need-fire

English

Alternative forms

• needfire

Etymology

Cognate to German Notfeuer.

Noun

need-fire (plural need-fires)

1. (paganism) A ritual fire created by friction.
   • 1911, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 10, page 278:

     In Silesia, also, need-fires were often employed for the purpose of curing a murrain or preventing its spread.

   • 1993, Our Troth, page 660:

     Fire - divided into need-fire (kindled by friction - discussed under 'Waluburg's Night') and 'struck fire' (sparked by flint and steel - discussion under Thonar).

   • 1998, Darien Hamilton, “Kindling in the Yuletide”, in Heathen Journal, volume 2, number 3:

     I built up the kindling in various stages in the base of the stove as I prepared to make my need-fire.

   • 2003, Brian Froud, Ari Berk, The Runes of Elfland, page 51:

     When great pestilence is upon the land, old folklore tells of using a bow drill to make the need-fire, which is then used to cure cattle of their illness.

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