On White Tuesday, alias Pork Tuesday, they ate all the food products collected on the White Queen Monday in a great carnival for everyone. They said farewell to the meat before lent, and raised a Maypole. The Maypole represented the man's phallus and the wheel on top the womb of the woman. This was the union of the male and female powers in the hermaphroditic world tree, Heimdallr. We know it as the Maypole, after the Roman name for Íðunn, Maius ("good mother"), but it was in Scandinavia originally called a high. This is the why we call such holy festivals high festivals. On the Tuesday the bride's race was held. The winner of the women's race was crowned with a flower garland and was given the title queen, and the man who won the men's race was given the title king.
Note to the English version:
The title King (No. konge) derives from the name of Jarl's youngest son, Konungr ("wonderful young"). This was Jarl's most talented and capable son.
The woman who came in second place was called princess, and the man prince, and if something were to happen with the queen or king the princess or prince would replace them. The queen and king married, but the princess and prince did not.
After the race the king and prince lead two hosts against each other, in a sword dance similar to the one during Ragnarök, only this time it was only a practice fight. All men and boys could participate, and the sword dance was little else than an arms exercise. The winter was however not under any circumstances allowed to emerge victorious from the sword dance.
On the Ash Wednesday the lent began, and it was called Ash Wednesday because they mixed ashes into the porridge and bread they ate (to cleanse the intestines). The lent lasted until Easter, and they were not allowed to sing songs or wear bright colours during lent.
The following Thursday was called the Thursday of Purification (No. Skirtorsdag), because it was a day of purification. This was also the day you were supposed to name domestic animals. The Thursday and the Friday were called the "whipping days", because you were supposed to whip the children with birch boughs in the morning (at least five strokes), to transfer the power of nature to them and to make them healthy and strong. On Friday nobody was allowed to eat until after Sunset, and it was therefore called Long Friday. The Saturday was called Dirty Saturday, because on this day they washed themselves extra carefully. Spring had arrived, and they were supposed to meet him with the greatest of respect.
The 22nd day of Þrúðheimr was called the Trono Day ("woman's day"), and was a high festival dedicated to war practice and sword dance. The fighters had to, like in all sword dances, dress up like women. Like on the White Queen Monday the queen and king had, the day before, led a procession to collect food for the party.
The 1st day of Breiðablik was the Vernal Equinox. It was a day when fertility in general and in all things was celebrated, and was considered to be the day when the deities reached puberty. Everyone reaching the age of 14 that year went from being children to being youth, and everyone reaching the age of 21 that year became adults. The day before the Vernal Equinox they did as on the White Queen Monday and went from farm to farm to collect food for the great party.
The 26th day of Breiðablik was called Day of Walking (No. Gangdag). The queen, accompanied by all the girls, picked flowers to make flower wreaths. They put the wreaths on and walked in procession around the fields. In the Stone Age the queen asked the spirits for good crops, and in later ages she blessed the fields herself. Often she sat in a wagon and was pulled around by the girls. The queen carried a torch to scare off the destructive spirits from the field, and she brought water from a holy source. In addition to that, she brought beer and food, for the spirits of the field. The spirits ate the food in form of animals. The queen made holes or just one hole in the field, and placed a juniper bush in it. She poured the contents of an egg and some grain into the hole(s), and then sang a song. For example:
“Våkn opp, våkn opp, både åker og eng.
Nu har du sovet lenge i seng.
Nu har det vært både snø og regn.
Nu har sommernatten kommet.”
(Eng. "Wake up, wake up, both field and meadow,
you have slept for a long time now
we have seen both rain and snow
the summer night has come now.")
After this they raised a Maypole and did what they normally did on high festivals, including the procession the day before, to collect food for the feast.
The 27th day of Breiðablik was called Second Summer Day, and they did the same as they had done on the Day of Walking. The 28th day of Breiðablik was called Third Summer Day and they did the same as they had done on the Day of Walking. The 8th day of Nóatun was called the Great Day of Walking (No. Store Gangdag) and yet another time they did what they had done on the Day of Walking. This was how they woke up the fields after winter.
Easter began the 1st Sunday after the 1st Full Moon after Vernal Equinox, and was seen as the day Baldr/Bragi (and Nanna/Íðunn) returned from Hel. This was the day the colours of nature returned after the darkness of winter. In the Easter they climbed the tallest mountains in the east, so they could see the Sunrise as early as was possible, on Easter morning. They carried round stones or other round objects with them up into the mountains, all symbols of the Sun, and built cairns on the mountain peaks. They did this to help the Sun rise and fly high again. They ate eggs in the morning and the candy (dried fruit, nuts etc.) left after winter was eaten. This was Íðunn's fruit, that they now, when she would return, could enjoy freely.
The next Sunday, and every Sunday after Easter, until White Sunday (the seventh Sunday after Easter), they gave thanks to the spirits/deities for bestowing upon man all the wealth of nature. Each of these Sundays were celebrated the same way as the Trono Day.
The 13th Day of Nóatun was called the Night of Small Valborg ("castle of the chosen"), know in Gaelic as Beltane ("the white fire"). This was the day all the deities married, in Valborg, another name for Ásgarðr ("spirit garden"). The winners of the bride races finally could marry and replace the winners of last year's races. They took over (or continued) as queen and king and were to rule until the next Night of Valborg. They swore allegiance holding a hammer (or stone) and a ring, and the ceremony was led by the (last year's) queen. It was celebrated as any other high festival, with processions to collect food and sword dance and everything.
The Sun and Moon married, and because of that this was also known as Honey Moon, honey being a symbol of the Sun. The bride and groom, the chosen ones, had to travel to Valborg to get married, and therefore the actual wedding has to us become known as a journey.
The Night of Small Valborg was a day devoted to weddings because it was the first Friday 13th after Baldr and Nanna had returned form Hel. The mythological context was the journey of Skanþan/Skaði to Ásgarðr, where he married the most beautiful of the goddesses. Just as a groom no longer needed to look for a bride when married, this day marked the transition from hunting time to sowing time.
Every Friday 13th after the Night of Small Valborg and until Autumnal Equinox a new wedding was held, for the god and goddess, the king and queen, and all these weddings were celebrated in the same manner. When Christianity arrived, with a new calendar, where Friday the 13th almost never occurred, these weddings were moved to Sundays.