Unusual Christmas tradition in Norway

Considering that Christmas is coming, I've decided to describe one of the most interesting traditions in Norway, associated nowadays with this special holiday, which is the Brewing of Christmas beer. In fact, the practice dates back to the pre-Christian times. It's not, therefore, linked to any religion in particular.

At the very beginning, at least three neighbours were supposed to gather together and bring a certain amount of beer, which they later drank to honour Odin, Njård and Frøy. They did it also to bring the sun back again. It also served to commemorate the deceased ones and heroes. Afterwards, Christianity took over this custom and the tradition became extremely important in a process of the Christianization of Norway.

Oddly enough, farmsteads, which were obligated to prepare Christmas beer and didn't take care of it, were severely punished. It was either a loss of a beloved farmstead or an exile from the country. Which is, in my opinion, the punishment adequate for the delinquency. The law anticipated that it was obligatory to use as many kilograms of grains as the householder and his wife weigh together.

Currently, the Christmas beer is mostly connotated as a dark and strong beer. In Norwegian culture, it's one of the most significant custom during Christmas. And the sales always raise during those days. So... skål!

source: https://www.medieval.eu/the-royal-drinking-horns-of-norway/

(The picture of the royal drinking horn. Traditionally, Norwegians were drinking the famous Christmas beer from a horn.)

Comments

Sleep Paralysis

Today I've wanted to take a closer look at sleep paralysis and all the questions connected to this subject. Unfortunately, this isn't something new for me as I was exposed to this sort of occurrence many times before. From my own experience, I can say that this is a living nightmare. I'm able to fall asleep, but then suddenly I'm starting to feel conscious, and I can have my eyes opened, but then I'm still half asleep, so I don't have any control over my mind. Even though my mind is awake, my body is still paralysed. I couldn't distinguish all the phenomena before, but it seems that I passed all three stages of sleep paralysis. One of them is called "incubus" - but the definition is quite different from what usually is associated with "the incubus" known as an evil spirit. During this kind of paralysis, I witness a feeling of suffocation, experienced by the unknown energy. The second stage can be known as "the intruder", this o...

Urban Nation Museum

Guten Morgen/Tag/Abend or whichever time of the day it is. Every cloud has a silver lining, so has my blog. Inspired by a recent lesson, I decided to share my fave museum's story. Last year, about the same time I took a quick city break to explore some art in our neighbour's country with my friend. Berlin seemed to be the best option for us and it appeared to have many lovely corners. Nevertheless, it was the Urban Nation Museum that we enjoyed the most. First of all, the entrance is totally free of charge which was important for us, 2 broken girls (pun intended). However, there was a possibility to donate some money inside. And I think that's quite a nice solution since murals that decorate the building outside are often changed. We had a chance to spot this one which was designed by Dima Rebus from Russia. However, the inside was compelling as well. There was an initiative to create some street and urban's pieces due to vandalism which was frequently reflected well......

Harley Quinn - the cartoon

Hello dears (or deer, whatever you prefer)! So, as we have Saint Nicholas Day and the holiday's season can be considered as open, I've chosen to write about a cartoon, Harley Quinn from 2019, which is rather a gift for adults who still enjoy comics and superhero movies / animations. I find this animated TV series the best what has happened to DC since Batman's trilogy created by Christopher Nolan. There are many reasons why this cartoon is sooo good. But first of all, voice actors made an incredible job by bringing the animated characters to life. Among them are Lake Bell who dubbed Poison Ivy, one of the most iconic characters on the show and Alan Tudyk, who (in my opinion) impersonated Joker even better than Mark Hamill who is widely known to dub Joker in several animations. Moreover, the show is so well written, which isn't that common nowadays. It presents Harley Quinn's life after she separated ways with Joker and her attempt of being an independent woman who w...

Voodoo City

Search This Blog