See Also

Yule

Yule was the winter solstice celebration of the Germanic pagans. In Germanic Neopaganism it is one of the eight solar holidays, or sabbats, where Yule is celebrated on the winter solstice: in the northern hemisphere, circa December 21, and in the southern hemisphere, circa June 21. "Yule" and "Yuletide" are also archaic terms for Christmas Christmas

Christmas is a holiday [i] on the Christian [i] calendar, celebrating the birth of Jesus [i]. ... 

, sometimes invoked in songs to provide atmosphere. Indeed, this is the only meaning of "Yule" accepted by either the full Oxford English Dictionary or the Concise Oxford Dictionary, and people unfamiliar with ancient pagan traditions will not distinguish between Yule and Christmas.

Discussions

  Discussion Features

   Ask a question about 'Yule'

   Start a new discussion about 'Yule'

   Answer questions about 'Yule'

   'Yule' discussion forum


Encyclopedia

Yule was the winter solstice celebration of the Germanic pagans. In Germanic Neopaganism it is one of the eight solar holidays, or sabbats, where Yule is celebrated on the winter solstice: in the northern hemisphere, circa December 21, and in the southern hemisphere, circa June 21.

"Yule" and "Yuletide" are also archaic terms for Christmas Christmas

Christmas is a holiday [i] on the Christian [i] calendar, celebrating the birth of Jesus [i]. ... 

, sometimes invoked in songs to provide atmosphere. Indeed, this is the only meaning of "Yule" accepted by either the full Oxford English Dictionary or the Concise Oxford Dictionary, and people unfamiliar with ancient pagan traditions will not distinguish between Yule and Christmas. This usage survives in the term "Yule log Yule log

A Yule log is a large log which is burned in the hearth as a part of traditional Yule [i] or Christmas [i] ... 

"; it may also persist in some Scottish dialects.

Etymology

Of the contested origin of Jól, one popular but factually unlikely connection is to Old Norse Old Norse

Old Norse is the Germanic language [i] spoken by the inhabitants of Scandinavia [i] a ... 

 hjól, wheel, to identify the moment when the wheel of the year is at its lowpoint, ready to rise again. Linguists suggest that Jól has been inherited by Germanic languages from a pre-Indo-European Pre-Indo-European

Old Europe is a term coined by Marija Gimbutas [i] to describe what she perceives as a relatively homoge ... 

 substrate language and either borrowed into Old English Old English language

Old English is an early form of the English language [i] that was spoken in parts of what is now England [i] ... 

 from Old Norse or directly inherited from Proto-Germanic Proto-Germanic language

Proto-Germanic is the common ancestor of all Germanic languages [i]. ... 

. Other instances refer to the ancient gaulic Gaul

Gaul was the name given, in ancient times, to the region of Western Europe [i] comprising present-day n ... 

 word "helle" which means light. We thus find half of the word Noël.

A far more likely origin for the term "Yule" can be traced from the Old English/Anglo-Saxon term "Géol", which is strongly connected with the word for yellow - "geol". One may see the evolution of this word for yellow throughout the Germanic and Scandinavian countries: German "gelb", Norwegian "gul", Danish "gul", Gaelic 'geal', Dutch "geel", Swedish "gul", Frisian "giel", even Italian "giallo", Lithuanian "geltonas" and Romanian "galben". The Old English Géol became the Middle English "Yole" and finally modern Yule, whereas the word geol or geolu evolved to become modern yellow. This same divergence of words also occurred in the other languages mentioned. All of these terms ultimately stem from the Indo-European root "ghel-" meaning "to shine". Since the Yule festival is native to the northern European lands, where midwinter is a time of short days and little light, it is a strong possibility that the original sense of Yule as a midwinter festival had much to do with "bringing back the sun" and creating bright, shining, yellow sun-and fire-themed decorations and festivities. Another connection may be to the brightness of the sunlight glaring off the white snow. Therefore, likely meanings may be "Shining Time", "Bright Time" or "Golden Time".

