Horg“þeir er hǫrg ok hof hátimbroðo”“Shrines and temples they tim
Horg“þeir er hǫrg ok hof hátimbroðo”“Shrines and temples they timbered high”- VöluspáA horg (Old Norse “hǫrgr”) is a sacrificial site or a form of altar in pre-Christian times in the Nordic countries and which roughly refers to a "stone pile".In the poem Hyndluljóð, the goddess Frøya (Freyja) speaks favorably of Ottar (Óttar) for having worshiped her so faithfully by using a horg. Frøya details that the horg is constructed of a heap of stones and that Ottar often reddened these stones with sacrificial blood in dedication to her. Snorre Sturlason states that the horg is used in the veneration of the Åsynjene (female gods).In the poem Vafþrúðnismál, it is also stated that many a horg and hov were dedicated to Njord (Njörðr).A horg is considered different to a hov (from the Old Norse hof), commonly called a “temple”. A rough simplification is that horg were for outdoor rituals and hov for indoors worship.Many modern day heathens within Scandinavia continue to use a stone set as a focal point for rituals conducted outdoors to this day. -- source link
#asatru#ásatrú#åsatro#forn sed#forn sidr#nordisk sed#norse heathenry#norse paganism#frøya#freyja#temple#shrine#pagan altar