Register here - as a registered user you get more features and fewer ads.
Well said Thorgrim, but I think many people misunderstand the idea of the solstice. You used the term yourself when you said "midwinter" and to many people midwinter means the coldest time of the year. Add the word solstice to this this and you have a very emotive idea. In fact it only heralds the onset of the coldest time of the year, from Dec to Mar, just as the midsummer solstice marks the beginning of the warmest time of the year(ask any diver or surfer).
I am over my mate Nick's tomorrow to try some of Tom Bombadil's finest, so maybe Ug (a denizen of the old world) will be up to answering questions on this.
Something is not right. This message is just to keep things from messing up down the road