Þorri
Þorri is the Icelandic name of the personification of frost or winter in Norse mythology, and also the name of the fourth winter month in the Icelandic calendar.
In the Orkneyinga saga, Þorri is a legendary Nordic king, the son of Snær the Old, a descendant of Fornjót. Þorri was father of two sons named Nór and Gór and a daughter named Gói.
The saga Hversu Noregr byggðist states that Þorri was an ancient king of Finland, Kænlandi and Gotland, and that the "Kænir" offered a yearly sacrifice to Þorri, at mid-winter.
Both the month name and the name of the midwinter sacrifice, Þorrablót, are derived from the personal name Þorri. Orkneyinga saga by contrast states that the Þorrablót was established by Þorri.
The name Þorri has long been identified with that of Þór, the name of the Norse thunder god, or thunder personified. Probably the Þorrablót was in origin a sacrifice dedicated to Þór himself, and the figure of Þorri is a secondary etymology derived from the name of the sacrifice. Nilsson thinks that the personification of Þorri "frost" and Goi "track-snow" was particular to Iceland.
The pagan sacrifice of Þorrablót disappeared with the Christianisation of Iceland, but in the 19th century, a midwinter festival called Þorrablót was introduced in Romantic nationalism, and is still popular in contemporary Iceland, since the 1960s associated with a selection of traditional food, called Þorramatur. Regardless of actual etymology, it is a popular explanation of the name Þorri to take it as a diminutive of Þór and it remains common practice to toast Þór as part of the modern celebration.
