the.com/midsummer
the year's high noon, where light overstays its welcome and shadows nearly forget themselves
means The middle of summer, especially the period around the summer solstice in late June when daylight is at its longest.
from A plain old compound, stitched together in Old English as 'midsumor' — 'mid' (middle) plus 'sumor' (summer) — and it has stayed stubbornly transparent ever since. The word long marked the solstice and the festivals clustered around it, including the feast of St. John the Baptist on June 24; in Shakespeare's hands 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' tied the term forever to that brief, light-drunk, slightly enchanted stretch of the year.
- longest day
- Northern hemisphere's peak daylight, up to 24 hours near poles
- swedish ritual
- Swedes pole-dance around flowers and eat pickled herring
- midnight sun
- Above the Arctic Circle, the sun never sets
- ancient stones
- Stonehenge aligns precisely with the solstice sunrise
- witching hour
- Folklore claims plants gain magic powers that night
midsummer night's dream — shakespeare's 1595 comedy set during a magical midsummer night in athens
sweden's midsummer festival — annual celebration on the weekend closest to june 21 featuring maypoles and traditional dancing
finland's juhannus — midsummer festival around june 23-24 when the sun barely sets in northern finland