festival held every nine years at the Temple of Uppsala, while Thietmar of Merseburg mentions a similar festival taking place each January at Lejre in Zealand. The Swedish feast known as took place in February, the same time as the Old English ; the only other widely attested festival is Yule around Christmas. Snorri Sturluson mentions three additional festivals in Ynglinga saga: a festival at the beginning of winter for a good harvest, one at midwinter for fertility, and one at the beginning of summer for victory. The summer festival is not attested elsewhere, but Rudolf Simek argues that the winter festival was probably in honor of the ancestors while another festival at spring was for fertility. Magic Magic is an element of religion that intends to influence the world with the help of the otherworldly by using particular rituals, means, or words. Sources on pre-Christian magic among the Germanic peoples are either textual descriptions or archaeological finds of objects. The Germanic languages lack a common word that can be translated as "magic", and there is no indication that the Germanic peoples distinguished between "white" and "black magic". In Norse texts, the god Odin is especially associated with magic, a connection also found, for instance, in the Old High German Second Merseburg Charm. Although runes are often associated with magic, most scholars no longer believe that runes were in and of themselves regarded as magical. Migration-age inscriptions on bracteates and later rune stones contain a number of early magical words and formulas, the best attested of which, alu, is found on multiple objects from 200 to 700 CE. Post-conversion Christian sources from continental Europe mention forms of magic including amulets, charms, "witchcraft", divination, and especially weather magic. Old Norse mythology and post-conversion literature also attest various forms of magic, including divination, magic affecting nature (weather or otherwise), spells to make warriors impervious to weapons, spells to strengthen weapons, and spells to harm and distress others. The term "charm" is used to mean magical poetry, which could be blessings or curses; most attested charms are blessings and seek protection, defense against magic or sickness, and healing; the only form of curses attested outside of literature are calls for death. In Old Norse, a specific meter of alliterative verse was used () and some pre-Christian charms have survived inscribed on metal or bone. Otherwise, few charms are attested in Old Norse outside