Bålkontur

Bålkontur is a Swedish term formed from bål ("bonfire") and kontur ("contour"). It refers to the perimeter or silhouette formed by a bonfire—the visible boundary of flames and heat in a given scene. The word is mainly used in descriptive, literary, or historical contexts, such as travel writing, ethnographic descriptions of traditional campfires, or documentation of outdoor gatherings where a bonfire is a focal element. In practice, authors use bålkontur to convey the spatial character that a fire creates, for example describing how the flames define a circle around a pyre or how the light outlines surrounding objects. Bålkontur is not a standard technical term in fire safety or engineering; formal descriptions more often refer to the perimeter or boundary of the fire, or simply discuss the scene without a fixed term.

Etymology: bål traces to Old Norse bál, meaning a fire used in feasts or sacrifices; kontur comes from contour, indicating shape. The term is primarily literary and cultural rather than technical.

Related terms include bålplats (bonfire site) and omkrets (perimeter).