If you go through world folklore- from places where winter is a thing- you’ll find the connection of Winter and Death.

In Norse Mythology, Idunn, goddess of youth, falls from the branches of Yggdrasil while picking the apples she feeds to the gods to keep them strong. She plummets- like a falling leaf- all the way to Niflheim and Hel. Niflheim and Hel are at the very bottom of the tree, the realms of ice and the dead, respectively. When the gods find out and Hela (goddess of death) refuses to let her go immediately, Odin gives her husband Bragi (the god of poetry and song) a white wolf skin to keep her warm until Hela lets her go. Odin (the sky) sends a white blanket (snow,) song and poetry to keep Youth comfortable until she is freed.

We can see it again in the well-known story of Persephone and having to stay with Hades for part of the year, during which her mother Demeter won’t let anything grow.

The trees lose their leaves. The snows, rains, and winds come. Animals hibernate, and wait for the world to live again.

Fall slowed everything down. Winter is when we are meant to stop and rest. Humans aren’t so good at that though, so we adapted. When the Earth retains and nurtures its bounty, we have gotten VERY good at relying on when it didn’t.

Louis Pasteur didn’t invent pasteurization- he just figured out why it worked as well as it did.

The French remember that Nicolas Appert, a cook and bottle-washer, discovered how to pull off in champagne bottles what we today call “canning.” After being awarded a prize by Napoleon (who needed a way to feed his army on the move) on the condition that he make his technique public, Appertization (as it is still sometimes called in France) “brought the flavors of spring to winters table.”

With our current global economy, the idea of preserving food for the winter is quaint. It’s a fun culinary hobby for those who want to take advantage of their gardens, avoid the preservatives involved in packaged food, want to enjoy the “slow food” movement, or simply want to feel cute and cottagecore. Most of us will be okay with going to the supermarket to get fresh fruit and vegetables shipped in from the world over.

That craving for the hearty, concentrated, and preserved hasn’t left us though. We still love our jams and preserves, our pickles, candies, and syrups to get a taste of the rest of year. A little rich green when all is gray to remind us of what was- and will be again.

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I live in a basement apartment. When snow comes to Portland, it’s not uncommon for our windows to be covered. The fact that we live underground means that we are pretty cool in the summer and stay that way in the winter. Fortunately, Emily and I have similarly hobbit-y sensibilities. We wear warm robes and socks, and thanks to our own tastes, my knitting hobby, and her knitting/quilting Mom, we have no problem bundling ourselves up warm.

That takes care of the outside, yes… but the inside is a different matter. The soups and stews of Fall continue and get richer and heartier. Dry goods that stay good through the winter- grains, rice, beans, pasta, and potatoes- become our staples. The soothing simplicity of a chicken noodle soup can’t be denied, and the Appalachian staple of soup beans and cornbread puts you right where you need to be, not least because baking that cornbread means turning on the oven and warming the whole apartment.

Winter is the season of learning how to enjoy what you have. It’s when we’re meant to stop, rest, and reflect. The harsh weather and longer darkness demands we be there for each other.

Something I like to think about is how the long brutal winters of Northern Europe prepped Scandinavians for the rigors of what would be called the Viking Expansion. In ages past, when there was little to do in the winter but tend the animals, chop wood, and stay warm, we looked to storytelling and song to entertain us and remind us that, while the cold and dark may be here now, it won’t last forever. Songs and stories were comforts that consumed no cargo space, and the experience taught them to exist in close quarters with others for long periods of time without submitting to “cabin fever.”

The dark (and cold) really can make family of anyone. Remember to serve that feeling along with your food. We all need to live with each other, and my fellow nerds might remember the words of Hurin in the Silmarillion, during the Nirnaeth Arnoediad- “Auta i lome, aure entuluva!”

“Night is falling, day shall come again!”

… I’m a nerd, I’m in a cozy sweater drinking beer, it’s cold out, and it’s my blog. I’ll end it however I want.

Stay Classy,