Ægirsgilde

ᛅᚽᛐᚱᛋᚽᛐᛚᛑᛐ Ægirsgilde (/ˈɛaːjɪrsɡ̊ilə/r) Feast of Ægir
File:International exhibition outside Concurs de castells de Tarragona 2016.jpg Celebrating the Ægirsgilde, Asgård
Official name	Ægirsgilde
Observed by	Northern Believers
Type	Nordic
Significance	Marks the beginning of Spring, the return of fertility and the joy of sailing
Celebrations	4 day celebration in the streets, waterways and homes of Asgård, culminating with the running of the bulls, sacrifice to Ægir and Ægirsjump
Observances	Godrshal Feasts, Divine Dancing
Date	3rd Thursday of April till the 3rd sunday of april.
Related to	Winter Solstice

The Ægirsgilde (Runic: ᚽᛐᚱᛋᚽᛐᛚᛑᛐ, IPA; /ˈɛaːjɪrsɡ̊ilə/r) is an important religious festival in the Nordic Faith religious festival traditionally observed in the city of Asgård from the 3rd tuesday of April to the 3rd sunday. The festival marks the official end of winter and beginning of spring. Traditionally this time has been marked by icebergs from the northern part of the Váli Peninsula sailing down to Sjealand where they either melted in the spring heat or where chopped to pieces. The holiday is specifically celebrated in Asgård, where it signifies the marriage of the city to the sea and the life which the sea brings to the world.

Though celebrated across all of Sjealand the festival is specifically tied to Asgård, which becomes home to a significant pilgrimage each year as believers and non-believers from across the world travel to take part. The Asgård festival is divided into 4 days running from the precise start of Thursday till the precise end of Sunday, with most non-essential shops closing down for the duration, and many events taking place in the city culminating with the Running of the Bulls into Ægir's embrace and the Ægirsjump, a 18m freefall from the Statue of Ægir, in the eustary of Kongeelven.

Traditionally the festival is celebrated by many breweries of the city by either serving free alcohol or releasing special brands reserved only for the Ægirsgilde. On average each citizen of Asgård consumes 11 unites of alcohol a day for the duration of the festival, with the police ramping up local security in the days surrounding the festival.

Northern Believers stand by the convinction that the festival echoes the feasts that their gods hold with the sea Jötunn Ægir, who while not a god is seen as the patron of Asgård and protector of all sailing peoples.

Name

The name Ægirsgilde is an amalgamation of the name Ægir and the Tynic word gilde, meaning feast. The name Ægir is the name of a Sea-Jotunn in the Nordic Faith who is both a friend of the gods, and the primary host for divine feasts in his underwater longhouse. According to the legend Hymiskviða, Ægir gained a mile-deep kettle for brewing ale and mead in, signifying his place at the centre of the gods celebrations. This coupled with his reputation for riches, as in old Sjealand wealth came from overseas trade, made him the prime religious figure for the booming city of Asgård.

When the event was begun as thus the name was chosen in celebration for the protector of the city.

Sacrificial gifts, Nordvakt, Sjealand.

In Swastria

In Swastria the Ægirsgilde is also celebrated, however as a christian and cultural holiday, instead of the religious holiday it is in Sjealand, as to shed the pagan light from the festival, it is called Forårsfestivalen in Däneland and Frühlingsfest in the remainder of the country.

Timing

From its inception in 1417 the festival was planned as the midpoint between the two winters solstices. In the old nordic calendar, the festival always fell at the beginning of Fâremåned (13th of April), however with the adoption of the Nordanian Calendar in 1710 it came to be seen that the festival no longer fell in the middle of the winter and summer solstices and instead of moving the festival further back in the year, it was instead chosen that it would remain in april, instead taking place from the 3rd thursday of april to the 3rd sunday.

In Swastria most tynics follow the Sjealandian timing, while most Teutons instead treat it as an extension of easter. As such two distinct timings of the festival has appeared, but the Sjealandian variant is the most popular and most visited.

History

Ægir

Ægir, a Sea-Jotunn (Tynic: Havjætte) is one of the few Jotunns, treated as an equal of the Asir and Vanir as he is both the wealthiest person on the pantheon besides Odin, and the one with the most famous feasts. He is often summoned to bless both commercial ventures alongside Njord, aswell as feasts and parties. According to common belief the presence of Ægir at a party will serve to greatly enhance both the mood and the experience.

