Besides the regular blót feasts which were held at set times each year, times of famine, failure in crops, pestilence or similar events would necessitate the need of a sacrifice. (188) Blóts were also held to gain success in trade and battle. Ibn Fadlin gives an excellent account of a blót conducted by the Rus to insure success in trade.

'When the ships come to this mooring place, everybody goes ashore with bread, meat, onions, milk and intoxicating drink and betakes himself to a long upright piece of wood that has a face like a man's and is surrounded by little figures, behind which are long stakes in the ground. The Rus prostrates himself before the big carving and says, "O my Lord, I have come from a far land and have with me such and such a number of girls and such and such a number of sables", and he proceeds to enumerate all his other wares. Then he says, "I have brought you these gifts," and lays down what he has brought with him, and continues, "I wish that you would send me a merchant with many dinars and dirhems, who will buy from me whatever I wish and will not dispute anything I say." Then he goes away.

If he has difficulty selling his wares and his stay is prolonged, he will return with a gift a second or third time. If he has still further difficulty, he will bring a gift to all the little idols and ask their intercession, saying, "These are the wives of our Lord and his daughters and sons." And he addresses each idol in turn, asking intercession and praying humbly. Often the selling goes more easily and after selling out he says, "My Lord has satisfied my desires; I must repay him," and he takes a certain number of sheep or cattle and slaughters them, gives part of the meat as alms, brings the rest and deposits it before the great idol and the little idols around it, and suspends the heads of the cattle or sheep on the stakes. In the night, dogs come and eat all, but the one who has made the offering says, "Truly, my Lord is content with me and has consumed the present I brought him."' (189)

Ibn Fadlan's accounts can be considered accurate for the most part because he was a man who was very interested in the customs of foreign people. (190) It was also common to hold sacrificial blóts in thanks of victory already obtained. Tacitus tells us of such an account in his Annals. After the defeat of Varus and three Roman legions, the leaders of the Romans were all sacrificed in thanks for victory. (191) We also have an account of a blót held every Oct. 1st by the Saxons which was celebrated to commemorate the victory of the Thuringians in 534 C. E. (192) Even though any of these reasons might be part of the purpose for the feast the main reason was always the strengthening of bonds between the Regin and man. (193)

The great blót feasts were also an occasion for consulting about the future. Divination was often performed at these feasts as was also the custom to be done at the inauguration of a king. The Scandinavian boar sacrifice mentioned in Ynglinga Saga was said to be associated with enquiring into the future. (194)

The methods used are described in some cases though not fully. Some methods were a chip or chips called the blótspan (sacrifice chip) or by lots. The blótspan was dipped in the sacrifricial blood. These both were cast and read by the person doing the divination. There was also a method in which scales were involved. If the favorable scale went higher then it was considered a good omen. (195) Normally this divination was about things that would be of interest to the whole community such as how crops would do in the coming year and the health of the people of the community as a whole.

Blót Feast Descriptions

Some rather good descriptions of what the blót feast would have been like have survived in the literature. One description is in the Saga of Hakon the Good.

"It was an old custom, that when there was to be sacrifice all the bondes should come to the spot where the temple stood and bring with them all that they required while the festival of the sacrifice lasted. To this festival all the men brought ale with them; and all kinds of cattle, as well as horses, were slaughtered, and all the blood that came from them was called "hlaut", and the vessels in which it was collected were called hlaut-vessels. Hlaut-staves were made, like sprinkling brushes, with which the whole of the altars and the temple walls, both outside and inside, were sprinkled over, and also the people were sprinkled with the blood; but the flesh was boiled into savory meat for those present. The fire was in the middle of the floor of the temple, and over it hung the kettles, and the full goblets were handed across the fire; and he who made the feast, and was a chief, blessed the full goblets, and all the meat of the sacrifice. And first Odin's goblet was emptied for victory and power to his king; thereafter, Niord's and Freyja's goblets for peace and a good season. Then it was the custom of many to empty the brage-goblet ; and then the guests emptied a goblet to the memory of departed friends, called the remembrance goblet. Sigurd the earl was an open-handed man, who did what was very much celebrated; namely, he made a great sacrifice festival at Hlader of which he paid all the expenses." (196)

As we can see here it was customary for those participating in the feast to help defray the cost by contributing to the things needed for the feast. In this case the generosity of the Jarl Sigurd is shown when he paid all the expenses. This description gives us a fairly good description of what went on that these feasts.

