View source for Disting

{{Short description|Annual market in Sweden}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}
[[Image:Disting 2008.jpg|right|thumb|A scene from the disting of 2008]]
The '''Disting'''  ({{IPA|sv|ˈdɪ̂sːtɪŋ, ˈdîːstɪŋ}}) is an annual market which has been held in [[Uppsala]], [[Sweden]], since pre-historic times. The name ([[Old Swedish]]: ''Disæþing''<ref name=nordisk>[https://runeberg.org/nfbf/0272.html The article ''Disatinget'', in the encyclopedia ''Nordisk familjebok''].</ref> or ''Disaþing''<ref name=nationalencyklopedin>The article ''Distingen'', in the encyclopedia ''[[Nationalencyklopedin]]''.</ref>) originally referred to the great assembly called the [[Thing of all Swedes]],<ref name="nordisk"/> and it is derived from the fact that both the market and the [[thing (assembly)|thing]] were held in conjunction with the [[Dísablót]],<ref name="nordisk"/> the great [[blót]]s (sacrifices) for female powers called ''[[dís]]ir'' (they include the [[Norns]]<ref name="nordisk2">The article ''[https://runeberg.org/nfbf/0272.html Dis]'' in ''[[Nordisk familjebok]]'' (1907).</ref> and the [[Valkyrie]]s<ref name="nationalenc">The article ''Diser'' in ''[[Nationalencyklopedin]]'' (1991).</ref>) at the [[Temple at Uppsala]]. They were all originally held at the end of February or in early March.<ref name="nordisk"/>

The [[Iceland]]ic historian [[Snorri Sturluson]], who was well-informed of Swedish matters and visited the country in 1219,<ref>[http://www.foteviken.se/historia/ynglinga/yng_start.htm {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050906211820/http://www.foteviken.se/historia/ynglinga/yng_start.htm |date=6 September 2005 }} The article ''Snorres Ynglingasaga'' at the site of the [[Foteviken Museum]], Sweden.</ref> explained in the ''[[Heimskringla]]'' (1225):

<blockquote>In Svithjod<ref>An obsolete name for [[Sweden]], or more specifically the old territory which today is named [[Svealand]]. It meant literally "the Swedish people".</ref> it was the old custom, as long as heathenism prevailed, that the chief sacrifice took place in [[Goe month]]<ref>The month of February.</ref> at [[Gamla Uppsala|Upsala]]. Then sacrifice was offered for peace, and victory to the king; and thither came people from all parts of Svithjod. All the Things of the Swedes, also, were held there, and markets, and meetings for buying, which continued for a week: and after Christianity was introduced into Svithjod, the Things and fairs were held there as before. After Christianity had taken root in Svithjod, and the kings would no longer dwell in Upsala, the market-time was moved to [[Candlemas]], and it has since continued so, and it lasts only three days.<ref>[[s:Heimskringla/Saga of Olaf Haraldson/Part II|Saga of Olaf Haraldson, part II]].</ref></blockquote>

In 1611, the first play in the Swedish language named [[Disa]] by [[Johannes Messenius]] was enacted at the Disting showing a late medieval legend explaining the origins of the Disting, as the pagan origins had been forgotten.<ref name=disa>[https://runeberg.org/nfbf/0272.html The article ''Disa'', in the encyclopedia ''Nordisk familjebok''].</ref> Instead of being held in honour of female powers, it was held in honour of a heroic girl who had prevailed on the king and the assembly to stop a great massacre of the weak and elderly to hinder overpopulation.<ref name="disa"/>

The market was officially abolished in 1895, but continued informally, and it is still held in early February.<ref name="nationalencyklopedin"/> It is one of the most traditional Swedish markets.<ref name="nationalencyklopedin"/>

==References and notes==
{{reflist|2}}

{{Dísir and idisi}}

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[[Category:Annual fairs]]
[[Category:Uppsala]]
[[Category:Retail markets in Sweden]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Uppsala County]]
[[Category:History of Uppsala]]