Germanic animal sacrifice

thumb|200px|The Stentoften Stone, bearing a runic inscription that likely describes a of nine bucks and nine stallions bringing fertility to the land. ' (Old Norse and Old English) or ' (Old English) are religious ceremonies in Germanic paganism that centred on the killing and offering of an animal to a particular being, typically followed by the communal cooking and eating of its meat. Old Norse sources present it as a central ritual in Old Nordic religion that was intimately connected with many wider aspects of life. Large are often described as taking place in halls, organised by the rulers