (Gísla saga), and the famous description of a blót attended by Hákon góði in Heimskringla occurred at Winternights. There is also significant evidence that the dísir were celebrated at this time by some people (especially Norway), although it seems that others in Sweden were more likely to celebrate the dísir in the late winter/spring. Some people believe that the álfablót (a strictly private occurrence) mentioned in Heimskringla also occurred then, but I disagree; it's part of a series of events that begins at approximately Winternights, but must be later in the year to account for travel time. Either way, there is little reason to assume that this particular alfablót is characteristic of widespread contemporary customs, though it could be related to Freyr being worshiped at Winternights as mentioned before.

I'm going to isolate this for repetition because many heathens seem to have trouble with it: in sources founded primarily in Norwegian and Icelandic customs, the dísir tend to be singled out for worship around the time of Winternights, and this is where the term dísablót comes from. In sources founded primarily in Swedish traditions, the dísir seem to be singled out for worship in the late winter/spring, and this is the context we get the word disting (< dísaþing) from. These are two separate things, and neither seems to be universally "Norse." See the Terry Gunnell article I will link to at the end for more.

In more recent times in Iceland, veturnætur was also the time for making predictions about the winter through methods like observing the behavior of mice and birds. There was a tradition of "reading" the Milky Way (vetrarbraut, literally 'winter-path') from east to west, with light and dark spots meaning good or bad weather (there is apparently disagreement over which is which). Using sheep spleen and/or intestines to predict the weather seems to have also been done (consider that, since this was slaughter season, entrails would have been abundant).

There is some speculation that dísir and/or other invisible beings, especially female ones, were more pertinent or influential during the winter, and that Winternights on one hand, and the end of the winter on the other, are liminal times of transition into and out of this period. For this, as well as more detail on some of what I've already said above, see "Season of the Dísir: The Winter Nights, and the Dísablót in Early Medieval Scandinavian Belief" by Terry Gunnell.

For more further reading on the social role of holidays see An Arena for Higher Powers by Olof Sundqvist, for calendar stuff see Jul, disting och förkyrklig tideräkning by Andreas Nordberg (Swedish but with a substantial English summary at the end) and/or "The Festival Year: A Survey of the Annual Festival Cycle and its Relation to the Heathen Lunisolar Calendar" by Josh Rood.

Other sources for this post were almanak.hi.is, the actual printed Háskóli Íslands almanac, and Saga Daganna by Árni Björnsson.

[thorraborinn]

I started writing a response to an ask about how to figure out the timing for heathen celebrations. I meant to briefly describe several calendars, but I don't know that it's possible to really do that briefly, so I gave up. Here is the part I wrote for lunisolar timing.

There are fragments of evidence pointing to pre-Christian Germanic people telling time based on the moon cycles. There are 12 moon cycles in a year, plus a little extra. 12 moon cycles takes only about 354 or 355 days, so some 10 to 11 days shorter than a solar year (what we westerners think of as a "regular year"). Every so often, that difference adds up to a whole extra moon cycle. In the lunar Hijri calendar, also known as the Islamic calendar, that extra bit doesn't matter, they just let it roll, so that holidays seem to drift constantly earlier when compared to the Gregorian calendar. In a lunisolar Chinese or Hebrew calendar, they determine the month based on the moon cycle, but when that drift gets too far from the cycles of the sun, they correct it by adding an extra month to bring it back into alignment with the 365.25-day solar year. It's believed that this is what Germanic people did in the distant past. We don't actually have direct evidence of this as a complete system, but we do have a pretty good amount of indirect evidence. The most influential work on the subject is Jul, disting och förkyrklig tideräkning by Andreas Nordberg. The book is in Swedish, but it has a substantial English summary at the end. It's also the main source for "The Festival Year: A Survey of the Annual Festival Cycle and Its Relation to the Heathen Lunisolar Calendar" by Josh Rood, which is in English. Since we don't have direct evidence of this as a complete calendar, there are some differences in interpretation (like, say, whether to celebrate on new moons or full moons -- the dísablót that Egill attended in Norway was apparently under the new moon, based on the saga text), but this should be pretty close to most of them: the Yule-moon is the first full moon cycle that comes after the solstice. That means, on the solstice, whatever the moon phase is, you let that go all the way to a new moon, and then the yule moon starts. If the moon was a waning crescent at the solstice, then the Yule-moon comes early that year. If it was a new moon right before the solstice, then you have to wait almost a month for it to complete its full cycle, and only THEN does the yule-moon start. That means it can start even earlier than Christmas or as late as January 19ish. This year (2022) there's a new moon on December 23. That's almost as early as it can come. That means that after twelve moon cycles have passed, it won't make it all the way to the solstice 2023. Therefore, it starts a year (2024) with a leap month, and that leap month gets added not at the end, but in the middle of summer.

The year gets divided into quarters (with this year's dates, giving both new moon and first full moon):

midwinter new moon January 2 full moon January 17

beginning of summer (sumarmál) new moon April 1 full moon April 16

midsummer new moon June 28 full moon July 13

beginning of winter (veturnætur) new moon September 25 full moon October 9

[fjorn-wanders]

Do you worship the Gods and what is your routine when you do it ?

