Editing Carnival (section)

===Origins===
[[File:Armed owl Louvre CA2192.jpg|thumb|right|[[Oinochoe]] depicting the parade of an armed owl during the celebration of the [[Anthesteria]] ([[Greece]], 410–390 BC)]]

The characteristics of the celebration of Carnival take their origins from ancient [[Mediterranean race|Mediterranean]] festivals, such as the Greek [[Athenian festivals|Dionysian]] (the [[Anthesteria]]) or the Roman [[Saturnalia]]. During these festivities, there was a temporary release from social obligations and hierarchies to make way for the overthrow of order, joking and even debauchery. From a historical and religious point of view, the Carnival therefore represented a period of celebration, but above all of symbolic renewal, during which chaos replaced the established order, which, however, once the festive period was over, re-emerged new or renewed and guaranteed for a cycle valid until the beginning of the following Carnival.<ref>''Universo'', De Agostini, Novara, 1966, Vol. III, p. 113</ref>

From an [[anthropological]] point of view, Carnival is a reversal ritual, in which social roles are reversed and norms about desired behavior are suspended.<ref name="meertens.knaw.nl">[http://www.meertens.knaw.nl/meertensnet/wdb.php?sel=79966 "Carnaval"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708204112/http://www.meertens.knaw.nl/meertensnet/wdb.php?sel=79966 |date=8 July 2017 }}. Meertens.knaw.nl. Retrieved on 13 May 2015.</ref><ref>Miller, John F. "Roman Festivals," in ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome'' (Oxford University Press, 2010), p. 172.</ref> During [[Ancient history|antiquity]], winter was thought of as the reign of the winter spirits; these needed to be driven out in order for summer to return. Carnival can thus be regarded as a rite of passage from darkness to light, from winter to summer: a fertility celebration, the first spring festival of the new year.<ref>[http://www.jansimons.nl/bronnenmagazijn/bestandenbronnenmagazijn/selectieartikelen/alaaf.htm "Vitaberna"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304054002/http://www.jansimons.nl/bronnenmagazijn/bestandenbronnenmagazijn/selectieartikelen/alaaf.htm |date=4 March 2016 }}. Jansimons.nl. Retrieved on 13 May 2014.</ref>

Several [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] tribes celebrated the returning of the daylight. Winter would be driven out, to make sure that fertility could return in spring.<ref name="meertens.knaw.nl"/> A central figure of this ritual was possibly the fertility goddess [[Nerthus]]. Also, there are some indications that the effigy of Nerthus<ref>Tacitus, ''Germania'' 9.6: {{lang|la|Ceterum nec cohibere parietibus deos neque in ullam humani oris speciem adsimulare ex magnitudine caelestium arbitrantur}} – "The Germans, however, do not consider it consistent with the grandeur of celestial beings to confine the gods within walls, or to liken them to the form of any human countenance." ''Germania'' 40: {{lang|la|mox vehiculum et vestis et, si credere velis, numen ipsum secreto lacu abluitur}} – "Afterwards the car, the vestments, and, if you like to believe it, the divinity herself, are purified in a secret lake." Trans. Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb, ''The Agricola and Germany of Tacitus''. London: Macmillan, 1868, {{OCLC|776555615}}</ref> or [[Freyr]] was placed on a ship with wheels and accompanied by a procession of people in animal disguise and men in women's clothes.<ref name="fenvlaanderen.be"/><ref>Davidson, Hilda Ellis (1990). ''Gods and Myths of Northern Europe''. [[Penguin Books]]. {{ISBN|0-14-013627-4}}.</ref><ref>Eduardo Fabbro, M.A., "Germanic Paganism among the Early Salian Franks". University of Brasilia, ''The Journal of Germanic Mythology and Folklore'', Volume 1, Issue 4, August 2006</ref> Aboard the ship a marriage would be consummated as a [[fertility ritual]].<ref name="ziggo1">{{cite web |url=http://members.ziggo.nl/leowethly/Carnaval/geschiedenis.htm |title=Geschiedenis van het carnavalsfeest |publisher=Members.ziggo.nl |access-date=29 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130326040158/http://members.ziggo.nl/leowethly/Carnaval/geschiedenis.htm |archive-date=26 March 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[http://www.fen-nederland.nl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3&Itemid=4 Federatie Europese Narren Nederland – Federatie Europese Narren Nederland] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303233337/http://www.fen-nederland.nl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3&Itemid=4 |date=3 March 2016 }}. Fen-nederland.nl. Retrieved on 13 May 2015.</ref>

[[Tacitus]] wrote in his [[Germania (book)|''Germania'']]: ''Germania 9.6: Ceterum nec cohibere parietibus deos neque in ullam humani oris speciem adsimulare ex magnitudine caelestium arbitrator'' – "The Germans, however, do not consider it consistent with the grandeur of celestial beings to confine the gods within walls, or to liken them to the form of any human countenance." {{lang|la|Germania 40: mox vehiculum et vestis et, si credere velis, numen ipsum secreto lacu abluitur}} – "Afterwards the car, the vestments, and, if you like to believe it, the divinity herself, are purified in a secret lake."<ref>Trans. Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb, ''The Agricola and Germany of Tacitus''. London: Macmillan, 1868, {{OCLC|776555615}}</ref>