The feast, as would be logical, always followed the sacrificing of the animal. It is likely that this part of the blót feast was performed at some holy site and that after the animal was sacrificed, those participating in the blót feast would retire to a hall or outdoor area specifically prepared for the feast. The meat was cooked in cauldrons which were placed on fire pits that ran down the center of the hall. On either side of the fire pits were tables and benches for the community to eat their meals on. At some point the person responsible for overseeing the feast, usually the Jarl or Chief, would hallow the mead or ale and it would passed out for the full (toast). These were horns were some times hallowed by handing them across the fire. There were initial toasts that were started off with normally but the toasting could go on indefinitely. The first was called Othinn's Full (Othinn's Toast) and was drank in his honor. It is also said that this first toast was Thorr's Full for those who trusted in their own strength. The second toast was Njörth's Full and Freyr's Full. These two fulls were for prosperous seasons and peace. Next came the Braggi Full. These fulls were used to make oaths and boast of oaths completed. Then finally there was the Minni Full which was a full in honor of ancestors or friends who had passed to the other worlds. It was the person giving the feast, that is, the Jarl or Chief who called out the beginning of each of these fulls after which each person in the hall followed suit before the Jarl began the next full. (197) The description of this feast seems to mirror one held in the halls of Aegir, the Sea-Giant, in which the Regin were in attendance.

Of old the gods made feast together
And drink they sought ere sated they were;
Twigs they shook, and blood they tried:
Rich fare in Ægir's hall they found. (198)

The third line of this strophe seems to be referring to the hlautbolli and the hlautteinn used in collecting and sprinkling the sacrificial blood. So as mentioned the animal sacrifice of Northmen, unlike the sacrifices of other cultures, was in the form of a holy feast. Except for certain parts, the animals was eaten by those assembled for the feast. (199) This feast was considered to be shared with the gods and goddesses. Especially the sacrificial blood (hlaut) was considered as belonging to the gods and it was used to hallow all those present. (200) That the people actually ate the meat, as opposed to it being burned up is born out in many sources. (201)

This meat was normally cooked in a cauldron, most likely in the fire pits that ran most of the length of the hall and on either side of which were those feasting. That the meat was boiled and not roasted seems to be the case. In every example I could find it is stated specifically that it was boiled in cauldrons as opposed to being roasted on a spit. Grimm correctly believed that this tradition with the cauldron could very well be where the stereotype of the witch with the boiling cauldron originated from. (202) This is not hard to see given the Christian penchant for depicting all Northern practices as 'devil worship.' The cauldron shows up in other sources as well. In a Norwegian Saga the Trolds have a copper kettle and Christians believed in a large cauldron in Hell. (203) We also find in the poem from the Poetic Edda, Hymskvitha that the meat of bulls was boiled in a cauldron. (204) Davidson also confirms the use of cauldrons in boiling meat as well. (205)

Cauldrons were also used to make the mead and hold the mead at the feasts. The Eddic poem Hymskvitha tells of Thorr's journey to obtain the great cauldron of Hymir in which ale was brewed. (206) At the feasts there was a second cauldron in addition to the ones that the meat was boiled in. This second cauldron was for the ale or mead of the feast. (207) We see ale being brewed in a great cauldron in Hymskvitha as well. (208)

There is also evidence that cauldrons were consecrated to the gods from Old Norse proper names such as Asketill and Thorketill (abbrev. Thorkel) and the Anglo-Saxon Oscytel. (209) Cauldrons were also found in graves along with more fragile ones that hold ale. One found at Sutton Hoo was big enough to hold a sheep. (210)