New Life Traditions of Skyrim

Dear Brenius,

My travels from the docks of Solitude to the great library of the College of Winterhold have reached a snag. Heavy snows have kept us stuck at the base of the Kastav pass, well-provisioned, but certainly not going anywhere, especially with a heavy merchant caravan. This comes, naturally, just in time for the New Life Festival, so many of the guards and traders would rather be home with family, instead of camped in a snowy, desolate mountain range, as would I. However, many of our party, mostly Nords, were more than happy to talk to me about the traditions of their native holds, to tell stories of home.

Most of my companions agree that the festival is called Wut Sulle Yul, though Heorthan, a Hjaal, says that in his hold it is Jol Kithrun. The best translation I have managed to wrangle from my sources here is, "Days of the (for?) Old-fire", and for the Hjaals, "Fire-feast". The theme is clear- most of the traditions described focus heavily on fire and the hearth, as one might expect in this cold, wintery land.

Froa, a guard who joined us in Dawnstar, spoke of the Yulkyr, a tradition where the village's prize bull is decked out in a white sheet with bells, blue ribbons and evergreen branches tied to it's horns. It is driven by a man painted up like a giant, with a staff traditionally carved out of whale-bone, called the Snjorjarl, who is in turn followed by seven other "giants", the Snjorthegns. They go house to house in the village, singing songs and performing skits in exchange for mead, and take a little bit of the hearth-embers from each home they visit. Froa claims the bull is to honor Kyne, and that in olden days it would be sacrificed to her; but that these days "only orcs and Reachmen sacrifice animals." (I simply smiled and said nothing.)

In the Lower Yorgrim, the valley we have just departed, a popular if foolhardy tradition is that of the Iskbjornbath, the infamous "Snow-Bear Plunge". Nords with little care for their extremities go to visit remote pools and dive into the freezing water. Having proved their hardiness beyond doubt, they dry off by a bonfire with their fellows, and have a feast, typically of roast ox. The feast usually runs all night- as the embers burn low, the first person to see the first sunrise of the new year shouts, "Sulin er haekath!", to which is replied, "Vith erd haekathir ennik!". The participants make a lot noise with bullroarers and horns, and continue to feast and make merry for most of New Life Day.

Heorthan, our Hjaalic merchantman, described what he called the Jollisgeat. New Life is one of the two mustering days for the Fyrd, the Hjaalic military guard in which all men and women of age and ability are honor-bound to serve. Effectively, it serves as a festival for the whole, admittedly small, population of the Hold, who descend on the valley of Lainalten for Heorthan's Jol Kithrun. Much of the festival consists of marching displays and tests of strength between different champions, but the main event is the Jollisgeat, where a giant straw goat is constructed in the valley plain. Half the Fyrd is set to defend the goat, armed with sheilds and sticks- the other half is tasked with burning it down, because nothing in Skyrim is done by half measures.

A similar tradition is held in Winterhold, wherein the villagers construct a large wooden raft shaped like a traditional Nord longship. People are encourged to leave a token of their hopes for the coming year in the prow, and tokens of their regrets from the past year in the aft. The raft is then set ablaze and pushed into the Sea of Ghosts. Traditional folklore speaks of the Isfifl, seven snow-elf brothers who sneak about in the week leading up to the festival, causing trouble. Squads of people dressed as the Isfifl go door to door singing for mead, and are chased by opposing squads dressed as Ysgramor and his companions.

One of our guards, who hails from Windhelm, mentioned a story about Ysgramor and the Snow-Sorceress, though when I pressed him for it, he told me to bugger off til morning, and went to sleep.

All of my companions agreed that the traditional New Life greeting was something like "Yulkon Brodfad Ko Hofkahin", meaning approximately, "Fire-light and Kin-warmth in your house". They all also mentioned that while it was important to make some offering of mead and fruit so the gods would bless the new year, it was just as important to leave honey cakes filled with valerian and other "sleep-herbs" by the old Nord tombs and mounds. They were all evasive as to why, but eventually muttered, "to keep the dragon asleep," before making a quick gesture to ward off evil.

As I sit here wrapped in furs on a snowbank, I hope this letter finds you well and your family hearty and full of cheer. I wish you and our colleagues at the University the best new year.

Yulkon Brodfad Ko Hofkahin

Caoran Fiascian