Belleteyn or Beltane,[1] sometimes known as "May Day", "May Night" or "Blossoming", takes place on the night of May Eve, the night of April 30 into May 1. It is a fertility festival beginning at dusk on the 30th and continuing until the dawn of the 1st. It is also a traditional time to begin (or end) relationships of a physical nature. Food, drink and love are the order of the evening making this celebration a time of many marriages. Bonfires abound, and revellers are encouraged to jump the flames for luck and their own fertility.
This holiday of the elven calendar marks the beginning of the fifth savaed, Blathe.
Trivia
- According to one part of the framing story in The Last Wish-collection', "The Voice of Reason" , Yennefer was born on Belleteyn, and Geralt calculated that Ciri was born near the festival, too.
- Geralt meets Yennefer at a Belleteyn celebration in "Something More", one of the short stories in The Sword of Destiny.
- In the real world, this holiday corresponds with Beltaine.
Magical Holidays
Notes & references
- ↑ David French's translation