History, Figures and Regional Traditions - The Odinic Rite

[Pages:19]Yule

History, Figures and Regional Traditions

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Also called

Observed by Type Significance Date Celebrations Related to

Yule

Yuletide, Yulefest, Yules, Jul, Juletid, Julfest, J?l, J?l, Jol, Joul, Joulu, J?ulud, Joelfeest, G?ol, Feailley Geul, Midwinter, The Winter Solstice

Northern Europeans and Various Anglo-

Cultural, Pagan then Christian

Winter Festival.

December 25. Various celebrations also occur on the winter solstice.

Festivals, Burning Yule Logs, Feasting, Caroling, Being with Loved Ones.

Christmas, The Solstice, Quarter days, Wheel of the Year, Winter Festivals

Yule or Yuletide ("Yule-time") is a winter festival that was initially celebrated by the historical Germanic people as a pagan religious festival, though it was later absorbed into, and equated with, the Christian festival of Christmas. The festival was originally celebrated from late December to early January on a date determined by the lunar Germanic calendar. The festival was placed on December 25 when the Christian calendar (Julian calendar) was adopted. Scholars have connected the celebration to the Wild Hunt.

Terms with an etymological equivalent to "Yule" are used in the Nordic countries for the Christian Christmas (with its religious rites), but also for other holidays of the season. Yule is also used to a lesser extent in English-speaking countries to refer to Christmas. Customs such as the Yule log, Yule goat, Yule boar, Yule singing, and others stem from Yule. The fact that Yule is not etymologically tied to Christianity means Yule in the Nordic countries is also celebrated by many non-Christians and even by the non-religious. The non-religious treat Yule as an entirely secular tradition. A number of Neopagans have introduced their own rites.

Etymology

Yule is the modern English representative of the Old English words ??ol or ??ohol and ??ola or ??oli, with the former indicating "(the 12-day festival of) Yule" (later: "Christmastide") and the latter indicating "(the month of) Yule", whereby ?rra ??ola referred to the period before the Yule festival (December) and

?ftera ??ola referred to the period after Yule heathen and they retained their practices, Haakon hid

(January). Both words are thought to be derived from his Christianity to receive the help of "great

Common Germanic *je??la-, and are cognate to chieftains." In time, Haakon had a law passed that

Gothic (fruma) jiuleis and Old Norse (Icelandic) j?l established that Yule celebrations were to take place at

(Danish and Swedish jul and Norwegian jul or jol) as the same time as when the Christians held their

well as ?lir. The etymological pedigree of the word, celebrations, "and at that time everyone was to have

however, remains uncertain, though numerous ale for the celebration with a measure of grain, or else

speculative attempts have been made to find Indo- pay fines, and had to keep the holiday while the ale

European cognates outside the Germanic group.

lasted."

Germanic Paganism

Yule had previously been celebrated on midwinter night for three nights, according to the saga. Haakon planned that when he had solidly established himself

and held power over the whole country, he would then

Attestations Gothic and Old English

"have the gospel preached." According to the saga, the result of this was that his popularity caused many to allow themselves to be baptized, and some people stopped making sacrifices. Haakon spent most of this

Yule is attested early in the history of the Germanic peoples; from the 4th century Gothic language it appears in the month name fruma jiuleis.

time in Trondheim, Norway. When Haakon believed that he wielded enough power, he requested a bishop and other priests from England, and they came to Norway. Upon their arrival, "Haakon made it known

About AD 730, the English historian Bede wrote that that he would have the gospel preached in the whole the Anglo-Saxon calendar included the months geola country." The saga continues describing the reactions or giuli corresponding with either modern December of various regional things as they differ the matter to or December and January. He gave December 25 as one another.

the first day of the heathen Anglo-Saxons celebrated all Germanic divine "mothers":

year and wrote that night long to honor

the the

A description of "heathen" Yule practices is provided (notes are Hollander's own):

They began the year with December 25, the day some now celebrate as Christmas; and the very night to which we attach special sanctity they designated by the heathen term Modraniht, that is, the mothers' night -- a name bestowed, I suspect, on account of the ceremonies they performed while watching this night through.

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

Old Norse

blood ], and hlautbolli, the vessel holding the

In chapter 55 of the Prose Edda book Sk?ldskaparm?l, different names for the gods are given. One of the names provided is "Yule-beings." A work by the skald Eyvindr sk?ldaspillir that uses the term is then quoted, which reads:

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

Again we have produced Yule-being's feast [mead of poetry], our rulers' eulogy, like a bridge of masonry.

