Last week we went to our local celebration of Viking Jule after missing the previous two years. 2020 didn’t happen, and in 2021 we were still too shell shocked, Gollum-like in our insularity, to come out for it. And it was pouring rain. This year, though, the weather was lovely, right down to a beautiful covering of snow.
In a traditional year–a good year, when the longship is in repair and someone is bold enough to steer it–the Saint Lucia bride is paddled down the fjord and met by an escort of Vikings with torches. They march her through the waterside park to the prepared bonfire, where the Viking King recites the Jule Proclamation. This is the part that always makes me choke up: Behold! The wheel of time has turned! He goes on to explain the significance of Jule, then the Vikings light the bonfire. Things get toasty, people realize that real fires give off real sparks, and that’s all.
Simple, beautiful, wistful, and a little goofy. I thought it would be a good start to this blog.
Frost and Fog 