Modresnach – The Mothers' Night

This is a Germanic/Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon annual commemoration, an Odinist Midwinter festival held approximately on this date, many practices of which can still be found in our Christmas traditions.

We know about it from the Venerable Bede, (c. 672 - 735) a medieval monk, author and scholar, whose best-known work is Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum. Writing about the customs of the pagan Anglo-Saxons, Bede mentions their practice of celebrating a holiday he called Modranicht or Modresnacht on the eve of Christmas. (Modresnach is another spelling and seems the most commonly used, at least on the Internet.) Bede, writing in 730, informs us that Modresnach was the most important pagan festival in 8th-Century Britain. Bede referred to this time of Yuletide celebration as 'Kilderdaag' -- the time of slaughtering (animals for the feast – often a pig) ...

Categories: christmas, calendar-customs