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

Ynglinga saga, the first book of Heimskringla, first

over them. The sacrificial beaker was to be

mentions a Yule feast in 840. Saga of H?kon the Good

borne around the fire, and he who made the

credits King Haakon I of Norway with the

feast and was chieftain, was to bless the

Christianization of Norway, as well as rescheduling

beaker as well as all the sacrificial meat.

the date of Yule to coincide with Christian celebrations held at the time. The saga states that The narrative continues that toasts were to be drunk. when Haakon arrived in Norway he was confirmed a The first toast was to be drunk to Odin "for victory Christian, but since the land was still altogether and power to the king", the second to the gods Nj?r?r

and Freyr "for good harvests and for peace", and -November and the beginning of January." Rudolf

thirdly a beaker was to be drunk to the king himself. Simek says that the Old Norse timing "offers no point

In addition, toasts were drunk to the memory of of reference for the sacrificial feast" and that "the

departed kinsfolk. This toast was called "minni identification with the mid-winter time of sacrifice is

[memorial toast]".

most likely."

The Svarfd?la saga records a story in which a It should be noted that this festival celebrates the

berserker put off a duel until three days after Yule to return of the Sun to the northern sky, and, as such, had

honor the sanctity of the holiday. The Grettis Saga to be determined by primitive means in most

refers to Yule as a time of "greatest mirth and joyance locations. Measuring the length of the shadow of a

among men." This saga is set soon after Iceland stick, or a standing stone, was imprecise, and

converted to Christianity and identifies Yule with dependent upon clear weather. Also, the solstice can

Christmas: "No Christian man is wont to eat meat this occur on any one of three days, December 21st, 22nd,

day [Yule Eve], because that on the morrow is the first or 23rd, depending upon the year, and no noticeable

day of Yule," says she, "wherefore must men first fast change in the length of the shadows will occur until

today."

several days after the solstice.

Theories

Other

Customs

Scholar Andy Orchard and Rudolf Simek theorize a

connection between Yule and the Wild Hunt.15 Yule was an indigenous midwinter (winter solstice) According to authors Prudence Jones and Nigel festival celebrated by the pagan Scandinavian and Pennick, the Yule feast may have originated from the other Germanic people. These people also called Jul, Roman winter festival of Saturnalia.16. Although such midvinterblot, Julblot, j?labl?t, and julofferfest. Yule a theory is unlikely as the Romans never conquered was progressively absorbed into the Christian Scandinavia and similarities maybe because pagan observations surrounding Christmas. Simek says that people across Europe shared a common winter the Yule feast "had a pronounced religious character", festival, but with regional variations, especially as all and Simek cites section 7 of Gula?ingsl?g, where of Europe at one point was pagan and traditions Yule is described as celebrated "for a fertile and shared. peaceful season" and consists of a fertility sacrifice.

Simek says that focus was not on the gods of the

Vanir, but instead the god Odin, and he notes that one

of Odin's many names is J?lnir (Old Norse "yule

figure"). Simek says that Odin was associated with

Yule, and that the tradition of the Wild Hunt

undoubtedly contributed to the association of the two.

According to Simek "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

(Sonarg?ltr) reflected still in the Christmas ham, Yule

singing, and others stem from Yule customs, and

Simek says these customs "indicate the significance of

the feast in pre-Christian times."

Dating

Specific dating is problematic. In the 13th century, the Old Norse month name ?lir (attested once) refers to the period of time between 14 November and 13 December. The time of Yule falls within around the time of a month that corresponds with the end of the modern calendar year. Andy Orchard says that "in practice, it is difficult to specify the yule-tide period more accurately than at some point between about mid

Yule Figures

Santa Claus

make the toys in the workshop and the reindeer who pull his sleigh.

Santa Claus, usually abbreviated Santa, is a figure in Predecessor Figures

North American culture who reflects an amalgamation

of the Dutch Sinterklaas, the English Father Saint Nicholas

Christmas, and Christmas gift-bringers in other traditions. Santa Claus is said to bring gifts to the homes of good children during the late evening and overnight hours of Christmas Eve, December 24. Santa Claus in this contemporary understanding echoes aspects of hagiographical tales concerning the historical figure of gift-giver Saint Nicholas, the man from whom the name of Santa Claus derives and in whose honor Santa Claus may be referred to as Saint Nicholas or Saint Nick.

