Orri

Traditionally, an orri referred to an "enclosed area for gathering sheep" in the Eastern Pyrenees. In the late twentieth century, the word has taken on the meaning of "drystone hut".

Ariège orris

In scholarly studies

In higher Vicdessos, a part of the French département of Ariège, the word orri traditionally referred to a summer mountain habitat consisting of an enclosed area for gathering sheep and a number of stone huts used as dwellings or for cheese making.

In the 1960s, when the long-deserted orris of Ariège were rediscovered by scholars, their ancient name was erroneously construed as applying only to the "stone hut" used as a seasonal dwelling. Since then, the new meaning has caught on and is now prevalent in touristic literature.

In touristic literature

An orri is a type of small stone hut found in the Ariège département. Orris are dome-shaped, mortarless huts, often with a top made of slate or wood. Inside they contain just one low room, with half the floor space taken up by a bed made of wood or stone.

Þorri

Þorri (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈθɔrːi]) is the Icelandic name of the personification of frost or winter in Norse mythology, and also the name of the fourth winter month (mid January to mid February) in the Icelandic calendar.

In the Orkneyinga saga (13th century), Þorri is an early Norwegian king, the son of Snær ('Snow') the Old, a descendant of Fornjót, an ancient king of Finland, Kvenland and Gotland. Þorri was father of two sons named Nór and Gór and a daughter named Gói ('thin snow, track-snow').

Hversu Noregr byggðist ("How Norway was settled", 12th century) states that the Kvens offered a yearly sacrifice to Þorri, at mid-winter. Both the month name and the name of the midwinter sacrifice, Þorrablót, are derived from the personal name Þorri. Orkneyinga saga by contrast states that the Þorrablót was established by Þorri.

The name Þorri has long been identified with that of Þór, the name of the Norse thunder god, or thunder personified. Probably the Þorrablót was in origin a sacrifice dedicated to Þór himself, and the figure of Þorri is a secondary etiology derived from the name of the sacrifice. Nilsson thinks that the personification of Þorri "frost" and Goi "track-snow" was particular to Iceland.