Symbel
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- See Symbel (band) for the British band.
Symbel(OE) or sumbel(ON) was an important Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian community drinking ritual. Symbel was always conducted indoors, usually in a chieftain's hall. Symbel involved a formulaic ritual which was more solemn and serious than mere drinking or celebration. The primary elements of symbel are drinking ale or mead from a horn, speech making (which often included formulaic boasting and oaths), and gift giving. Eating and feasting were specifically excluded from symbel, and no alcohol was set aside for the gods or other deities in the form of a sacrifice.[1]
The host of the symbel was called the symbelgifa. One of the officiants of symbel was the thyle, who challenged and questioned those who made boasts or oaths. It was the thyle's duty to defend the luck of the community. Oaths said over the symbel-horn were seen as binding and affecting the luck and wyrd of all in attendance. Another role commonly attested for during symbel was that of the scop or skald, who ritually recited genealogies, folklore and metrical poetry. The alcoholic drink was served by women or alekeepers, the first round usually poured by the lady of the house.
The symbel ritual is preserved in Beowulf, the Heliand, the Dream of the Rood, Lokasenna and several other medieval texts.
Linguistically, the term is derived from the Proto-Germanic *sumlan "banquet", continuing *sm-lo-, i.e. "congregation", (see copulative a). Some variant spellings are sumble, symle and Icelandic sumbl.
Modern adherents of the reconstructionist religions Theodism and Ásatrú continue to practice the ritual of symbel, which is one of the most important ritual observances of their religion, in addition to Blót.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Bauschatz pp.74-75
[edit] References
- Bauschatz, Paul C.. The Well and the Tree: World and Time in Early Germanic Culture. Univ of Massachusetts Press. ISBN 0-87023-352-1.
- Glosecki, Stephen O. (1989). Shamanism and Old English Poetry. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 0-8240-5952-2.
- Opland, Jeff (1980). Anglo-Saxon Oral Poetry: A Study of the Traditions. Yale Univ Press. ISBN 0-300-02426-6.
- Pollington, Stephen (2003). The Mead-Hall: The Feasting Tradition in Anglo-Saxon England. Anglo-Saxon Books. ISBN 1-898281-30-0.