His primary duty is however as the bringer of wealth through trade. Much of Sjealandian history has been shaped by the sea as its only land-border is the mountain chain Sydfjeldene to the south. Since its unification through the Sjealandian Unification Wars the nation has looked to the sea as a way of expansion and wealth. This was only confirmed in the aftermath of the First Tuthinan Expedition which brought immense wealth and prosperity to Sjealand, as it gained a trade monopoly on trade with The Westerisles through its strong and effective navy. This trade was part of the reason that Asgård grew to be the primary trading hub in western Nordania, and the wealthiest city on the Tynic Sea. As this wealth and strength had come from the sea, both the god Njord and the Jotunn Ægir, gained a strong following in the city, with Ægir eventually winnin out as his wife Ran represented the Sjealandian presence and dominace of the Nordanian Thrall Trade.

The decades following the Northern Crusades and the loss of the Southern Kingdom to the Teutonic Crusaders of Swastria only served to cement Ægirs position as patron of Asgård, who managed to retain its wealth through the disastrous wars, mainly thanks to its expanding trade-routes to Akai and mainland Borea.

Old Festival

At the festivals inception in 1417 by Borgmester Tingvald Nålebo it was merely a small sacrifice to Ægir, a single golden armring thrown into the Kongeelven river and carried out to the sea as a pledge of alliegance to Ægir, as rings play an important position in both Norcism and Sjealandian Culture. Soon singers and Skjald's began participating in the ritual to give it a certain flair, and it became a heavily segmented and ritualized event, far from the city-wide festival it is today.

Traditionally unwed men and women would throw themselves into the river and the sea when the rings passed on its small raft, hoping themselves to gain marriage through the city's marriage to Ægir.

File:AsgardPilgrimage.jpg

Path of Pilgrimage, Asgård.

Modern Festival

In the Golden age of Sjealand immense public works were undertaken in Asgård, with much of the old medieval city being destroyed in favour of large open avenues and boulevards along with Historicist and Classical buildings. Along with these a project was put forward to construct a statue of Ægir at the mouth of the Kongeelven River. At first it was only meant to be a small statue on a manmade island, but the final draft was that of a 30m tall upper body extending from the sea, a crown of driftwood on its head, its right hand holding a fishing spear, and the left arm and hand extended out towards the city.

Construction began in 1802 and ended in 1814, with a large unveiling on the day of the 1814 Ægirsgilde. In celebration the Archking had arranged for several circus artists to do spectacular dives from the left arm to the sea, a fall of 18m. This was repeated the year after, and soon it became a tradition for the youths of the city to jump from the arm to prove their merit and courage. In total since its inception there have been 24 recorded fatalities of people jumping from the statue, 3 of which hit the statue and not the sea.

General Rituals

Outside the general state and city-sponsored events of the festival, most Godrshals of the nation and city, hold not only feasts and blót's to commemorate the event but also religious rituals. The most important of these are of course the blót, where the believers of the local Gudjar meet either at the home of the Gudje or in the Godrshal where several animals are slaughtered as sacrifice to the gods, a spear of Ægir is drown on the foreheads of the believer with the blood of the animals and ritualistic chanting occurs. Following this each believer will take a sip from a flagon of holy mead before meeting in the central room where the feast occurs. The slaughtered animals are eaten and after dinner the youths of the Gudjar commence entertainment.

This entertainment is usually musical in nature, as Sjealandian folk and religious music is played on Nyckelharpas, Violins, Ritualistic Drums and Lutes. To this music some men and women take part in the event called Divine Dancing moving in erratic patterns to the music after ingesting certain mushrooms and smoking hallucigenic herbs. Lightly dressed and covered in markings the youths perform several jumps, trickes and fast-paced dance moves in sync with the music so to recieve a connection with the gods through their movement. This usually ends when two men, chosen before the event, begin the dance-battle, where they perform a ritualistic mixture of fighting and dancing in competition for the affection of a girl from the Gudjar. In modern times this is instead the right to chose any dance partner from the gudjar during the following dance where men and women dance together.

These dances mark the end of the Blót, usually around midnight and after it has ended it is tradition for the participants to ignite fireworks, and lit large fires on hills or mountaintops.

Swastria

File:BonfireSwastria.jpg

Bonfires are an integral part of Forårsfestivalen in Däneland.

