The Winter Nights (vetrnætr) are frequently referred to with different names in the Old Norse sources, such as haustblót (harvest sacrifice) or dísablót (sacrifice to the feminine deities or dísir). The association with the dísir may seem quite mysterious at first. In a chapter of the Handbook of Pre-Modern Nordic Memory Studies, Terry Gunnell sheds more light on this:
“[…] this festival is firmly rooted in the pagan calendar, set in the liminal nights (always in plural) occurring between the end of summer (the old year) and the beginning of winter (the new year), a time at which (with the help of a sacrifice) those present can be granted insight into supernatural knowledge/memory of the future (ǫrlǫg ‘fate’), something which is commonly said to be in the hands of female goddesses […] and seeresses […].”
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110431360-074
Knowing what the new year holds for us would be a valuable insight. Therefore it makes perfect sense to invoke the dísir and perform practices by which one can attain this knowledge.
“[…] this festival is firmly rooted in the pagan calendar, set in the liminal nights (always in plural) occurring between the end of summer (the old year) and the beginning of winter (the new year), a time at which (with the help of a sacrifice) those present can be granted insight into supernatural knowledge/memory of the future (ǫrlǫg ‘fate’), something which is commonly said to be in the hands of female goddesses […] and seeresses […].”
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110431360-074
Knowing what the new year holds for us would be a valuable insight. Therefore it makes perfect sense to invoke the dísir and perform practices by which one can attain this knowledge.