# Need-fire

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{{short description|Fire kindled as protective magic}}
[[File:Добывание живого огня.png|thumb|300px|A drawing of a need-fire being kindled with a large [fire drill](/source/Fire_drill_(tool)).]]
[[File:Instalaĵo de rusaj novpaganoj por akiro de ligna fajro 01.jpg|thumb|300px|A modern [Rodnovery](/source/Rodnovery) need-fire drill in Russia]]
In European [folklore](/source/folklore), a '''need-fire''' ({{langx|sq|[zjarri i gjallë](/source/Zjarri_(Albanian_paganism))}}; {{langx|de|Notfeuer}}, {{langx|goh|nodfyr}}, {{langx|gd|tein'-éigin}}, {{langx|ru|Живой огонь}}) is a [fire kindled by friction](/source/Fire_making), which is lit in a [ritual](/source/ritual) and used as [protective magic](/source/protective_magic) against [murrain](/source/murrain) ([infectious diseases](/source/infectious_diseases) affecting [cattle](/source/cattle)), [plague](/source/Plague_(disease)) and [witchcraft](/source/witchcraft). It was a tradition in parts of Europe, practiced by [Germanic](/source/Germanic_peoples), [Gaelic](/source/Gaels) and [Slavic peoples](/source/Slavic_peoples) until the 19th century,<ref name="Frazer">[Frazer, James George](/source/James_George_Frazer) (1922). ''[The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion](/source/The_Golden_Bough)''. [https://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/frazer/gb06208.htm Chapter 62, Section 8: The Need-fire]. [Internet Sacred Text Archive](/source/Internet_Sacred_Text_Archive).</ref> and by [Albanians](/source/Albanians) until the 20th century.<ref>{{cite book|last=Xhemaj|first=Ukë|title=Trashëgimia dhe tranformimi i kulturës popullore: materiala nga sesioni shkencor, mbajtur në Prishtinë më 7-8 shtator 1979|chapter=Zjarri në besimet popullore shqiptare|trans-chapter=The Fire in Albanian Folk Beliefs|editor=Mark Krasniqi, Ukë Xhemaj|publisher=[Albanological Institute of Prishtina](/source/Albanological_Institute_of_Prishtina)|year=1983|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lGgKAQAAIAAJ|pages=104–121}} p. 108.</ref>

A need-fire would usually be lit when there was an [epidemic](/source/epidemic) such as an outbreak of plague or cattle disease. In some regions, a need-fire was lit yearly to prevent such disasters.<ref name="Frazer"/> In the [Scottish Highlands](/source/Scottish_Highlands) they were lit each year at [Beltane](/source/Beltane) (1 May),<ref name="Hutton">[Hutton, Ronald](/source/Ronald_Hutton). ''The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain''. Oxford University Press, 1996. pp.&nbsp;220–225</ref> in Poland they were lit on [Saint Roch](/source/Saint_Roch)'s Day, and in parts of Germany they were also lit yearly.<ref name="Frazer"/>

The need-fire could only be kindled by friction between wood, usually with a large [fire drill](/source/Fire_drill_(tool)) made from [oak](/source/oak).<ref name="Frazer"/> Usually an upright pole would be spun against a level plank until it catches fire. The pole would be spun by pulling a rope wound around it. This would all be held together by a square frame. Both the wooden parts and the rope should be new; if possible, it should be woven of strands taken from a [gallows](/source/gallows) rope.<ref name="Frazer"/>

The need-fire could only be lit after all other fires were doused.<ref name="Frazer"/><ref name="Hutton"/> In one case, the kindling of the need-fire in a village near [Quedlinburg](/source/Quedlinburg), Germany was hindered by a night light burning in the [parsonage](/source/parsonage).<ref>[Heinrich Pröhle](/source/Heinrich_Pr%C3%B6hle), ''Harzbilder'', Leipzig, 1855</ref> In parts of the Scottish Highlands, the rule that all other fires be doused applied only to the land between the two nearest streams.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Need-Fire|volume=19|page=338}}</ref><ref>Kelly, ''Curiosities of Indo-European Tradition and Folklore'', p.&nbsp;53 seq.</ref>

Only certain people could make the need-fire. In the Scottish Highlands, usually it had to be kindled by nine men, after they had removed all metal.<ref name="Hutton"/> In one account from [Caithness](/source/Caithness), a large need-fire had to be kindled by eighty-one men, divided into nine shifts of nine.<ref name="Hutton"/> In some regions, the rope should always be pulled by two brothers, while in [Silesia](/source/Silesia), the tree used to make the need-fire had to be felled by a pair of twin brothers.<ref name="Frazer"/> In [Serbia](/source/Serbia), the need-fire was sometimes kindled by a boy and girl, between eleven and fourteen years of age, who worked naked in a dark room.<ref name="Frazer"/> In [Bulgaria](/source/Bulgaria), two naked men would kindle the fire by rubbing dry branches together in the forest, and with the flame they lit two fires, one on each side of a crossroad haunted by wolves. The cattle are then driven between the two fires, from which glowing embers are taken to rekindle the cold hearths in the houses.<ref name="EB1911"/><ref>A Strauss, ''Die Bulgaren'', p.&nbsp;198</ref>

When the need-fire was kindled, a bonfire was lit from it. The flames, smoke and ashes were believed to protect and purify.<ref name="Frazer"/><ref name="Hutton"/> Livestock would be driven around the bonfire, or over its embers once it had died down somewhat.<ref name="Frazer"/><ref name="Hutton"/> The ashes would be scattered over fields to protect crops, and young people would mark each other with them.<ref name="Frazer"/><ref name="Hutton"/> Torches from the bonfire would be carried home and used to rekindle the hearth fires.<ref name="Frazer"/><ref name="Hutton"/> In the Scottish Highlands, a pot of water was heated with the new fire, mixed with some of the ash, and sprinkled on sick people and cattle.<ref name="Frazer"/> Sir [James George Frazer](/source/James_George_Frazer) wrote that he had heard that on the [Isle of Mull](/source/Isle_of_Mull), a sick heifer would be cut up and burned as a [sacrifice](/source/Animal_sacrifice).<ref name="Frazer"/>

==See also==
*[Badnjak (Croatian)](/source/Badnjak_(Croatian))
*[Badnjak (Serbian)](/source/Badnjak_(Serbian))

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{commons category|Need-fire}}
*[Jacob Grimm](/source/Jacob_Grimm), ''Deutsche Mythologie'', i. 50, sqq.
*[Walter Keating Kelly](/source/Walter_Keating_Kelly), ''Curiosities of Indo-European Tradition and Folklore'', p.&nbsp;48 sqq.
*[Charles Isaac Elton](/source/Charles_Isaac_Elton), ''Origins of English History'', p.&nbsp;293 sqq.
*[James George Frazer](/source/James_George_Frazer), ''The Golden Bough'', iii. 301.

{{Superstitions}}

Category:Superstitions
Category:Traditions involving fire

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Need-fire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Need-fire) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Need-fire?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.