Winter festival
This article is about the ancient pagan festival and its modern revivals. For the Christian festival, see
Christmas
.
Yule
(also called
Jul
,
jol
or
joulu
) is a winter festival historically observed by the
Germanic peoples
that was incorporated into
Christmas
during the
Christianisation of the Germanic peoples
. In present times adherents of some
new religious movements
(such as
Modern Germanic paganism
) celebrate Yule independently of the Christian festival. Scholars have connected the original celebrations of Yule to the
Wild Hunt
, the god
Odin
, and the
heathen Anglo-Saxon
M?draniht
("Mothers' Night"). The term
Yule
and cognates are still used in English and the
Scandinavian languages
as well as in
Finnish
and
Estonian
to describe Christmas and other festivals occurring during the
winter holiday season
. Furthermore, some present-day Christmas customs and traditions such as the
Yule log
,
Yule goat
, Yule boar,
Yule singing
, and others may have connections to older pagan Yule traditions.
Etymology
[
edit
]
The modern English noun
Yule
descends from
Old English
??ol
, earlier
geoh(h)ol
,
geh(h)ol
, and
geola
, sometimes plural.
[1]
The Old English
??ol
or
??ohol
and
??ola
or
??oli
indicate the 12-day festival of "Yule" (later: "
Christmastide
"), the latter indicating the month of "Yule", whereby
?rra ??ola
referred to the period before the Yule festival (December) and
æftera ??ola
referred to the period after Yule (January). Both words are cognate with
Gothic
??????????????
(
jiuleis
); Old Norse,
Icelandic
,
Faroese
and Norwegian
Nynorsk
jol
,
jol
,
ylir
;
Danish
,
Swedish
, and
Norwegian Bokmal
jul
, and are thought to be derived from
Proto-Germanic
*
jehwl?-
.
[2]
[3]
Whether the term existed exterior to the
Germanic languages
remains uncertain, though numerous speculative attempts have been made to find
Indo-European
cognates outside the Germanic group, too.
[a]
The compound noun
Yuletide
('Yule-time') is first attested from around 1475.
[4]
The word is conjectured in an explicitly pre-Christian context primarily in Old Norse, where it is associated with Old Norse deities. Among many others (see
List of names of Odin
), the long-bearded god Odin bears the name
Jolnir
('the Yule one'). In
Agrip
, composed in the 12th century,
jol
is interpreted as coming from one of Odin's names,
Jolnir
, closely related to Old Norse
jolnar
, a poetic name for the gods. In Old Norse poetry, the word is found as a term for 'feast', e.g.
hugins jol
(→ 'a raven's feast').
[5]
It has been thought that
Old French
jolif
(→ French
joli
), which was borrowed into English in the 14th century as 'jolly', is itself borrowed from Old Norse
jol
(with the Old French suffix
-if
; compare Old French
aisif
"easy", Modern French
festif
=
fest
"feast" +
-if
), according to the
Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology
[6]
and several other French dictionaries of etymology.
[7]
[8]
But the
Oxford English Dictionary
sees this explanation for
jolif
as unlikely.
[9]
The French word is first attested in the Anglo-Norman
Estoire des Engleis
, or "History of the English People", written by
Geoffrey Gaimar
between 1136 and 1140.
[8]
Germanic paganism
[
edit
]
Attestations
[
edit
]
Months, heiti and kennings
[
edit
]
Yule is attested early in the history of the Germanic peoples; in a
Gothic language
calendar of the 5?6th century CE it appears in the month name
fruma jiuleis
, and, in the 8th century, the English historian
Bede
wrote that the
Anglo-Saxon
calendar included the months
geola
or
giuli
corresponding to either modern December or December and January.
[10]
While the Old Norse month name
ylir
is similarly attested, the Old Norse corpus also contains numerous references to an event by the Old Norse form of the name,
jol
. In chapter 55 of the
Prose Edda
book
Skaldskaparmal
, different names for the
gods
are given; one is "Yule-beings" (
Old Norse
:
jolnar
). A work by the
skald
Eyvindr skaldaspillir
that uses the term is then quoted: "again we have produced Yule-being's feast [mead of poetry], our rulers' eulogy, like a bridge of masonry".
[11]
In addition, one of the numerous
names of Odin
is
Jolnir
, referring to the event.
