Dictionary

need-fire en · NOUN

Etymology

Cognate to German Notfeuer.

Meanings

1. A ritual fire created by friction.
   • Fire - divided into need-fire (kindled by friction - discussed under 'Waluburg's Night') and 'struck fire' (sparked by flint and steel - discussion under Thonar). 1993, Our Troth, page 660:
   • I built up the kindling in various stages in the base of the stove as I prepared to make my need-fire. 1998, Darien Hamilton, “Kindling in the Yuletide”, in Heathen Journal, volume 2, number 3:
   • In Silesia, also, need-fires were often employed for the purpose of curing a murrain or preventing its spread. 1911, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 10, page 278:
   • When great pestilence is upon the land, old folklore tells of using a bow drill to make the need-fire, which is then used to cure cattle of their illness. 2003, Brian Froud, Ari Berk, The Runes of Elfland, page 51:

Forms