In the Scandinavia Scandinavia

Scandinavia is a region [i] in Northern Europe [i]. ... 

n Germanic languages, the term Jul covers both Yule and Christmas Christmas

Christmas is a holiday [i] on the Christian [i] calendar, celebrating the birth of Jesus [i]. ... 

, and is also occasionally used to denote other holidays in December, e.g., "jødisk jul" or "judisk jul" for Hanukkah Hanukkah

Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights or Festival of Dedication, is an eight day Jewish holiday [i]... 

. The word "jul" has also been borrowed into the neighboring Finnic languages, most notably to Finnish Finnish language

Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland [i] and by ethnic Finns [i] ... 

 and Estonian , although the Finnic languages have a linguistic origin different from Germanic languages. In Old English, geóla originally referred to the month of December. The meaning later narrowed to mean Christmas with the coming of Christianity in Anglo-Saxon England Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxons is a collective term usually used to describe culturally and linguistically related groups ... 

.

In Russian Russian language

Russian is the most widely spoken language of Eurasia [i] and the most widespread of the Slavic languages [i] ... 

, the word "????" refers to fir trees Fir

Firs are a genus of between 45-55 species of evergreen [i] conifers [i] in the family Pinaceae [i] ... 

, which are associated with yuletide. Other Slavic languages Slavic languages

The Slavic languages , a group of closely related language [i]s of the Slavic peoples [i] and a subgroup ... 

 have similar words as well.

Traditional Yule

What is certain, is that Yule celebrations at the winter solstice predate Christianity Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic [i] religion [i] centered on Jesus of Nazareth [i] ... 

, and though there are numerous references to Yule in the Iceland Iceland

Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland is a volcanic island nation [i] in the northern Atlantic Ocean [i]... 

ic sagas Sagàs

... 

, there are few accounts of how Yule was actually celebrated, beyond the fact that it was a time for feasting. 'Yule-Joy', with dancing, continued through the Middle Ages Middle Ages

The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history [i] ... 

 in Iceland, but was frowned upon when the Reformation Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation, also referred to as the Protestant Revolution, was a movement in the 1... 

 arrived. It is, however, known to have included the sacrifice of a pig for the god Freyr Freyr

Freyr is one of the most important deities in Norse paganism [i] and Norse mythology [i].... 

, a tradition which survives in the Scandinavian Christmas ham.

The confraternities of artisans of the 9th century, which developed into the medieval guild Guild

A guild is an association [i] of people of the same trade or pursuits , formed to ... 

s, were denounced by Catholic clergy for their "conjurations" when they swore to support one another in coming adversity and in business ventures. The occasions were annual banquets on December 26,
"feast day of the pagan god Jul, when it was possible to couple with the spirits of the dead and with demons that returned to the surface of the earth... Many clerics denounced these conjurations as being not only a threat to public order but also, more serious in their eyes, satanic and immoral. Hincmar, in 858, sought in vain to Christianize them" .

Connection to modern Christmas

Many of the symbols associated with the modern holiday of Christmas Christmas

Christmas is a holiday [i] on the Christian [i] calendar, celebrating the birth of Jesus [i]. ... 

 such as the burning of the Yule log Yule log

A Yule log is a large log which is burned in the hearth as a part of traditional Yule [i] or Christmas [i] ... 

, the eating of ham Ham

Technically, ham is the thigh [i] and buttock [i] of any animal [i] that is slaughtered [i] fo ... 

, the hanging of boughs, holly Holly

Holly is a genus of about 400 species of flowering plant [i]s in the family Aquifoliaceae [i], and the o ... 

, mistletoe Mistletoe

Mistletoe is the common name for various parasitic plant [i]s in the order Santalales [i], belonging to ... 

