need-fire

plural need-fires · alternative needfire

1. lifestyleA ritual fire created by friction.

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

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

   3 more examples

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

   1911, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 10, page 278

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

   1993, Our Troth, page 660

   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.

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