Saint Nicholas of Myra is the primary inspiration for the Christian figure of Sinterklaas. He was a 4th century Greek Christian bishop of Myra (now Demre) in Lycia, a province of the Byzantine Anatolia, now in Turkey. Nicholas was famous for his generous gifts to

the poor, in particular presenting the three impoverished daughters of a pious Christian with dowries so that they would not have to become prostitutes. He was very religious from an early age and devoted his life entirely to Christianity. In

Santa Claus is generally depicted as

Europe (more precisely the

a plump, jolly, white-bearded man

Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and

wearing a red coat with white collar

Germany) he is still portrayed as a

and cuffs, white-cuffed red trousers,

bearded bishop in canonical robes.

and black leather belt and boots

In 1087, the Italian city of Bari,

(images of him rarely have a beard

wanting to enter the profitable

with no moustache). This image

pilgrimage industry of the times,

became popular in the United States

mounted an expedition to locate the

and Canada in the 19th century due

tomb of the Christian Saint and

to the significant influence of

procure his remains. The reliquary

caricaturist and political cartoonist

of St. Nicholas was desecrated by

Thomas Nast. This image has been

Italian sailors and the spoils,

maintained and reinforced through

including his relics, taken to Bari

song, radio, television, children's

where they are kept to this day. A

books and films. The North

basilica was constructed the same

American depiction of Santa Claus

year to store the loot and the area

as it developed in the 19th and century in turn influenced

20th the

St Nicholas and the

Krampus

became a pilgrimage site for the devout, thus justifying the economic

modern perceptions of Father Christmas, Sinterklaas cost of the expedition. Saint Nicholas was later

and Saint Nicholas in European culture.

claimed as a patron saint of many diverse groups,

from archers, sailors, and children to pawnbrokers. He According to a tradition which can be traced to the is also the patron saint of both Amsterdam and 1820s, Santa Claus lives at the North Pole, with a Moscow. large number of magical elves, and nine (originally

eight) flying reindeer. Since the 20th century, in an Influence of Germanic paganism and folklore

idea popularized by the 1934 song "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town", Santa Claus has been believed to make a list of children throughout the world, categorizing them according to their behavior ("naughty" or "nice") and to deliver presents, including toys, and candy to all of the good boys and girls in the world, and sometimes coal to the naughty children, on the single night of Christmas Eve. He accomplishes this feat with the aid of the elves who

Numerous parallels have been drawn between Santa Claus and the figure of Odin, a major god amongst the Germanic peoples prior to their Christianization. Since many of these elements are unrelated to Christianity, there are theories regarding the pagan origins of various customs of the holiday stemming from areas where the Germanic peoples were Christianized and retained elements of their indigenous traditions, surviving in various forms into modern depictions of

Santa Claus.

children. During the subsequent three weeks, Saint

Odin was sometimes recorded, at the native Germanic holiday of Yule, as leading a great hunting party through the sky. Two books from Iceland, the Poetic

Nicholas is believed to ride a white-grey horse over the rooftops at night, delivering gifts through the chimney to the well-behaved children, while the naughty children risk being caught by Saint Nicholas'

Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier aides that carry jute bags and willow canes for that

sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th purpose.

century by Snorri Sturluson, describe Odin as riding

an eight-legged horse named Sleipnir that could leap In contrast to Santa Claus, Sinterklaas is an elderly,

great distances, giving rise to comparisons to Santa stately and serious man with white hair and a long, full

Claus's reindeer. Further, Odin was referred to by beard. He wears a long red cape or chasuble over a

many names in Skaldic poetry, some of which traditional white bishop's alb and sometimes red stola,

describe his appearance or functions. These include dons a red mitre, and holds a gold-coloured crosier, a

S??grani, S??skeggr, Langbar?r, (all meaning "long long ceremonial shepherd's staff with a fancy curled

beard") and J?lnir ("Yule figure").

top. He carries a big book that tells whether each

individual child has been good or naughty in the past

According to some traditions, children would place year. He traditionally rides a white gray. In

their boots, filled with carrots, straw, or sugar, near the chimney for Odin's flying horse, Sleipnir, to eat. Odin

Netherlands and Belgium the character of Santa Claus, is known as de Kerstman in Dutch ("the Christmas

would then reward those children for their kindness by man") and P?re No?l ("Father Christmas") in French.

replacing Sleipnir's food with gifts or candy. This Although for kids Sinterklaas is the predominant gift-

practice still survives in Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands and became associated with Saint Nicholas since Christianization. In other countries it has been replaced by the hanging of stockings at the

giver in the Netherlands in December (36% of the population only give presents on Sinterklaas day), Christmas is used by another fifth of the Dutch population to give presents. (21% give presents on

chimney in homes.