Rituals and traditions within the festival differ between Däneland and the rest of the confederation. In Däneland, the Forårsfestivalen is a statutory public holiday and occurs on the same day as the festival in Sjealand. Since 1880, the Church of Däneland has held a dawn mass during sunrise, attended by the Grand Duke and Tynic nobility at the Grand Cathedral in Hvidby. The mass is the largest religious event in the city and is attended by thousands of people who pack Saint Ansgar Square outside the cathedral. Most of the day is spent with family and friends, and thousands of people pack the country's open air markets set up in almost every village, town and city. Many stalls sell forårsbolle, a sweet roll filled with whipped cream and covered in icing. Bonfires are an integral part of the festivities in Däneland as they are often a place where everyone in local communities come together and interact. Most smaller towns and villages have a bonfire atop the largest hill in town or in a large, flat area. In coastal areas, bonfires are lit on beaches. The bonfires are lit during the early evening and many families often bring food and drink, with evening picnics being common. At night, many larger cities have fireworks displays in place of traditional bonfires.

In addition to traditional celebrations, Hvidby and Haberslund have other ways to mark the festival. Hvidby holds the largest concert in Swastria that is free to attend, and showcases local bands as well as international acts. Haberslund holds a pop concert known as Party in the Park and attracts thousands of visitors every year.

In the rest of Swastria, most smaller towns and villages have localised celebrations. The day is not recognised as a statutory holiday, so most celebrations are held during the evening and nights. As in Däneland, many places in Swastria have communal bonfires as well as other evening and night events. Some larger towns and cities also hold night markets. In many port cities, a Blessing of the Fleet is part of the celebrations and is often accompanied by fireworks.

Asgård Festival

The Asgård Festival is both the oldest and the largest of the Ægirsgilder around the world. In the eyes of many people it is also the only true Ægirsgilde, and each year tens of thousands go on pilgrimages to Asgård so to experience the Ægirsgilde in the capital. In 2015 around 780,000 guests from both Sjealand and abroad checked into Asgård during the 4 days of the festival, some only there for 1 day and others for longer periods. As a result most hotels, shops and other businesses of Asgård see a massive spike in profits during the Ægirsgilde. Some criticism has been leveled towards some of them, as it has become a common occurrence to raise prices in anticipation of the Ægirsgilde, and lowering them again after in effort to increase profits.

File:Bulls.jpg

Running of the bulls.

Thursday

On midnight, as the date changes from Wednesday to Thursday all religious buildings of Asgård start ringing bells, gongs and fireworks are fired from the Asgård Palace. These events mark the beginning of the festival, and often young revellers already began celebrating in the streets of the city at midnight, but in general most people don't.

On the morning of Thursday most people will eat a breakfast consisting of oatmeal pourage sprinkled with butter and sugar. At the side of the dish will be served smoked salmon and a glass of Akvavit for both children and adult. After this a light is lit at the house-altar and people continue with their day until 3pm, which is when all fortresses of Asgård fire a 9-shot cannon salute signalling the beginning of the true festival. After this beer-tents, Ølstuer, and public serving places open up with either free alcohol or significantly lowered prices. Most of Asgård's older breweries like Tuborg, Ramsland Group, Royal Sjealandian and Asgård 1756. All of these breweries have special brews sold only during the Ægirsgilde, and typically start being sold around 4 o'clock pm.

At night the cities are lit by fires and other artificial lights, bustle with commotion as revelers, students and tourists celebrate in the streets. The Ægir-regatta also takes place at during the evening as students from Sjealandian and foreign universities compete for the prestigious trophy made by corals. Sober students from the universities also stage fencing matches at the grounds of Asgård Palace and the universities. Both training matches and real duels are fought.

Friday

When Friday officially opens at 8am concerts occur around the city, with many different bands and genres playing at the hundreds of outdoor and indoor venues in the city. In the inner city the Godrshal and the Asgård Grand Temple also stage mass psychedelic divine dances and other rituals during the day, where most people are given leave from work. Traditionally any male still working during the festival has to wear the Sjealandian longcoat and women have their hair tied in two buns and must wear red tunics and blue pants.

By the river-side and sea-side promenades sea-food festivals are held where fishers from around Sjealand and the world serve and sell different kinds of seafood caught around Asgård and the world. Houseboats anchored and moored to the promenade act as floating restaurants and eating areas, and many others moor large platforms which are used as dancing or musical spaces. Besides the seafood its normal to drink more aquavit or the Ægir-beer.

Later in the day people dress up in elaborate costumes and parade through the city alongside sacrificial bulls who have runic spells painted on their sides. During the parade divine dancers and drummers march in the front of the line and their erratic movements and dances set the speed of the rest of the dancers. The Gudstaler also take part in this, dragging an aquarium with a large fish all the way to the Altar of Ægir where it is thrown into the pool. The fish stays there until the Archking eats it during sunday.

