Hörgr
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In Norse paganism, hörgr was a type of altar, constructed of piled stones. It was used in sacrifices and perhaps in other ceremonies.
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.
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, and when it was "reddened" with blood, she burned the stones to glass.
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.
[edit] The word
The word hörgr is the origin of modern place names such as Harrow in England and Harge in Sweden. It is cognate with the Old English word hearg and the Old High German word haruc'.
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