Christmas only). Some 26% of the Dutch population

Originating from pre-Christian Alpine traditions and give presents on both days. In Belgium, presents are influenced by later Christianization, the Krampus is given to children only, but to almost all of them, on represented as a Companion of Saint Nicholas. Sinterklaas day. On Christmas Day, everybody Traditionally, some young men dress up as the receives presents, but often without Santa Claus' help.

Krampus in the first two particularly on the evening

weeks of December and of December 5 and roam

Scandinavian folklore

the streets frightening children (and adults) with rusty In the 1840s, an elf in Nordic folklore called "Tomte"

chains and bells.

or "Nisse" started to deliver the Christmas presents in

Dutch folklore

Denmark. The Tomte was portrayed as a short, bearded man dressed in gray clothes and a red hat.

In the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, Saint This new version of the age-old folkloric creature was Nicolas, ("Sinterklaas", often called "De Goede Sint" obviously inspired by the Santa Claus traditions that -- "The Good Saint") is aided by helpers commonly were now spreading to Scandinavia. By the end of the known as Zwarte Piet in Dutch ("Black Peter") or 19th century this tradition had also spread to Norway "P?re Fouettard" in French. His feast on December 6 and Sweden, replacing the Yule Goat. The same thing came to be celebrated in many countries with the happened in Finland, but there the more human figure giving of gifts. However, in the Netherlands the Dutch retained the Yule Goat name. But even though the celebrate on the evening of December 5, with a tradition of the Yule Goat as a bringer of presents is celebration called "pakjesavond". In the Reformation now all but extinct, a straw goat is still a common in 16th-17th century Europe, many Protestants and Christmas decoration in all of Scandinavia.

others changed the gift bringer to the Christ Child or

Christkindl, and the date for giving gifts changed from

December 6 to Christmas Eve.

Father Christmas

Tradition holds that Saint Nicholas (Sinterklaas) and his aides arrive each year by steam boat from Spain in mid November carrying a book that contains notes on all children that indicate whether the child has been

Father Christmas dates back at least as far as the 17th century in Britain, and pictures of him survive from that era, portraying him as a jolly well-nourished

good or naughty during the year and gifts, chocolate bearded man dressed in a long, green, fur-lined robe.

letters and spice nuts to be handed to the well-behaved He typified the spirit of good cheer at Christmas, and

Yule Goat was reflected as the "Ghost of Christmas Present", in

Charles Dickens's festive classic A Christmas Carol, a great genial man in a green coat lined with fur who takes Scrooge through the bustling streets of London on the current Christmas morning, sprinkling the essence of Christmas onto the happy populace.

Criticism

Christian opposition

Despite Santa Claus's mixed Christian roots, he has become a secular representation of Christmas. As such, some Protestants dislike the secular focus on Santa Claus and the materialist focus that gift giving brings to the holiday. Such a condemnation of Christmas is not a 20th century phenomenon, but originated among some Protestant groups of the 16th century and was prevalent among the Puritans of 17th century England and colonial America who banned the holiday as either pagan or Roman Catholic. Christmas was made legal with the Restoration but the Puritan opposition to the holiday persisted in New England for almost two centuries.

Following the Restoration of the monarchy and with

Puritans out of power in England, the ban on Christmas was satirized in works such as Josiah King's

Straw Julbokk

The Examination and Tryal of Old Father Christmas; Together with his Clearing by the Jury (1686) [Nissenbaum, chap. 1].

The Yule Goat is one of the oldest Scandinavian and Northern European Yule and Christmas symbols and traditions. Originally denoting the goat that was

Rev. Paul Nedergaard, a clergyman in Copenhagen, slaughtered during the Germanic pagan festival of

Denmark, attracted controversy in 1958 when he Yule, "Yule Goat" now typically refers to a goat-

declared Santa to be a "pagan goblin" after Santa's figure made of straw. It is also associated with the

image was used on fund-raising materials for a Danish custom of wassailing, sometimes referred to as "going

welfare organization [Clar, 337]. One prominent Yule Goat" in Scandinavia.

religious group that refuses to celebrate Santa Claus, or Christmas itself, for similar reasons is the Jehovah's

History

Witnesses. A number of denominations of Christians Its origins might go as far back as to pre-Christian

have varying concerns about Santa Claus, which range days, where goats were connected to the Norse god

from acceptance to denouncement.

