The Vikings did not celebrate Hallowe’en or the Celtic Samhain holiday. They did have an important festival this time of year, called Vetrnætr (Winter Nights). While there is scanty information in the primary sources, what can be distilled paints a fascinating picture.

The Norse calendar was based on a lunar system rather than the solar system we use now. Their year had two seasons, summer and winter. The months were (and still are) called måned (moons,) and lasted from one moon to the next. Winter began sometime in October—perhaps on the full moon. This first month of winter was known as Gormánuður, slaughter month, when the animals who would not be over-wintered were slaughtered and their meat preserved.

Winter Nights took place over the first three days of Gormánuður. Rituals were performed, such as the Álfablót, a sacrifice thanking the álfar, the spirits of male ancestors. Freyr, (his name means lord), the god of peace and plenty, was, as his name implies, the lord of the álfar, and he was honored in this sacrifice. Another ritual, the Dísablót, was also held at this time. It was a sacrifice to the Dísir, the spirits of female ancestors who provided protection to their families. Freyr’s sister, Freyja, (whose name means lady) likely ruled over them. Primary sources mention these sacrifices in various seasons, and so were likely held more than once a year.

In medieval times, a notched stick called a primstav was used to track the days and what needed to be done around the farm. Primstav specimens found were in the shape of a sword, one side for summer, the other for winter. Symbols were carved at certain points on the stick for feast days as well as dates for planting, weeding, harvesting, etc. The only examples we have are from Christian times, though it seems very likely they were used in pagan times as well. These primstav were used up until the 1800’s as a kind of farmer’s almanac.

Though the Vikings apparently did not dress up in costumes for Winter Nights, they believed plenty of supernatural creatures such as the álfar and dísir, land spirits (vaettir), the walking dead (draugr), grave-mound dwellers (haugbui) populated the countryside.

Despite the scanty information that has come down to us, we can be sure that this time of year was magical in ancient Scandinavia.