Hörgr

In Norse paganism, hörgr (plural "hörgar") was a type of altar, constructed of piled stones. It was used in sacrifices and perhaps in other ceremonies.

The term descends from common Germanic religion, continuing a Proto-Germanic "*har(u)gaz", attested in Old English word "hearg" (plural "heargas", surviving as the placename "Harrow" in England and as "Harge" in Sweden) and Old High German word "haruc" (plural "harugâ"). A possible cognate in Celtic "cairn", ultimately from the same root as "horn".

Jacob Grimm in his "Teutonic Mythology" lists glosses of "haruc" translating "fanum, delubrum" "shrine, sanctuary", lucus", "nemus" "grove, "temenos".The gloss "nemus plantavit: forst flanzôta, edo haruc, edo wih." "he planted a wood, or "haruc" or "wih" (Diut. 1, 492) suggesting that "haruc" like "wih" originally referred to a sacred grove.The "Lex Ripuaria" has preserved, evidently from heathen times, "harahus" "harrow-house" to designate a place of judgment, which was originally a wood. Anglo-Saxon has"heargtræf" "harrow-dwelling" (Beowulf 349) and "æt hearge" "at harrow" (Kemble 1.282). The Eddaic poem Völuspá speaks of the Æsir as builders of "hörg ok hof" "hörgr" and temple".

A possible use of the "hörgr" during a sacrifice would be to place upon it a bowl of the blood of an animal sacrificed to a Norse deity (e.g. a goat for Thor, a sow for Freyja, a boar for Freyr), then dipping a bundle of fir twigs into it and waving the bundle in the form of the "hammer-sign" to spatter the participants with the blood. This would consecrate the attendees to the ceremony, such as a wedding.Fact|date=May 2008

Like Judeo-Christian and other traditions, the Norse religion vested great spiritual significance in blood. The Eddaic poem Hyndluljóð speaks of a "hörgr" built to Freyja by Ottar: "hörg hann mér gerði hlaðinn steinum; nú er grjót þat at gleri orðit; rauð hann í nýju nauta blóði" "he built me a "hörgr" heaped with rocks; those stones are now turned to glass; he reddened it with fresh blood of cattle". The reference to glass may indicate the burning of fires on the stones.

According to a documented local tradition, this blood ceremony was maintained in secret, as late as the 19th century, at the mountain Trollkyrka, in the forest of Tiveden, Sweden.

ee also

*Blót
*Weoh
*Lác