[12]
Heitstrenging
[
edit
]
Both
Helgakviða Hjorvarðssonar
and
Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks
provide accounts of the custom of
heitstrenging
. In these sources, the tradition takes place on Yule-evening and consists of people placing their hands on a pig referred to as a
sonargoltr
before swearing solemn oaths. In the latter text, some manuscripts explicitly refer to the pig as holy, that it was devoted to
Freyr
and that after the oath-swearing it was
sacrificed
.
[13]
Saga of Hakon the Good
[
edit
]
The
Saga of
Hakon
the Good
credits
King Haakon I of Norway
who ruled from 934 to 961 with the
Christianization
of
Norway
as well as rescheduling Yule to coincide with Christian celebrations held at the time. The saga says that when Haakon arrived in Norway he was a confirmed Christian, but since the land was still altogether heathen and the people retained their pagan practices, Haakon hid his Christianity to receive the help of the "great chieftains". In time, Haakon had a law passed establishing that Yule celebrations were to take place at the same time as the Christians celebrated Christmas, "and at that time everyone was to have ale for the celebration with a measure of grain, or else pay fines, and had to keep the holiday while the ale lasted".
[14]
Haakon planned that when he had solidly established himself and held power over the whole country, he would then "have the gospel preached". According to the saga, the result was that his popularity caused many to allow themselves to be baptized, and some people stopped making sacrifices. Haakon spent most of this time in
Trondheim
. When Haakon believed that he wielded enough power, he requested a bishop and other priests from England, and they came to Norway. On their arrival, "Haakon made it known that he would have the gospel preached in the whole country." The saga continues, describing the different reactions of various regional
things
.
[14]
A description of heathen Yule practices is provided (notes are Hollander's own):
Old Norse
text
[15]
|
Hollander translation
[16]
|
Þat var forn siðr, þa er blot skyldi vera, at allir bœndr skyldu þar koma sem hof var ok flytja þannug fong sin, þau er þeir skyldu hafa, meðan veizlan stoð. At veizlu þeirri skyldu allir menn ol eiga; þar var ok drepinn allskonar smali ok sva hross; en bloð þat alt, er þar kom af, þa var kallat hlaut, ok hlautbollar þat, er bloð þat stoð i, ok hlautteinar, þat var sva gert sem stoklar; með þvi skyldi rjoða stallana ollu saman, ok sva veggi hofsins utan ok innan, ok sva stokkva a mennina; en slatr skyldi sjoða til mannfagnaðar. Eldar skyldu vera a miðju golfi i hofinu ok þar katlar yfir; ok skyldi full um eld bera. En sa er gerði veizluna ok hofðingi var, þa skyldi hann signa fullit ok allan blotmatinn.
|
It was ancient custom that when sacrifice was to be made, all farmers were to come to the
heathen temple
and bring along with them the food they needed while the feast lasted. At this feast all were to take part of the drinking of ale. Also all kinds of livestock were killed in connection with it,
horses
also; and all the blood from them was called
hlaut
[sacrificial blood], and
hlautbolli
, the vessel holding the blood; and
hlautteinar
, the sacrificial twigs [
aspergills
]. These were fashioned like sprinklers, and with them were to be smeared all over with blood the pedestals of the idols and also the walls of the temple within and without; and likewise the men present were to be sprinkled with blood. But the meat of the animals was to be boiled and served as food at the banquet. Fires were to be lighted in the middle of the temple floor, and kettles hung over the fires. The sacrificial beaker was to be borne around the fire, and he who made the feast and was chieftain, was to bless the beaker as well as all the sacrificial meat.
|
The narrative continues that toasts were to be drunk. The first toast was to be drunk to Odin "for victory and power to the king", the second to the gods
Njorðr
and
Freyr
"for good harvests and for peace", and third, a beaker was to be drunk to the king himself. In addition, toasts were drunk to the memory of departed kinsfolk. These were called
minni
.
[16]
Academic reception
[
edit
]
Significance and connection to other events
[
edit
]
Scholar
Rudolf Simek
says the pagan Yule feast "had a pronounced religious character" and that "it is uncertain whether the Germanic Yule feast still had a function in the cult of the dead and in the veneration of the ancestors, a function which the mid-winter sacrifice certainly held for the West European
Stone
and
Bronze Ages
." The traditions of the
Yule log
,
Yule goat
, Yule boar (
Sonargoltr
, still reflected in the
Christmas ham
),
Yule singing
, and others possibly have connections to pre-Christian Yule customs, which Simek says "indicates the significance of the feast in pre-Christian times."