Thor, who rode the sky in a chariot drawn by two

Some Christians prefer the holiday focus on the actual birth of Jesus, believing that Christmas stemmed from pagan festivals such as the Roman Saturnalia and Germanic Yule that were subsumed within ancient Christianity. An even smaller subset of Reformed Christians actually prefer the secularized version of the holiday for the same reasons, believing that to

goats, Tanngrisnir and Tanngnj?str, and carried his hammer Mj?llnir. The "Prose Edda", written by Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century, relates that when Thor kills and cooks the goats, their flesh provides sustenance for the god and his guests, and after Thor resurrects them with his hammer they are brought back to life the next day.

relegate Christ's birth to Christmas is wrong.

function of the Yule Goat has differed throughout the

ages. In Finland, the Yule Goat was originally said to

be an ugly creature that frightened children, and

demanded gifts at Christmas. In Scandinavia, people

thought of the Yule Goat as an invisible creature that

would appear some time before Christmas to make

sure that the Yule preparations were done right.

During the 19th century its role shifted towards

Tomte becoming the giver of Christmas gifts, in Finland as

well as the rest of Scandinavia, with one of the men in

the family dressing up as the Yule Goat. The goat was

replaced by jultomte or julenisse (Father Christmas/ AKA: Nisse

Santa Claus) at the end of the century, although he is

still called the Yule Goat (Joulupukki) in Finland, and A Tomte (Sweden), Nisse (Norway and Denmark) or

the tradition of the man-sized goat disappeared.

Tonttu (Finland) is a mythical creature of

Scandinavian folklore. The Tomte or Nisse was

A Swedish custom that continued up to 1940?1960 in believed to take care of a farmer's home and children

different parts of the country, was the Yule Sacrifice and protect them from misfortune, in particular at

(Juleoffer) involving a person dressed as a goat which, night, when the housefolk were asleep. The Swedish

after undergoing a mock-sacrifice, is resurrected. Sir name Tomte is derived from a place of residence and

James George Frazer described its performance as area of influence: the house lot or tomt. Nisse is the

follows:

common name in Norwegian, Danish and the Scanian

dialect in southernmost Sweden; it is a nickname for

Nils, and its usage in folklore comes from expressions

such as Nisse god dr?ng ("Nisse good lad", cf. Robin

Goodfellow). Other names are tuftekall, tomtegubbe

or haugebonde ("mound farmer"), all names

connecting the being to the origins of the farm (the

building ground), or a burial mound. Those names are

remembrances of the being's origins in an ancestral

cult.

Appearance

The Tomte/Nisse was often imagined as a small,

elderly man (size varies from a few inches to about

half the height of an adult man), often with a full

beard; dressed in the everyday clothing of a farmer.

However, there are also folktales where he is believed

The actor, hidden by a coverlet made of skins to be a shapeshifter able to take a shape far larger than

and wearing a pair of formidable horns, is led an adult man, and other tales where the Tomte/Nisse is

into the room by two men, who make believe to believed to have a single, cyclopean eye. In modern

slaughter him, while they sing verses referring Denmark, Nisses are often seen as beardless, wearing

to the mantles of various colours, red, blue, grey and red woolens with a red cap. Since Nisses are

white, and yellow, which they laid on him, one thought to be skilled in illusions and sometimes able

after the other. At the conclusion of the song, to make themselves invisible, one was unlikely to get

the Yule Goat, after feigning death, jumps up more than brief glimpses of him no matter what he

and skips about to the amusement of the looked like. Norwegian folklore states that he has four

spectators.

fingers, and is hairy all over, sometimes with pointed

ears. His eyes glow in the dark.

The Yule Goat is nowadays best known as a Christmas ornament often made out of straw or Temperament

roughly-hewn wood. In older Scandinavian society a popular prank was to place the Yule Goat in a

Despite his smallness, the Tomte/Nisse possessed an immense strength. Even though he was protective and

neighbour's house without them noticing; the family caring he was easy to offend, and his retributions

successfully pranked had to get rid of it in the same ranged from small pranks like a stout box on the ears

way. The modern version of the Yule Goat figure is a to a more sociopathical punishment like killing off the

decorative goat made out of straw and bound with red ribbons, a popular Christmas ornament often found under the Yule tree or Christmas tree. Large versions

livestock or ruining of the farm's fortune. The tomte/ Nisse was a traditionalist who did not like changes in the way things were done at the farm. Another easy

of this ornament are frequently erected in towns and way to offend him was rudeness: farm workers

cities around Christmas time ? these goats tend to be swearing, urinating in the barns, or not treating the

illegally set on fire before Christmas. The G?vle goat was the first of these goats, and remains the most famous.

creatures well would be soundly thrashed. If anyone spilled something on the floor in the house it was wise

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