Saturday

On Saturday the concerts and events from Friday carry over and the festival reopens with a horse-riding display at Kongens Torv plaza where riders paint their horses blue to mirror sea-horses and joust with mock fishing spears. Others perform tricks on horseback and in chariots. It is on Saturday when the destination for the Ægirstogt is announced along with the winners of the Ægirslodtrækning. With these done the winners are sailed to the Palace Isle on the city's golden barge where long tables with seafood are set up and where they can dine.

Meanwhile sailing competitions are held out in the Grønnebugt bay, both large sailing ships and the smaller professional rowers from Friday's regattas. At several points of the river swimming races and competitions are also arranged for all ages including a grueling 4km swimming competition throughout the entire river, the winner of which gains first class tickets to the ritual on Sunday.

It is on Friday that ritualistic bullfights are held where people evade the bulls on pre-made fields. Professional bullfighters are given a sword and compete in evading the bull in the arena by the way of jumps and other maneuvers before ultimately killing them. After this the bull is eaten at the many open buffets throughout the city.

File:FestivalRiverside.jpg

Riverside view of the Ægirsgilde.

Sunday

Sunday is the penultimate day of the Ægirsgilde, and opens with the reigning monarch parading through the city on horseback alongside his family and several prominent citizens and noblemen. Upon arriving at the Grand Temple the Gudstaler blesses the monarch, and together they present the chasers for the coming sacrifice. 5 sacrificial bulls are unveiled, weighed down by iron or stone weights. They are then released and are free to run through the Avenuen pedestrian zone of Asgård. Behind it the chasers on horseback chase the bulls, annoying them with long spears so to make them run faster. Along the route some people run part of the route with the bulls behind them, so to prove their bravery.

When reaching the river, the chasers start attacking the bulls, driving them into the river where the weights drag them down and the drown as a sacrifice to Ægir. As the bulls die, the monarchy and nobility board the Golden Barge, and lead a procession of boats and ships down the river towards the statue of Ægir, there the Gudstaler throws a ring of drifwood into the sea, after which other citizens throw flower-wreaths into it aswell, to prove the marriage to the sea. Together the Monarch and Gudstaler then hold hand and let themselves be pushed from the barge into the sea, to embrace Ægir.

As they resurface from the water, the days biggest event begins as those allowed begin jumping off the stretched out hand of the Statue of Ægir, spinning or doing tricks while they fall. Thousands of people complete the test, surfacing to some of the largest applauses of the city, and prizes are given to those who made the best jumps. As the last person, usually a professional, jumps, cannon-salutes, fireworks and music erupts across the city as the ritual has been finished and the marriage-pact renewed.

Following this the monarch aswell as certain invitees celebrate in the palace, while the palace grounds are open to any and all revelers. The festival officially ends at midnight on Sunday, however many continue celebrating into the night.

Nordic Tradition

In the Northern tradition the Ægirsgilde marks the official end of winter, and the rejuvination of the life that the sea brings to Sjealand. By renewing their pact with Ægir and honouring him and the gods, the city and the country make sure to maintain bountiful catches at sea and favourable trade-winds, and even if few still believe in gods, elves and trolls it also marks an important cultural festival in Sjealand, and is one of Asgård's longest periods of profits. The Ægirsgilde celebrates the cogs that keeps the machine of society running. Cooperation, faith, inderdependence, love and courage. It teaches the Northern Believers that worldly desires are as true as theological desires and serves as the binding link between the believers and the gods.

Sacrifice to the Gods

While the state and faith themselves perform massive sacrifices during the festival, including the around 150 bulls slaughtered during the 4 days in Asgård, there is also a tradition for private sacrifices, bound by strict religious rules.

The faithful opens the sacrifice by lighting candles, 9 in total, before calling upon Ægir and the gods they are sacrificing to. A small glass of seawater is then consumed before the faithful spits it out again in a wooden bowl. The faithful proceeds to one by one dip the candles in the water, shutting their light before lifting the bowl above their head and chanting their prayer 3 times, the water is the discarded. Proceeding, the faithful brings fourth their sacrifice and places it on the altar, taking a bite from each food-item they are sacrificing. As the sacrifice has been tasted, the ritual then continues with the faithful lighting a small fire in the altar and placing the sacrifice in there, writing down a small wish on a piece of paper with runes and throwing it in the fire aswell.

The faithful then proceeds to put a lid on the fire before turning to each of the cardinal directions and bowing. The ritual then ends with the faithful chanting the same prayer 3 times again.