[17]
Scholars have connected the month event and Yule period to the
Wild Hunt
(a ghostly procession in the winter sky), the god Odin (who is attested in Germanic areas as leading the Wild Hunt and bears the name
Jolnir
), and increased supernatural activity, such as the Wild Hunt and the increased activities of
draugar
?undead beings who walk the earth.
[18]
M?draniht
, an event focused on collective female beings attested by Bede as having occurred among the
heathen Anglo-Saxons
when Christians celebrated Christmas Eve, has been seen as further evidence of a fertility event during the Yule period.
[19]
Date of observance
[
edit
]
The exact dating of the pre-Christian Yule celebrations is unclear and debated among scholars. Snorri in Hakonar saga goða describes how the three-day feast began on "Midwinter Night", however this is distinct from the
winter solstice
, occurring approximately one month later. Andreas Nordberg proposes that Yule was celebrated on the full moon of the second Yule month in the
Early Germanic calendar
(the month that started on the first new moon after the winter solstice), which could range from 5 January to 2 February in the Gregorian calendar. Nordberg positions the Midwinter Nights from 19 to 21 January in the Gregorian calendar, falling roughly in the middle of Nordberg's range of Yule dates. In addition to Snorri's account, Nordberg's dating is also consistent with the account of the great blot at
Lejre
by
Thietmar of Merseburg
.
[20]
Contemporary traditions
[
edit
]
Relationship with Christmas in Northern Europe
[
edit
]
In modern Germanic language-speaking areas and some other Northern European countries,
yule
and its cognates denote the
Christmas
holiday season. In addition to
yule
and
yuletide
in English,
[21]
examples include
jul
in
Sweden
,
Denmark
, and
Norway
,
jol
in Iceland and the Faroe Islands
,
joulu
in Finland,
Joelfest
in Friesland,
Joelfeest
in the Netherlands and
joulud
in Estonia.
[
citation needed
]
Modern paganism
[
edit
]
As
contemporary pagan religions
differ in both origin and practice, these representations of Yule can vary considerably despite the shared name. Some
Heathens
, for example, celebrate in a way as close as possible to how they believe
ancient Germanic pagans
observed the tradition, while others observe the holiday with rituals "assembled from different sources".
[22]
Heathen celebrations of Yule can also include sharing a meal and gift-giving.
[
citation needed
]
In most forms of
Wicca
, this holiday is celebrated at the
winter solstice
as the rebirth of the
Great horned hunter god
,
[23]
who is viewed as the newborn solstice sun. The method of gathering for this
sabbat
varies by practitioner. Some have private ceremonies at home,
[24]
while others do so with their
covens
:
Generally meeting in covens, which anoint their own priests and priestesses, Wiccans chant and cast or draw circles to invoke their deities, mainly during festivals like Samhain and Yule, which coincide with Halloween and Christmas, and when the moon is full.
[25]
LaVeyan Satanism
[
edit
]
Some members of the
Church of Satan
and other
LaVeyan Satanist
groups celebrate Yule at the same time as the Christian holiday in a secular manner.
[26]
See also
[
edit
]
- Disablot
, an event attested from Old Norse sources as having occurred among the pagan Norse
- Julebord
, the modern Scandinavian Christmas feast
- Koliada
, a Slavic winter festival
- Lohri
, a Punjabi
winter solstice
festival
- Saturnalia
, an ancient Roman winter festival in honour of the deity Saturn
- Yald? Night
, an Iranian festival celebrated on the "longest and darkest night of the year".
- Nardoqan
, the birth of the sun, is an ancient Turkic festival that celebrates the winter solstice.
References
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
For a brief overview of the proposed etymologies, see
Orel (2003
:205).
Citations
[
edit
]
- ^
OED Online (2022)
.
- ^
Bosworth & Toller (1898
:424);
Hoad (1996
:550);
Orel (2003
:205).
- ^
"jol"
.
Bokmalsordboka | Nynorskordboka
.
Archived
from the original on 12 March 2017
. Retrieved
11 March
2017
.
- ^
Barnhart (1995
:896).
- ^
Vigfusson (1874
:326).
- ^
Hoad (1993)
- ^
Dictionnaire historique de la langue francaise
(sous la direction d'
Alain Rey
), edition Le Robert, t. 2, 2012, p. 1805ab
- ^
a
b
"JOLI : Etymologie de JOLI"
.
www.cnrtl.fr
.
Archived
from the original on 24 August 2022
. Retrieved
24 August
2022
.
