In Iceland today is the first day of summer

Sumarsdag is the holiday which is considered as the first day of a new year. In old times the beginning of the summer marked the start of a new year, and the age of person was calculated on the basis of spent winters. The holiday was accompanied with the variety of rituals the main of which was sacrifice to the god Wodan. The pagans said words of gratitude to the lord for his permission to enjoy the summer, and light and warmness came to the Earth.

In the modern Iceland these traditions fell off the edge of the earth, but he is still being celebrated at the national level.

Sumarsdag is marked with the day of girls. All the first month of summer the attention is paid to unmarried or widowed women, different games are arranged, various traditions existed being directed at the search of life partner for men and women.

Drawing parallels, the day of girls in Iceland may be compared with Saint Valentine’s Day, because its main purpose is to keep romantic relationships between single people. The tradition of partnerless people to visit each other lives in Iceland currently.