The Norse, Old: sonargǫltr or Norse, Old: sónargǫltr was the boar sacrificed as part of the celebration of Yule in Germanic paganism, on whose bristles solemn vows were made in some forms of a tradition known as Norse, Old: [[heitstrenging]].
Norse, Old: [[Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks]] refers to the tradition of swearing oaths on Yule Eve by laying hands on the bristles of the boar, who was then sacrificed in the Norse, Old: sonar-[[blót]]:
One of the prose segments in "Norse, Old: [[Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar]]" adds that the oaths were sworn while drinking the Norse, Old: [[symbel#Scandinavian sumbel|bragarfull]] toast:
In Norse, Old: [[Ynglinga saga]] the Norse, Old: sonarblót is used for divination (Norse, Old: til frettar).[1] [2]
The association with the Yule Norse, Old: blót and with the ceremonial Norse, Old: bragarfull gives the vows great solemnity, so that they have the force of oaths. This becomes a recurring topos in later sagas,[3] although we have only these two saga mentions attesting to the custom of making vows on the sacrificial animal.[4]
The choice of a boar indicates a connection with Freyr,[5] whose mount is the gold-bristled boar Norse, Old: [[Gullinbursti]],[1] [6] and the continuing Swedish tradition of eating pig-shaped cakes at Christmas recalls the early custom.[2] [7] [8] [9] According to Olaus Verelius's notes in his 1672 edition of Norse, Old: Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks, part of this Norse, Old: jula-galt would then be saved for mixing with the seed-corn and giving to the plough-horses and ploughmen at spring planting.[10] As Jacob Grimm pointed out, the serving of a boar's head at banquets and particularly at The Queen's College, Oxford, may also be a reminiscence of the Yule boar-Norse, Old: blót.[11] [12] [13] Gabriel Turville-Petre suggested that names for Freyr and his sister Norse, Old: [[Freyja]] which equate them with a boar and a sow respectively implied that consumption of the sacrificed boar was believed to be consumption of the god's flesh and absorption of his power.[14]
It was formerly usual to spell the word Norse, Old: sónargǫltr and to interpret it as "atonement-boar" (the rare element Norse, Old: sónar- can also mean "sacrifice").[7] [15] However, following Eduard Sievers, it is usually now spelled with a short Norse, Old: o and taken as meaning "herd boar, leading boar", as Lombardic sonarþair is defined in the Latin: [[Edictum Rothari|Edictus Rothari]] as the boar "which fights and beats all other boars in the herd".[1] [2] [12]