- ^
"
jolly, adj. and adv.
Archived
16 October 2023 at the
Wayback Machine
"
OED Online
, Oxford University Press, December 2019. Accessed 9 December 2019.
- ^
Simek (2007
:379).
- ^
Faulkes (1995
:133).
- ^
Simek (2007
:180?181).
- ^
Kova?ova (2011
:195?196).
- ^
a
b
Hollander (2007
:106).
- ^
"Saga Hakonar goða ? heimskringla.no"
.
heimskringla.no
.
Archived
from the original on 16 October 2023
. Retrieved
26 March
2023
.
- ^
a
b
Hollander (2007
:107).
- ^
Simek (2007
:379?380).
- ^
Simek (2007
:180?181, 379?380) and
Orchard (1997
:187).
- ^
Orchard (1997
:187).
- ^
Nordberg, Andreas (2006).
"Jul, disting och forkyrklig tiderakning"
.
Acta Academiae Regiae Gustavi Adolphi
.
91
: 155?156.
Archived
from the original on 14 March 2023
. Retrieved
26 March
2023
.
- ^
OED Online (2022)
.
- ^
Hutton (2008)
.
- ^
Buescher (2007)
.
- ^
Kannapell (1997)
.
- ^
La Ferla (2000)
.
- ^
Escobedo (2015)
.
Works cited
[
edit
]
- Barnhart, Robert K.
(1995).
The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology
.
HarperCollins
.
ISBN
0062700847
.
- Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898).
An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary
. Oxford:
Oxford University Press
.
- Buescher, James (15 December 2007).
"Wiccans, pagans ready to celebrate Yule"
. Lancaster Online. Archived from
the original
on 29 December 2007
. Retrieved
21 December
2007
.
- Escobedo, Tricia (11 December 2015).
"5 things you didn't know about Satanists"
.
CNN
.
Archived
from the original on 7 March 2019
. Retrieved
6 March
2019
.
So for the Yule holiday season we enjoy the richness of life and the company of people whom we cherish, as we will often be the only ones who know where the traditions really came from!
- Faulkes, Anthony, ed. (1995).
Edda
. Translated by Anthony Faulkes.
Everyman
.
ISBN
0-460-87616-3
.
- Hoad, T. F. (1993).
English Etymology
. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
ISBN
0-19-283098-8
.
- Hoad, T. F. (1996).
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology
. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
ISBN
0-19-283098-8
.
- Hollander, Lee M., ed. (2007).
Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway
. Translated by Lee M. Hollander. Austin:
University of Texas Press
.
ISBN
978-0-292-73061-8
.
- Hutton, Ronald (December 2008).
"Modern Pagan Festivals: A Study in the Nature of Tradition"
.
Folklore
.
119
(3). Taylor & Francis: 251?273.
doi
:
10.1080/00155870802352178
.
JSTOR
40646468
.
S2CID
145003549
.
- Kannapell, Andrea (21 December 1997).
"Celebrations; It's Solstice, Hanukkah, Kwannza: Let There Be Light!"
.
The New York Times
.
Archived
from the original on 31 July 2009
. Retrieved
21 December
2007
.
- Kova?ova, Lenka (2011).
The Swine in Old Nordic Religion and Worldview
.
S2CID
154250096
.
- La Ferla, Ruth (13 December 2000).
"Like Magic, Witchcraft Charms Teenagers"
.
The New York Times
.
Archived
from the original on 28 December 2007
. Retrieved
21 December
2007
.
- OED Online (December 2022). "yule, n.".
Oxford English Dictionary
. Oxford University Press.
Archived
from the original on 27 December 2022
. Retrieved
27 December
2022
.
- Orchard, Andy (1997).
Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend
.
Cassell
.
ISBN
0-304-34520-2
.
- Orel, Vladimir (2003).
A Handbook of Germanic Etymology
. Leiden:
Brill Publishers
. p. 205.
ISBN
90-04-12875-1
.
- Simek, Rudolf (2007).
Dictionary of Northern Mythology
. Translated by Angela Hall.
D. S. Brewer
.
ISBN
978-0-85991-513-7
.
- Vigfusson, Guðbrandur
(1874).
An Icelandic-English Dictionary: Based on the Ms. Collections of the Late Richard Cleasby
. Clarendon Press.
OCLC
1077900672
.
External links
[
edit
]
- Quotations related to
Yule
at Wikiquote
- Media related to
Yule
at Wikimedia Commons
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