January’s Mid-Winter Feast Thorrablót: Not for Faint of Heart or Stomach

Thorrablót, often written without the accent in English, is Iceland’s midwinter feast, held during Thorri, the old Icelandic month that runs from late January to late February.

Imagine stepping out into a black January dawn to welcome winter itself. That, in Icelandic folk tradition, is how people greeted Thorri, the fourth month of winter in the old Icelandic calendar (it begins in late January by today’s calendar). In the best-known version of the custom, on the first morning, bondadagur or “husband’s day,” the man of the house rose early and welcomed Thorri, hopping around the house with one trouser leg on.

Tradition links the month’s name to a legendary King Thorri, son of Snaer (‘Snow’), whom medieval Norse texts place in the far north. Medieval sources mention the midwinter sacrifice called Thorrablót, but it faded after Iceland became Christian. Icelandic students revived it as a patriotic feast in the 19th century, and it became a nationwide tradition in the 20th. Some people today connect it with Thor, though that link is popular belief, not established history. Months of the Norse Calendar covers Thorri’s place in the year.

What’s on the Thorrablót Menu?

Today’s Thorrablót menu, called thorramatur, is a proud parade of old Icelandic preserved foods: fermented shark (hákarl), soured ram’s testicles, smoked lamb, dried fish, and sheep’s-head jelly. These are the foods that got Icelanders through centuries of hard winters. The buffet itself, though, is a modern invention; restaurants popularized it in the 1950s. No source records what the Viking Age feast actually served.

Today’s menu will likely include more palatable foods like sausage and dark rye bread. Revelers will also consume the local alcohol, Brennivín. This “burning wine,” produced only in Iceland, is 37 percent alcohol, and Icelanders serve it as an ice-cold shot. Some also call it “black death.”

After eating like a Viking, Icelandic celebrations usually involve singing, dancing, and playing games. More formal affairs may feature stage shows of music and poetry. (Asgard Alaska reminds you to drink responsibly and plan ahead with a designated driver if you plan to attend your own Thorrablót celebration.)

Month of Men

Thorri is traditionally the month of husbands, beginning with bondadagur, when wives treat their men. Anyone feeling left out needn’t worry. The next month, Góa, opens with konudagur, a day for honoring women, and Viking Women Celebration: Goublot tells that story. The feast that opens the winter, in October, is Vetrnætr, the “Winter Nights.”

For more feasts and seasons of the Norse year, join Axe and Anchor, Asgard Alaska’s Newsletter.