Calendar of Church Feast and Fast Days
The ecclesiastical calendar below combines the information given in the OSw, ODan, OGu, OFar, OIce and ONorw laws. The language of the last three of these is throughout recorded as ON. The dates given are those known from the medieval Catholic calendar, supplemented by information from current practice. Where a saint was celebrated on a number of days in the year, the date(s) given derive either from a specific statement in the law, or from the context. Some of the dates given differ from those now current in England and these have been noted. The English equivalents given here are those that are most often used currently, whereas the actual translations employed by the individual editors of the laws are not consistent. The latter can be found in the body of the lexicon.
Ref: Lithberg and Wessén 1939, 75–113.
| Date or extent of feast where more than one day; range of dates for the feast, where it is movable | Feast name in the Old Norse Laws | Language | (Standard) English translation and explanatory notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| movable: 27th November–3rd December | advent | ODan, OSw | Advent |
| 6th December | nikulásmessa | ON | Feast of St Nicholas |
| 7th December | ambrósiusmessa | ON | Feast of St Ambrose |
| 13th December | magnúsmessa | ON | Feast of the Translation of St Magnus (Erlendsson of Orkney) |
| 21st December | thomasmessa | ON | Feast of St Thomas |
| 23rd December | þorláksmessa | ON | Feast of St Þorlákr |
| 24th December | helga náttin | ON | Christmas Eve |
| jólanátt | ON | ||
| 25th December | jóladagr | ON | Christmas Day/Season |
| jólahelgr | ON | ||
| jul | OSw, ODan | ||
| jól | ON | ||
| 5th January | tolftidagher | OSw | Twelfth Night |
| tolftidagher | ODan | ||
| 6th January | þrættandidagher | OSw | Feast of the Epiphany |
| þrettándi dagr jóla | ON | Not Twelfth Day, but Epiphany. Twelfth Night is 5 Jan, the vigil of this Feast. | |
| 11th January | brettifumessa | ON | Feast of St Brictiva |
| 21st January | agnesmessa | ON | Feast of St Agnes |
| 25th January | pálsmessa | ON | Feast of St Paul (not to be confused with the Feast of SS Peter and Paul, 29th June) |
