The gate of the year

Illustration from the manuscript SÁM 66, of the XVIII century, now in the Árni Magnússon Institute, Reykjavík, Iceland.
The picture shows Heidrún, the goat which browse the leaves of the tree that stands in the Valhöll, Odin’s hall in the world of the gods: “the she-goat called Heidrún stands up above Valhöll, and bites the buds off the branches of the tree that is very famous called Léradhr. But out of her teats runs mead, so that she fills a stoop every day, which is so great that all the champions are full-drunken out of it” (Snorri, Gylfaginning, 39). The mead was an intoxicant drink, which donated the knowledge to poets and seers. Originally, it was produced by the Dwarfs, and was obtained by the Æsir gods. Odin, in fact, managed to seize it in the Land of the Giants. The champions cited by Snorri are the einherjar (“lone fighters”), the warriors fallen in battle and chosen by Odin to dwell in the Valhöll, waiting for the final fight which shall be unleashed at the end of the world.
Among the Celts, the goat was regarded as a sacred animal and was frequently slaughtered during the sacrifices. Its main characteristic was sexual potency, represented by the billygoat: the image of Saint Patrick, patron of Ireland, as a goatherd evidences, on the one hand, the superposition of the Christian Saint upon the sacred animal of the Celtic population, and, on the other hand, symbolizes probably the control Christianity tried to impose on the sexual conduct and the suppression of pagan beliefs. These were often demonized, attributing to the Devil the horns and legs of a goat. The symbolism of the goat survives, in Irish folklore, in the figure of the pooka, a fairy being with the capacity to change his shape and who is often seen in the likeness of a goat. The Welsh variant, pwca, appears under the name of Puck, the mischievous elf with goat-like appearance, in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Still nowadays, in the town of Kilorglin, South-Western Ireland, is held, in mid-August, the Puck-Fair, a harvest festival during which a white male goat is elected king, with the name of “Puck King”, and displayed on a platform during the festival. The feast has been documented at least since 1613, although it is not possible to demonstrate a continuity with the Celtic pre-Christian past (Monaghan 2004).

[Image: http://bifrost.it/GERMANI/Schedario/Heidhrun.html]




Animals

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Illustration from the manuscript SÁM 66, of the XVIII century, now in the Árni Magnússon Institute, Reykjavík, Iceland. The picture shows Heidrún, the goat which browse the leaves of the tree that stands in the Valhöll, Odin’s hall in the world of the gods: “the she-goat called Heidrún stands up above Valhöll, and bites the buds off the branches of the tree that is very famous called Léradhr. But out of her teats runs mead, so that she fills a stoop every day, which is so great that all the champions are full-drunken out of it” (Snorri, Gylfaginning, 39). The mead was an intoxicant drink, which donated the knowledge to poets and seers. Originally, it was produced by the Dwarfs, and was obtained by the Æsir gods. Odin, in fact, managed to seize it in the Land of the Giants. The champions cited by Snorri are the einherjar (“lone fighters”), the warriors fallen in battle and chosen by Odin to dwell in the Valhöll, waiting for the final fight which shall be unleashed at the end of the world. Among the Celts, the goat was regarded as a sacred animal and was frequently slaughtered during the sacrifices. Its main characteristic was sexual potency, represented by the billygoat: the image of Saint Patrick, patron of Ireland, as a goatherd evidences, on the one hand, the superposition of the Christian Saint upon the sacred animal of the Celtic population, and, on the other hand, symbolizes probably the control Christianity tried to impose on the sexual conduct and the suppression of pagan beliefs. These were often demonized, attributing to the Devil the horns and legs of a goat. The symbolism of the goat survives, in Irish folklore, in the figure of the pooka, a fairy being with the capacity to change his shape and who is often seen in the likeness of a goat. The Welsh variant, pwca, appears under the name of Puck, the mischievous elf with goat-like appearance, in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Still nowadays, in the town of Kilorglin, South-Western Ireland, is held, in mid-August, the Puck-Fair, a harvest festival during which a white male goat is elected king, with the name of “Puck King”, and displayed on a platform during the festival. The feast has been documented at least since 1613, although it is not possible to demonstrate a continuity with the Celtic pre-Christian past (Monaghan 2004). [Image: http://bifrost.it/GERMANI/Schedario/Heidhrun.html]