I do, although I have no set routine. I honor some gods (those that, to me, represent human qualities and behaviors) through my actions (academia, philosophy, writing, painting, etc.), and I honor other gods (those that, to me, represent the natural world around us) through a respect and appreciation for the world around me. There is some overlap, of course.

There are particularly ‘holy’ times of the year, which for me would be Veturnætur (Winter Nights) and Jól (Yule) in particular. I don’t quite have a springtime ‘holy’ day worked out yet, but I would like to have one for Baldr, at least. I’d like to expand that to eventually include more deities that I associate with springtime. I may also consider midsummer as a period for special devotion to the gods of justice and law (centered around when the Alþingi took place).

During these ‘holy’ times, I like to enjoy the outdoors, stories, and feasts. That may be the closest thing to a routine that I would have. Honestly, my routine for ‘worship’ is imbedded into my daily life; I worship them in everything that I do. That may not be the ‘best’ way, nor am I necessarily a ‘proper’ or ‘good’ Norse polytheist, but that’s what seems to be working for me.

As I read more Icelandic sagas, I may add more routines into my life, but, for now, I just go with the flow and let things happen as they will.

[lukabasyrovart-blog]

Happy #Halloween! Blessed #Samhain! Blessaður #Veturnætur! https://www.instagram.com/p/Bpn3SbslAnt/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=14s9t55roql6z

[thorraborinn]

Dísablót in Víga-Glúms saga

On the Icelandic festival calendar, tonight is the first night of winter, or the first night of vetrnætr (there is some debate as to whether it originally began on a Friday or Saturday, but it’s Saturday on the calendar in use today). Here is a very quick, rough, probably error-filled translation from Víga-Glúms saga (translated from the edition on Snerpa) about a dísablót attended by Glúmr. The weird tense changes are left from the original (this is very common in Old Norse texts).

A feast was prepared at vetrnætr and dísablót was held, and everyone should have this remembrance. Glúmr sits in his bed and doesn’t participate. And later in the evening when men had come there was so much revelry that for the sake of the celebration and meeting of friends it was like there were more people than there were. And that day when people had come to the party, Glúmr had not gone out to meet them nor offered to anyone to sit with him in his bed [note: these beds, rúm, are built into the outer wall of the hall in a little stall, not in a separate room, so he’s basically just sitting there visibly not participating and trying to be left alone].

And when men had come to eat it was said that a man had come to the farm with twelve men who was called Björn járnhaus (‘iron-head’). He was a great berserkr and was accustomed to coming to large parties and trying to incite words from people and then challenge them to hólmganga [that is, try to get someone to give him an excuse to challenge them to a fight].

Vigfúss asked everyone to hold their tongues and said “it’s less disgrace than dealing with more from him” and everyone promised this.

Björn went into the hall and talked with people and asked the man furthest out on the highest bench, whether he was as valiant as he, and he said it was far from the case. Then he asked each the same in turn until he had come before the öndvegi (the “high seat”). Everyone spoke their way out of the situation differently but it did not happen that anyone claimed to be as valiant as he was. And when he came before Vigfús then he asked where Vigfús knew of such a warlike man [as him] but he said that he didn’t know of Björn’s equal.

Then he said: “Well answered, and sensible as was to be expected. You are a man of great worth and your life has long gone according to your wishes and no disgrace has come to you or your honor. Now it’s good that I don’t need to do anything with you other than talk, but I’d like to ask if you think yourself my equal?”

He answers: “When I was a young viking and won myself a thing or two, I don’t know whether I might have been your equal then, but now time has passed and I am old and worn-out.”

He turned away then and went toward the outer bench and keeps asking everyone if they think they’re as valiant as him and none of them said that they were. Then he came to where Glúmr lay on his platform.

“Why is this man lying here,” said Björn, “but doesn’t sit?”

His benchmates answered and said that he was so stupid that [Björn] shouldn’t pay any attention to what [Glúmr] might say. Björn turned on his feet and said that he should sit up like the others and asked whether he was as valiant as he.

But Glúmr said that he didn’t need to deal with him and said he didn’t know anything about his valiance “and I don’t want have any interest in being your equal, because out in Iceland a mann would be called a fool for behaving like you do. But here have I known that all the best have held their words.” Then he leapt up and yanked off his helmet. Then he snatched up a fire-log and drove it between his shoulders so that he was bent over, and then again until he fell. And then when he tried to get on his feet he struck him on the head and continued like this until [Björn] was outside of the door.

And then when Glúmr wanted to take a seat Vigfúss came to the floor with everyone and he welcomed his kinsman, said that he’d [Glúmr] proven he was part of his [Vigfúss’s] family: “I shall now value you as someone who does us honor,” though he behaved at first so that he seemed not to be especially doughty, “so I wanted to wait until you showed the bravery of your family.” Now he leads him to his seat next to him.

Glúmr said he would accept the said even though he should have offered earlier.

Two days later Björn’s death is declared.

Pictured: Björn járnhaus. “You think you’re better than me?”