, etc. are apparently derived from traditional northern European Yule celebrations. When the first missionaries began converting the Germanic peoples to Christianity, they found it easier to simply provide a Christian reinterpretation for popular feasts such as Yule and allow the celebrations themselves to go on largely unchanged, rather than trying to suppress them. The Scandinavian Scandinavia

Scandinavia is a region [i] in Northern Europe [i]. ... 

 tradition of slaughtering a pig at Christmas , and not in the autumn, is probably the most salient evidence for this. The tradition derives from the sacrifice to the god Freyr Freyr

Freyr is one of the most important deities in Norse paganism [i] and Norse mythology [i].... 

 at the Yule celebrations. Halloween Halloween

Halloween is an observance celebrated on the night of October 31 [i], most notably by children dressing ... 

 and Easter Easter

Easter, also known as Pascha , the Feast of the Resurrection, the Sunday of the Resurrect... 

 are theorized to have been likewise assimilated from northern European pagan festivals.

English English people

group=English
|image=|poptime= 110 - 120 million
... 

 historian Bede Bede

Bede , also Saint Bede, the Venerable Bede, or Beda , , was a [[monasticism|monk]... 

's Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum

The Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum is a work in Latin [i] by the Venerable Bede [i] on ... 

contains a letter from Pope Pope

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome [i], and, as Successor [i] of Saint Peter [i], is t ... 

 Gregory I Pope Gregory I

Pope Gregory I or Gregory the Great was Pope [i] from September 3 [i], 590 [i] until his death. ... 

 to Saint Mellitus, who was then on his way to England to conduct missionary work among the heathen Anglo-Saxons Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxons is a collective term usually used to describe culturally and linguistically related groups ... 

. The Pope suggests that converting heathens is easier if they are allowed to retain the outward forms of their traditional pagan practices and traditions, while recasting those traditions spiritually towards the one true God instead of to their pagan gods , "to the end that, whilst some gratifications are outwardly permitted them, they may the more easily consent to the inward consolations of the grace of God". The Pope sanctions such conversion tactics as Biblically acceptable, pointing out that God did much the same thing with the ancient Israelite Israelite

An Israelite is a member of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, descended from the twelve sons of the Bib... 

s and their pagan sacrifices.

Neopagan Yule


Heathenry

In Germanic Neopagan sects, Yule is celebrated with gatherings that often involve a meal and gift giving. Further attempts at reconstruction of surviving accounts of historical celebrations are often made, a hallmark being variations of the traditional blót.

Groups such as the Asatru Folk Assembly in the US recognize the celebration as lasting for 12 days, beginning on the date of the winter solstice.

Wicca & New Age

In particular, Wiccan Wicca

Wicca is a Neopagan [i] religion [i] and a religious movement [i] fo... 

-influenced and New Age New Age

The term New Age describes a broad movement of late 20th century and contemporary Western culture [i], c ... 

 religions attempts at reconstruction are largely disregarded and the festival is largely only related to historical accounts by name, as a part the Wheel of the Year.

The holiday is observed in a manner that commemorates the death of the Holly King identified with the wren bird at the hands of his son and successor, the robin redbreast Oak King  .

Secular Yuletide


Because Christmas happens during extreme summer temperatures in the southern hemisphere, a few Australians celebrate a second festival, known as Yulefest, at the southern winter solstice in June. A much more popular winter celebration is "Christmas in July", not surprisingly celebrated in July, removing the celebration from all religious connections both Pagan and Christian.

Though notionally synonymous with Christmas, both religious and secular, Yule and Yuletide are sometimes used by English speakers as secular names for December 25th and late December in general in much the same way that the Scandinavian "Jul" does not distinguish between the Germanic Pagan feast, Christmas, and the pre-Indo-European winter solstice celebration.

External links

  • Pre-Christian Traditions from Britain and Ireland of Christian Holidays

References

  • Rouche, Michel, "Private life conquers state and society," in A History of Private Life vol I, Paul Veyne, editor, Harvard University Press 1987 ISBN 0-674-39974-9
  • Farrar, Janet and Stewart . The Witch's God, "IX Oak King and Holly King". 35-38. Phoenix Publishing, Inc. Blaine, Washington. ISBN 0-919345-47-6