Walpurgisnacht: A Christian Feast, Not a Heathen Remnant
Let's Get A Few Things Straight
Each year on the night of April 30th, bonfires light up across central and northern Europe in celebration of Walpurgisnacht—an event often imagined today as a modern echo of ancient pagan spring festivals. But contrary to popular belief, Walpurgisnacht is not a direct survival of a pre-Christian Germanic Heathen tradition. Instead, it is a Christian observance rooted in the veneration of Saint Walpurga, a Christian missionary of the 8th century.
Who Was Saint Walpurga?
Saint Walpurga was an English Benedictine nun born around 710 CE, who traveled to what is now Germany as part of a missionary effort led by Saint Boniface. She became abbess of the Heidenheim convent and was known for her piety, healing miracles, and educational work. After her death in 777 or 779, her sainthood was promoted by her brother and other ecclesiastical authorities, and her cult spread through parts of Germany.
The Feast of Saint Walpurga was set on May 1st, the date her relics were transferred (a common basis for saint feast days). The night before, April 30th, came to be known as Walpurgisnacht, or “Walpurgis Night.”
[Source: Hutton, Ronald. (1996). The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain. Oxford University Press.]
Why the Pagan Confusion?
The association of Walpurgisnacht with witches and bonfires is a much later development, likely from early modern witch panic periods (15th–18th centuries). The Brocken mountain in the Harz region of Germany, where witches were said to gather on this night, became linked with dark folklore. However, this imagery emerged well after Christianization and is not tied to authentic pre-Christian Heathen rites.
Ronald Hutton, a leading historian on pagan and seasonal traditions, explicitly notes that:
“There is no evidence that the 30th of April had any special significance in the pre-Christian calendars of the Germanic peoples... The association with witchcraft stems from early modern Christian fears, not Heathen ritual.”
[— Hutton, The Stations of the Sun (1996), p. 180]
Bonfires and Springtime?
While bonfires are indeed ancient ritual features in many cultures, their appearance on Walpurgisnacht is not necessarily evidence of Heathen origin. Spring bonfires in Germanic areas, such as those on May Day or at Midsummer, have varied in timing and significance. These customs were often co-opted, Christianized, or re-invented in the medieval and early modern periods.
Insights from Robert Sass and Aldsidu.com
Robert Sass, a Saxon Heathen and researcher of historical Heathenry, provides further evidence against the notion of Walpurgisnacht as a pre-Christian festival. In his article on Aldsidu.com, Sass emphasizes that:
“Many Asatruar have argued with me that Walpurgis Night ‘has to be on a date of a prior Saxon or Germanic tribe’s Heathen holiday as it is so popular today.’ This argument on their end is COMPLETELY false. I could give the simple argument that fixed solar dates were unknown to the Germanic tribes as their calendars were lunar-based.”
— Robert Sass, The Origins of Walpurgis Night
Sass further explains that the pre-Christian Germanic peoples observed three major holidays—Winter Nights, Yule, and Sigrblot—all based on lunar cycles, with no evidence of a festival corresponding to April 30th. He also notes that the celebration of Walpurgisnacht began with the transfer of Saint Walpurga's relics on May 1, 870 AD, and was later formalized by Archbishop Anno II in the 11th century.
“On May 1, 870 AD, the relics of Walpurga were transferred to Eichstätt, Germany... In the 11th century, Anno II, Archbishop of Cologne... declared a Walpurgis Night to be celebrated on the eve of May Day (April 30th at sundown).”
— Robert Sass, The Origins of Walpurgis Night
A Counterargument By FrithTV
The YouTube channel FrithTV presents a counterargument asserting that Walpurgisnacht is a historically Heathen holiday.
They argue that Walpurgisnacht predates the Christianization of Europe and is rooted in ancient Germanic springtime festivals. The video discusses how the celebration was associated with fertility rites, the changing of seasons, and communal gatherings that honored deities and nature spirits. FrithTV suggests that the Christian church later overlaid the festival with the veneration of Saint Walpurga to assimilate and repurpose existing pagan traditions. I disagree with this, because the goal of the Church was to WIPE OUT Heathen practices, not co-opt or preserve them.
Conclusion: Not a Heathen Holiday
Despite the aesthetic and thematic overlap with spring and fertility motifs common in many Indo-European cultures, Walpurgisnacht is a Christian festival celebrating a specific saint—not a direct survival of a pre-Christian Germanic holiday. The later associations with witches and firelight reflect post-Christian folklore and fear, not the ritual calendar of ancient Heathens.
For those who seek to engage authentically with historical Heathen practice, it’s important to recognize Walpurgisnacht’s Christian roots and the ways in which later folk traditions have shaped its modern form.
