Sun Blossom

The radiant blossoms are fleeting, but in the brevity of their bloom the fell grip of long winter is pried loose and the world warms once more.

Cuttings of the sacred tree Rhydryl are kept in a grove in each of the Eiskandic Clanholds. Although they blossom frequently, the first bloom of the year is considered especially important. It coincides with a dramatic rise in temperature and thawing of much of the ice and snow that had built up during the months of northern darkness. The Rhydryl blossoms take many colours over the course of the year, but this first bloom, the Sun Blossom, takes on a brilliant, fiery hue that almost seems to glow like embers under the pale light of the low sun.
The Clanfolk take this bloom as the starting point of a new year in their calendar¹. It is a sign that they have survived another long winter, that the worst of the snowfalls have passed and the flow of the meltwaters will begin again, that the first crops can be planted and the orchards begin to bud again. It marks the beginning of a world that will turn green again after gripped by ice for so long. And of course, it is yet another excuse for the Clanfolk to hold celebrations and get drunk.

Blossom Feast

As with many other Clanfolk celebrations, the Sun Blossom is an excuse to feast. However, due to the long darkness that immediately precedes it, a Clanhold's food situation is usually at the point where the feast seems less than impressive compared to those later in the year. Fresh produce is scarse immediately following the Eiskandic winter, so only foods preserved well enough to last that long can be used to cook with, and even then there is little of it that can be spared. Should a mammoth be felled or a whale brought ashore, it's fresh meat will be shared among the houses in the hold. Otherwise, they have to make do with what is left in the cellars.
Sometimes, blossoms from the Clanhold's Rhydryl cutting is used in the cooking².

Sun Nectar

Every year, honey procured from the Sun Blossom is set aside to make a special batch of mead, known as Sun Nectar for its especially rich orange-gold hue. Casks of Sun Nectar are set aside for to mature for the entire year, and are only tapped for the first time at the start of Sun Blossom celebrations.
One of the major milestones in a child's path to adulthood is being deemed old enough to share the Sun Nectar³.
The production of Sun Nectar is the responsibility of every Clanholds' meadery, who holds it in trust until the Sun Blossom. A cask of Sun Nectar is given freely to each house in the hold³, except to houses who have been shunned by their clan².

Year Without Sun

Any year in which the Rhydryl cuttings fail to blossom is considered a bad year indeed, and an ill omen of evil things yet to come⁴. During this time, the sweet Sun Nectar spoils, spontaneously turning into bitter and noxious sludge⁵.

References in the Allsaga

The Sun Blossom is mentioned in almost every telling and tradition of the Eiskjarlic Cycle.

1. The bard Uldaf in particular was known for measuring the passage of time and the age of things by the number of Sun Blossoms in his tellings.
2. This is asserted only by the bard Llandrin when telling of Eiskjarl Karlorn. No other assertions are known.
3. This is asserted by the bard Llandrin when telling of Eiskjarl Karlorn, and by the bard Jeoph when telling of Eiskjarl Tay.
4. Every telling that mentions the Sun Blossom mentions a year where it does not happen.
5. Interestingly, the spoiling of Sun Nectar is not asserted in the telling of any Eiskjarl who predated Eiskjarl Tay, implying that this was a new phenomenon.